Record keeping: Hello everyone. I am still working on this and some of the other stories as well. This chapter is actually 2/3 of the whole so the rest will come out rather quickly.

The email service on this site is not working for me at all so I cannot answer, and I cannot even really know if things are being sent to me. So, I have tried contacting them and will continue to do so. And yes, I have tried their fixes, which do not work. Meanwhile I hope you like this section, and the arguments are getting worse as things heat up. Don't forget to do some authoring on your own. I may not know if they come out, but I will find them eventually if this site does not crash and burn.

Take care.

Roads Paved in Shadows

Chapter Forty-Nine

CDF Radiance

Next to speak was Mayrlon Petris, head agricultural scientist. The older, balding man jumped right into it.

"Earth is an agricultural wonder. The total number of food grains we have on our worlds is miniscule compared to Earth. They have so many strains and varieties of wheat, Rye, barley, and soy, my staff hasn't been able to catalog them all. They have a grain called rice," he said excitedly. "That grain is a science unto itself. They have at least seventeen varieties of corn, both for animal consumption and separate varieties for humans. The different hybrids they've produced from mono-colored, bi-colored, and multicolored strains, we haven't even inventoried them all. We're behind on that project. The cocoa plants are amazing here. They have four major varieties instead of just one as we have. The Café and teas, we haven't even gotten to them yet for cataloging. Then, there are the feed animals to consider. The species of cattle in this world could be bred easily and could sustain three of our smaller colonies with ease." The man turned and faced the admiral. "

"If this planet were closer to the Colonies, I would place my full weight into convincing the Quorum to designate Earth as a prime agricultural world. With a little modification of their Agro industry, this world could feed untold billions. I have reported that there are areas of famine here, but that has more to do with politics and isolation than anything else. The sheer number of foodstuffs could be easily distributed if they put in a bit of work. I stress that they are doing this now, so in a mere ten years, starvation could be wiped out. What food that is left over could supplement the Colonies. The problem is, they're not close enough to us for that to be practical. But once we begin to establish stations bridging the Colonies to the Apell… I mean Terran home world, long range transport would be feasible. Plus, acquiring the grains and food animals would satisfy billions of people with new flour varieties and food stuffs which Would allow us to spread humanity out further than we dreamed possible. Fish stocks haven't been cataloged yet, but the potential benefit is staggering for everyone in the Colonies."

"Yes, Earth isn't close, but you are forgetting something," Commander Eddleson said before the man could continue. "As of now, unification with this tribe is nowhere close to being a reality. These people might not like a few dozen way stations extending from their territory back to the colonies. Furthermore, the Colonies are at war, and we don't know what's happening there. Also, I'm no scientist, but I think it is likely that many of Earth's food plants and animals may not adjust to the Colony worlds as well as you'd like." He didn't react as the man stared at him in surprise.

"There is some evidence that they are not the Colony we are looking for," Director Petris said. "It doesn't matter. They are a colony of humanity and, as such, should be incorporated into the Majority, and I might add, senior Twelve. It's only a matter of time before they would unite with us. I understand their initial reluctance, but they are a smart and industrial people, and it would be in their best interest to join us. Ours, too. It is their obligation to help their fellow humans. I don't see the problem. Mankind is a herd animal. We always come together in the end," Petris said. "I have no doubt that this world will come to their senses and join our community. And I concede you are correct about the grains, which is why we're buying as much as we can, including animals for testing when we get home. The Colonies will recover, and the CDF will prevail, or do you have doubts?"

"I hope we do," Eddlison responded. "We were prepared for the Cylons. This war is different. The rules are different."

"In what way?" the man asked.

Kunningham said nothing. If Eddlison was worried, then he would take it into consideration. He and the other Commanders were experienced, that being the reason why they were picked for this mission. If he was concerned, then the admiral would be a fool to ignore the warning signs. From the look on the commander's face, he wasn't finished.

Hotel del Coronado

Pacifica UCW Annex

Senators David Sheridan, Lydia Mander, and Brien Peterson, along with their aides and two security guards, were still in a state of semi-shock, six hours after witnessing the unprecedented event of the liftoff of the city… spaceship Lemuria. They had no reference to compare to the event. Mander remained silent, taking everything and listening to the two Senior once-senators speaking in hushed tones at the hotel's restaurant, located in Southern California where they were relocated just before liftoff.

The area was secluded and all but the skeleton crews of their four vessels were located there. The complex included a state-of-the-art hospital hotel, and other amenities, specifically tailored for alien visitors like themselves. The decontamination room was a surprise, considering that the entire process took only five minutes to complete, and the patients didn't feel a thing. Not only did the units clean the bodies of harmful bacteria and viruses but it also gave immunity to Earth's thousands of germs and viruses. The advanced medical technology was absolutely astounding, and tens of decades if not centuries, above anything, the Earth Alliance had. It was First One level technology. That device alone defined the difference between this Earth and their own.

The existence of a literal flying city spaceship brought things to an entirely different level.

And the stargate!

Brien's anger was threatening to boil over. He was angry at himself as well as the Clark cronies.

"We could have had access to everything if we had only not tried to push these people when we first met them. I should have known better. The potential here is astounding, and we will not have access to any of it! It makes me sick!"

"I'm very impressed considering what they began with," David Sheridan admitted. "I remember them telling us that their world only possessed four ships."

"Which is why we made a deal. We could have honored our part," he grumbled. "And only God knows how much both sides could have benefitted from a little trust on our part."

"We got greedy," David flatly stated. "They gave us gravity and sensors and put the fear of God into the Minbari. We could have stopped the war then."

Peterson was thoughtful. "Maybe. Maybe not. But the Tau'ri would have aided us. We could have stopped the war without so much bloodshed."

"I wonder," David said. He stared at the hotel restaurant, so similar to what he knew of at home, that he couldn't tell the difference if he hadn't known better. "Maybe it's for the best."

"You mean Clark?" Peterson asked. "If we had access to all this, he wouldn't have gotten into power. We could have been the premier power in our sector of the galaxy. No one could have touched us," he trailed off.

"Clark. We underestimated him twice and look where we are now. If he had gotten into power, and we know he had a lot of supporters, things would be much worse. The mega-corps would have supported him in everything as long as he kept the credits flowing. There would be no restraints on him. We would be at war with the Centauri at this moment. We have to face it. Earth would have become a stellar empire." He paused. "We're an empire already. I still can't believe it. We're on another Earth! How long would it have been if we, and I mean all of us in Earth Alliance, decided that we wanted everything from our junior partner? And that is what this Earth would have been. They wouldn't have liked it."

"They might not have had a choice," Lydia countered. "You senior senators were very aggressive during those talks." The meeting was before her time.

David was shaking his head as the other two senators looked on. "Fifteen-sixteen years ago, we underestimated them and their allies. Remember?" he asked, causing the other senator to wince. "They had allies, powerful ones, like the ones that towed all four of our ships to Earth in a matter of hours! That was a four-month trip. Then there are the Jaffa warrior clans. Think about this. We're in an inter-dimensional war, right this second. Do you honestly believe Clark wouldn't have had our forces coming here to take everything these people have?"

Peterson slowly nodded. The truth pointed to itself. "The man would never rest and if he saw all of this, he would be terrified, and we know he would try his best to grab both of those floating spaceship cities or destroy everything in the attempt. That's the reason he's coming now."

"Exactly. He attacked the Kobollians to take what they had, but he wants what this Earth has, out of greed and out of revenge. Instead of backing off from everything we've seen here, and turning away, he will want it more than ever. He hates O'Neill because of what was done to him, and he wants this Earth's power, science, and resources for his own. "

"The stargate and the city ship would make him fear this Earth more, and O'Neill in particular, because he could never rest, knowing that the general might come for him. So, he will have to strike pre-emptively. "

"The man has everything," Senator Mander said. "Isn't that enough?"

"I don't think he can live with what he has," speculated David Sheridan. "He has to have more. This Earth is another steppingstone for him. He's a madman."

John blew a long breath, capturing the attention of all three senators and the others listening. "I think Earth Alliance is in for a surprise if they come here and if we survive this upcoming fight. And changing the subject, our ships are barely holding together. I want your opinion. Should we donate them to the UCW? They've offered us asylum and we can't go back, maybe not within our lifetimes. Our skeleton crews, families and children are just as exhausted as we are and should be here. Our ships will not make a difference. We don't have any ordinance. Our codes are useless now and life support is becoming non-viable. We've been offered sanctuary and safety in this world. We can't go anywhere else. So, I say we should make our stand here, with the UCW, with everything we have. What's your opinion, senators?"

"We should ask the Earther folks…" Peterman stopped. "No, it's not their fight and I can see a thousand things going wrong if they did come to our aid."

"But we have billions of people, our colonies and settlements that need our help," Mander said. "We can ask them."

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Peterman," David stated. "If this were a galactic problem, and these people were part of our galaxy, I would be more inclined to agree. But they are not. Our world is under fascist rule. An entire generation has grown up believing in Clark's propaganda. The ones who don't are hiding and few and far in between. The military is solidly under Clark's control, and he has the backing of the mega corporations. You've seen our politicians fall all over themselves, trying to please that man. We know that some of them are monsters and the few dissenters left alive or not in prison, are in hiding or are in our ships up there, along with our families. No," he said. "This isn't the time for us to ask. I think, for our Earth, history is going to have to play itself out. For now, the resistance is dead. As for myself,. I would fight with everything I have to free earth from Clark and re-establish the constitution. But I have to face the fact at there is no resistance."

"Then I pray that our world doesn't become a burned-out cinder," Senator Mander said, with tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

John Sheridan turned to the others, intently listening. "This involves all of us. What are your opinions on this?"

CDF Radiance

Robert Enguin, Senior Engineer of the fleet, was next to speak. "Why they have chosen to design Their space station like a city is bizarre, but it demonstrates several things that strengthen our resolve to unite or at least establish solid trade agreements with them. We are talking about a ship approximately five kilometers wide. We cannot accurately calculate the overall dimensions because of their ECM and shield, however, that one ship alone could hold several million people easily, probably a lot more without difficulty. People could live their entire lives on that station and lack for nothing."

He continued. "I will focus on two critical technologies among several that we should acquire. The first is their power source. The amount of energy required to allow such an unwieldy design to achieve orbit, as well as move through space at faster-than-light speeds, has to be enormous. We take into consideration the ship doesn't use our type of jump technology." He went silent for a moment to let that implication sink in. "They don't use tyllium or any nuclear energy production methods we know of. The colonies would be unable to generate such necessary energy. I'm not even mentioning their energy shield technology, which is another critical issue. But the implications are so profound that I can't think of all of the applications it could be used for. An example is in mining. A mobile ship such as that could be outfitted with a mining facility that could process everything we need in such quantities a dozen mining ships couldn't equal. It could remain in orbit or land at its discretion, protecting the workers as well as allowing close access to the targeted area. Those ships could expand our colonies throughout the galaxy, depending on how fast those stations are. The ship shields protect the crews from the hardships of space in the same way as our armor. Our warships would be invulnerable to Cylon and enemy attacks. Our civilian ships would no longer fear pirates or external terrorist attacks. I can think of several ways off the top of my head that such shielding to be applied to our culture. The possibilities are endless, if we can trade for their power-generating technology."

Garland Leyerris, chief scientist, added his comments. "This entire sector is rich. We know our tyllium supplies are dwindling at an alarming rate. In fifty years, we will run dry! We're being forced to travel further and further from the home systems to find sufficient tyllium ore. Very soon that will be cost ineffective. Our scans of this system identified only a small amount of the ore, but at the edge of the system, the orbiting asteroids are filled with the ore. The Sol system has as much of the ore as we've ever seen and the Terrans don't even use it. We could easily trade for it. that would allow us to find other sources, so that we don't become overly dependent on Earth. we do not want to wind up indentured to their whims, which could bleed us dry, economically. If we can acquire just one of their mobile stations or get the schematics, we could solve our energy production problem within three years."

"How many stations do they have?" asked Commander Sacca of the Minoan-class battlestar Tycheon. "There are two we know of. The costs of those stations must be enormous. I can't see them having any more than two. Any more than that would cripple their economy."

"I don't think so," the ambassador said, shaking her head. "It's not just Earth, but the other worlds. Their economy is larger than any of us believed. We all need to readjust our opinion of these people, including ourselves. These people act as a totally independent entity, not connected to us by at least three thousand or more years. Their experience is completely different from anything we understand. They have contact with aliens! They work with near humans! They believe the gods are hated throughout this galaxy."

"Blasphemy!" yelled Yavannia Goesel. "The gods are loved by humanity. Humanity's love for them is in our blood!"

"Not according to the Terrans and Jaffa," the admiral slowly said. "Not one of the tribes here professes a love for them. If what they said is true, they hate the gods and I understand why, Usurpers have sullied the names of the gods, and they are feared and hated. We all know about the true gods. The others have only been exposed to the fake gods who ruled in their names."

"Those creatures must be punished and destroyed," the priestess hissed. She was absolutely furious, and so were the others.

"The Terrans did the job for us," Kunningham said. "Their war lasted for ten years and the Terrans wiped out the System Lords. Zeus, Ra, Apophis, Hermes, Hades. All of them, but there are more of them, another generation that the Terrans are dealing with."

"They should all be destroyed," Goesel hissed again. "Why haven't the Ape–I mean Terrans performed this sacred duty?"

"They have other problems," Commander Sacca commented dryly. The priestess shot him a hostile look. He smiled back at her. "I think they're doing the best they can under the circumstances. And they made a few enemies in the process, such as Earth Alliance and whoever is coming here, as well as the Goa'uld. We have new enemies to deal with. If they come after the Terrans, they will come after us. It's only a matter of time and I don't think we have a lot. If what Earth Alliance has said is true, we need to get together with the UCW as soon as possible. We can discuss our cultural differences later."

"Cultural differences?" the woman asked incredulously. "I speak for the Synod of Athena. This isn't some cultural difference. This 'difference' represents the bedrock of our religious beliefs. The belief in the gods of Kobol is the heritage and right of all of humanity wherever they are. It is their right, and their responsibility, to honor the gods. I do understand the problem here. The false gods have damaged humanity in ways that demand the most severe forms of retribution. But that does not alleviate the responsibility of the humans of the UCW of their obligation to venerate the gods of their ancestors."

"They are not part of our culture, not officially. There is a very high probability that they are not the Earth we believe them to be," Eddleston countered. "The Scrolls are incomplete and so is our understanding. We cannot push our beliefs on these people."

"I understand that," she yelled, hating every word. "But I've begun to study their various heresies; Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and a hundred others. The belief of the true gods is just a minor footnote to them." The priestess restrained herself from jumping out of her seat. "It flies against everything we know. Just thinking about it infuriates me." Looking at Eddleston evenly "I understand their ignorance. I consider myself a moderate. I hate what they are doing to themselves, but I suppose I could tolerate it. But there are billions at home who will find their monotheism and followers of the false gods an affront to the Tribes of Kobol and will demand they change. In my worst nightmares, I could see a liberation fleet coming here to forcefully convert this world and the others into the true religion. I confess when we first came here. That was one of my first thoughts."

"Honestly, do you think they care if we are affronted or not?" Eddleson asked. "They won't care unless we try to force the issue. And I fully agree. Many of our fellow Colonials will not be happy. But I've changed my opinion."

"I understand our need for them and their need for us, but I don't want them at home, contaminating our culture and beliefs with their foul religious fantasies. If that makes me antagonistic towards them, then so be it. But consider that I am a moderate. There are many others who will come after this world to convert it by force, if need be. There will be war. "

"And how do you think that will go with that fleet out there?" Eddleston countered. "I think with their tech, they would butcher the fleet. And that brings up another point. Why are we, and I mean the Kobollians, so obsessed with converting these people to what we believe is the right religion? Are we so insecure in our beliefs that we must force others to conform to our own ways of thinking to feel justified in ourselves? Can't the gods do their own work, or are we worried that they are not on our side?"

"The gods are on our side," she countered. "We would prevail, but at a horrendous cost."

"Which gods?" Demetrius asked, his face a study in mock innocence.

"How dare you!" the woman was shocked and somewhat frightened. "Don't let the others hear you say that, or your will be cast out of the church!"

"I'm beginning to think that might not be such a bad thing. If we are so rigid that we would start a war with a people we don't know about, then I am not sure I want to be a part of it."

She was trying to understand what happened to him and his attitude? Were others in the fleet beginning to think the same way? "You really are a blasphemer, you know that?" she gulped.

"Yes, I know."

TBC