Author's note: I apologize for the delay. I got swamped with work, and it seems it will continue like that for some time. The best way is from now on to expect new chapters every two weeks and then be positively surprised when it gets out sooner, then being more optimistic and feeling bad when it doesn't.
Q&A:
EffervescentNova: I am trying to make all races different in some ways. the Nox are pacifists to the core, the Alterra are the wise guys, mostly balanced, the Asgard are the logical, smart guys, and the Furling are the one capable of seeing the future. A study says that in a flight-or-fight reaction when faced with a dangerous opponent, statistically speaking a flight reaction is a better choice, though not as macho as the other one. Still, it has a greater chance of keeping you alive. The Furling also possess the ability to see the future and have been able to do so for time unknown, which would have allowed them to evade confrontation before they even started, the flight reaction. the Terrans are not the race with the last few thousand of years of experience in waging war.
Of course, the station will have its own tech. However, the station isn't a warship. Can you imagine a moon chasing after a warship? Except for the jump capability that allows it to cross vast distances, the station doesn't move very fast.
Morgauxo: He is, but at the moment he wanted to know more about the sphere, the reason why he was stuck there for three years and a way to move it to Cydonia before getting the hell out of this galaxy. The Furling have been gone for five million years. A few days doesn't make a difference. Everything will eventually be explained.
Guest: Thank you. I'm glad you like it so much. Everything will be revealed in time. I know that getting updates a week or weeks at a time isn't easy, but there's not much I can do about it. Thank you for the offer of help, although even if a were interested, signing as a guest account doesn't help much if one wanted to establish contact ;)
Arekanderu: true, true. the Furling were the missing race in the stargate series everybody wanted to learn more about. I'm still trying to make them as the guys behind the curtains, though, and as the still mysterious race with a strange behavior.
random Norwegian: the combat armor can be hermetically sealed, and it has a transparent, opaque, visor showing their faces. Not the same thing. To compare, the Mark III is around 40 pounds, very lightweight. the Power Armor, depending on the model is around 400 pounds heavy, and don't ask the person in it to crouch or to pretend to be a gymnast. He won't fool anyone.
The planet builders, I believe you are referring to the people who made that obelisk, probably won't be mentioned in the story, Not much is known from the SGU, so no point in going there. Still, a lot of the story isn't written yet, especially about the Destiny portion. I'm still working on it and changes in ideas are possible and even probable.
There will be mention about some very weak mental abilities, the beginning of it, but not much more than that.
Thanks to my beta, and hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well.
As he strolled down the streets of New York, Jack thought how it was such a rare occasion for him to be doing it. It certainly wasn't something he could do every time he desired. It was bothering him greatly that, in order for the High Councilor of the Terran Federation to do something so bold as to walk in the middle of New York, he first needed to persuade the rest of the Council and his considerable security that there was no threat they couldn't anticipate or prevent in time, no matter where he decided to go on Earth. In addition, in the way he was doing it right now, he needed to wear a different face by means of a very useful mimicking device, as well as to have a very powerful personal shield that could probably save him from anything short of a direct hit from a Naquadria enhanced nuke. For him to take a simple stroll on Earth all this was forced upon him, in addition to having the always-vigilant eyes of those above him on some of the many warships in orbit that on first sign of trouble could and would beam him away without any prior warning.
Daniel, who was also wearing someone else's face, was currently marveling at the scenery playing around him. Not only were there many changes, but the man had lately – and against his will - spent a couple of very unpleasant months on an alien world while being chased by some very nasty creatures bent on using him for breakfast. Jack had suggested for the both of them to take a stroll on Earth, to relax, knowing that Daniel would very much appreciate it. Since it has become impossible for them to have a normal social life, one in which they could freely mingle with people without having a squad of power-armored marines surrounding them and ready to scare to death anyone who saw them, any chance they got for a change of venue was well received. With so many guards in tow, they would usually lose the will to set foot on Earth, which was probably why the security chief was forcing such measures on them. Yet, from time to time, they both wanted to leave the still unfinished, orbiting starbase or the island Terrania, their de facto home.
Earth was changing, and it was doing it at a frightening pace. A study had shown that even one generation ago such changes wouldn't have been accepted so readily. The ability of the new generations, already accustomed to quick changes, was the reason why alien technologies and knowledge could so easily be introduced and without major refusals. He understood all too well that fact, as he was one of those still living fossils with the problem of accepting new things so promptly. Only his direct exposure to alien worlds in the last fifteen years and his general easy going nature when confronted with the new and unknown had resulted in him adapting to this strange and constantly changing world. A world where people around you walked down the street, yet they were not looking at you or anyone else but rather were connected with some eyepiece to a virtual world full of information and wonders his generation never dreamt of even being possible. Maybe it would have been even stranger for him to see people not paying attention to anything around them except for the bare minimum in order not to trip or fall if he himself didn't constantly use the construct Liam had left him with the updated Repository of Knowledge. It now included everything Liam had worked on, parts that were taken from Atlantis' database, and whatever the Asgard had given Liam to add so that the gap created in the past five million years in the Alterran history could somewhat be filled. There was so much interesting data in it that even he could easily spend half a day perusing through it without noticing the passage of time, or by getting bored. It wasn't so strange that he used it so much since the only database in existence that had more knowledge was the one in the Clava Thessara Infinitas, which has been declared too dangerous and too big to ever leave the pocket universe. Only Argos had direct access to it, and trough him, the scientists inside the pocket universe. A complete download would fry anyone's brain anyhow, and sifting through it one topic at a time was a fool's errand.
"What do you think about this?" He asked Daniel while pointing to the various people who were buzzing around them, as it seemed, completely aimlessly.
Daniel glanced at Jack, clearly uncertain on what he was asking him. He then glanced at the people buzzing around. "Well, even after only three measly months spent away from Earth I am able to discern changes. For one, there are more and more people driving these things. Or maybe the better wording would be that they are being driven by these things, the same as other transportation devices."
Jack was also looking at the same guy on some contraption with only one seat in it. The contraption had an AI capable of driving on its own to the desired destination. On any intersection in the city, a person could call one of these moving wheelchairs and in a minute, one would show up. The person's eyepiece would automatically synchronize with it and he or she could input the desired destination. The wheelchair would then begin its voyage on a prescribed lane.
Besides that, more and more people were using public transportation in the form of automated buses, currently the only vehicles capable of floating in mid-air, hence capable of crossing vast distances in a very short time. It had been decided that allowing cars to be manufactured that could freely fly inside the city limits would quickly turn into a complete nightmare. It was decided that only public transportation should be allowed the use flying cars, which greatly minimized the possibility of collision, congestion and gave a city like New York another way for people to move quickly without the need to own or use a personal vehicle.
"I still can't get used to seeing vehicles flying in the middle of New York. Those buses or shuttles -whatever you want to call them - I know they are useful, but still, they make me anxious when I see one fly over my head," Jack added, while watching as one of them just passed above him. It wasn't big. It probably had room for no more than thirty passengers.
"I know. I have the same feeling, but with the currently available energy capacitors and the antigrav units that Earth is now capable of producing thanks to us, this is the most logical next step in public transportation. With an antigrav unit installed, they only need small electric air-turbines to push the thing in the wanted direction, almost identical to an airship. The important thing though is that it doesn't need a combustion engine to move. With the gifted fusion reactors giving countries around the world all the energy they could possibly need, clean and available at a negligible cost, such methods of transportation have become so cheap that a city like New York has opted to introduce it completely free of charge."
"I'm just glad that Earth has decided to, at least for now, not allow flying cars to be flown once they enter a metro area. Can you imagine thousands of flying cars already owned by individuals zigzagging between buildings at high speeds? It would quickly turn into many piles of rubble all around the city," Jack added knowingly. He would probably be one of those doing it too if allowed by the law of course.
"I hear taxi companies are pushing for them to be allowed to buy flying cars and use them inside the city, but New York isn't budging," Daniel added promptly.
"Of course not! Once they get a license, it is only a matter of time before others, like Uber or limo companies, start asking for the same. Besides, they are nearing the end of the construction of the first few teleportation platforms with a set destination. Those are going to be big enough for up to fifty people to use, in an instant traveling to some other platform in the city. As more and more of those are introduced, the need for other transportation methods will greatly diminish."
"They are pushing it as far as it can go, don't they? New York was always the city with the smallest percentage of people using personal cars to move around in the whole of the US. But with these new and convenient ways of transportation, they are trying to get below 15% of people owning a car while also diminishing the average time it takes for people to travel from home to work or other traveling people do often. This city will be a model for all other cities with a similar traffic problem."
"Still, doesn't it appear to you that people on Earth are too ready to accept all these new gadgets coming out? Look at people around us," Jack said, giving a good glance at the people around them. "Don't you think they are becoming too connected to technology and gadgets? I mean, can people at least enjoy the morning coffee and their walk to work before connecting with those eyepieces to the internet or before starting to make calls or chat with someone far away? I've never seen any other alien race behaving like this, and that includes very advanced races that possess even more advanced tech, like the Asgard, Alterran or Tollans."
"True. I must admit that it looks like humans like to be connected with their various gizmos, but, Jack, don't take what you see here as the norm of human behavior on Earth. Go to Europe and you'll see people still taking their siesta every day without any gadgets powered. You'd still see people sitting in the open on a terrace, slowly sipping coffee while reading a newspaper. And they'll do it for half or even a full hour every day! New York has always been a frantic city," Daniel explained. "However, it is true that we are much more impatient as a race than the Alterrans ever were. Which could easily be explained actually."
"It can? How?" Jack asked, not sure.
"Because the Alterra have a lifespan of hundreds if not thousands of years. They are the only known race that, at least in theory, can live forever. It is difficult for them to live more than a thousand years because of the mental component needed in order to remain young, the need to do specific meditation focused on rejuvenating their body and mind. However, with such a lifespan it should be normal for such a race to take its time and do things more slowly. As opposed to humans who lived for only eighty years on average and want to achieve as much as possible in that time."
"Are you saying that, once genesis is completed and the normal lifespan of people on Earth is more than tripled, that then people on Earth will change the way they live and take it more slowly?" Jack asked, uncertain. He wasn't a good candidate to test Daniel's theory, since he always took it easy, even while his lifespan was that of a normal human.
"I'm sure of it. Look at me for example. I'm already taking it more slowly since I don't feel the pressure anymore because of having another twenty or thirty productive years at the most. Let's call them my remaining prime years to accomplish something meaningful."
"If you say so," Jack said, unsure of his friend's statement. "I haven't noticed any major changes in your overly dense schedule, though."
"That is related to my work as a Council member, which can't be helped. But as you can see, I'm not itching to go on some new archeological dig anytime soon. I'm perfectly fine leaving that for when I retire from the Council since my lifespan is not such a limiting factor anymore."
"Hey! Speaking of the Genesis Project. Do you think Hayes will want to talk to us about that?" Jack asked as they just rounded the corner. Five more minutes and they'll be in front of the United Nations' building, their destination. He glanced at the many police officers around them who were securing, as it looked, a quite large area around the United Nations against protestors and even some... greater threats. It has been this way since some offices inside the building were given to the new Earth's government to be used. One of those was the office of Henry Hayes to be used when he wasn't in Geneva.
"You mean about the pace at which it is going?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah," Jack replied with a frown. "I know it is creating massive problems on Earth. That's also the only reason that comes to mind why Hayes would want to talk to us on such a short notice."
"There could be other reasons, though. As Earth's Secretary of Extraterrestrial Affairs, most dealings with the Terran Federation go through him. In no small part his appointment to such a position was because of his close relationship with you, so calling both of us isn't very strange actually. As far as reasons go, I haven't heard of some massive change in the situation on Earth regarding the unrests related to genesis. I'm not sure if he'd call us just for that reason alone either," Daniel replied, clearly thinking of what else could be the reason if the Genesis Project wasn't it.
"Still, in three years, around sixty million people have gone through genesis, which is only a tiny drop in a very vast ocean if you take Earth's entire population into account. Currently, we have 1,864 devices capable of manipulating the human DNA - I know because I just checked - and almost nine thousand medical experts and support staff working around the clock. Due to other priorities, I don't think we can increase the number of people going through the procedure by much," Jack added, thinking how it wasn't easy to change billions of people when each individual needed days of constant care in order to be certain that nothing went wrong. Their safety was always a priority.
"Not to mention that each individual might need more than one treatment and we have to keep them monitored for at least three days to be certain no problems have arisen during the transition period."
"And priority goes to those who get the Terran citizenship with the specific goal of going to another planet or to join us as an active member of the military or some other branch of our federal government. Especially those going on Haven. The planet has such a strong gravity that only those who went through the change can live there and actually enjoy the experience," Jack added, remembering the effect Haven's gravity had on him. As an Alterran, he could survive in such environment better than most, but far from retaining fond memories of the experience. The modified Terrans would be much better suited to live on such a planet than an Alterran ever would.
"I think the bigger issue is that, with the glacial progress and with the procedure having been deemed too dangerous for people older than 65, there are many who have started realizing that there's a good chance of them reaching a point where they won't receive the treatment in time. On the other hand, there are tons of people on Earth who got in their heads that what genesis is doing is unnatural and therefore must be stopped at all cost," Daniel added, clearly frustrated how things were going.
"Go figure. Both sides want the exact opposite, and yet, both sides are in the wrong."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, both sides think only of themselves, of their wellbeing or of their personal beliefs. Yet, none of them is thinking of what's best for us as a race to reach the next chapter. Let's call it the Golden Age, like what the Alterra and Asgard have reached a long time ago. One side is pressuring for genesis to proceed faster so that they could get the treatment and survive longer, while the other side is ready to bomb the United Nations in order to stop the project because it is in opposition to their personal belief system."
"So, you're saying that they should be thinking of what's the best path to choose in order for all Terrans to prosper, regardless of personal needs or beliefs. A tall order you ask of people, Jack, I can tell you that much. Nobody is that selfless."
"You say nobody is that selfless, yet by thinking of the prosperity of all Terrans, they themselves are included in said prosperity, which means they wouldn't necessarily have to be selfless to think that way."
"In theory, yes, but who thinks so far into the future? And how many people even possess the required knowledge to come to the right decision and vision on what's best for our entire race?"
"True-true. Yet, I think Hayes called us here exactly to talk about the problems genesis is causing. I think he wants us to raise the age limit and at least double the number of people undergoing the procedure," Jack replied, predicting what this meeting will be all about.
"There are more than twenty thousand patients on Terrania at any given time. How are we going to double our capacity? Where are we going to find the right personnel to tend to double the number of patients we have right now? Not to mention the need to speed up the selection process from candidates from all around the world, which is no small task at all," Daniel asked, clearly frustrated.
"Even if we do that, it will only double the number of people, which is still not enough to make a difference. It will yield to forty million people going through the treatment each year. And for the age limit we can maybe change it so that, instead of outright forbidding the procedure for people older than 65, we could state that those people need to pass a physical and they need to sign some documents acknowledging that the procedure could result in unforeseen complications or in some cases even death. This is the best we can do so that people keep in good physical shape hoping it will be enough, up until the time when their turn comes. Yet, there is still too little to think that the Genesis Project will complete inside a decade or so. Even with the constant increase in personnel and infrastructure, we predict it will take around fifty more years to complete."
Jack was frustrated. It is true that he didn't think it through when the proposal for the Genesis Project first came on his desk. He didn't think of how much work there is to change billions of people, one individual at a time. He knew there would be those who wouldn't like it and therefore would find reasons to fight the change. Frankly, he couldn't understand why people were bitching so much about genesis. The thing didn't make your head grow or make you glow in the dark. It simply put you slightly higher on the evolutionary ladder, allowing an individual to easier adapt to more hostile environments like that on Haven, and it slightly improved your cognitive abilities, yet still far from those of the Alterra.
Nevertheless, in his mind, he somehow thought that the whole process of changing Earth's population would last five or maybe ten years at the most. In such a short time, no matter what kind of trouble arose they could deal with it somehow. In a matter of a few short years, more people would have gone through the process than those who hadn't yet, which would have put any talks about discontinuing the project to rest.
Instead, he now knew that for decades the number of people who went through the procedure would be in the minority. Even worse, almost all of those that went through the procedure were people who got jobs on Asura, Haven, Terra Nova or Tollana and therefore went to live there with their whole families in tow, no matter how numerous those were. They were all fast-forwarded for the procedure. It meant that only a small percentage of people who went through the process were remaining on Earth, and among those were all the high officials in the new Earth's government. The system also discriminated against those that committed some felony in their past, be it big or small, it did not matter. Committing a felony puts you at the bottom of the approval list, which was around seven billion members long.
When everything was put together, it was giving a very grim picture of the immediate future in which it was easy to identify the kind of people that were becoming more restless with each passing day. Those against it, mostly because it went against their beliefs, and those who wanted it because of the gained longevity, yet were so low on the list that would most certainly die before their turn finally came, and the latter people were mostly criminals or suspected criminals flagged by some law enforcement agency from somewhere around the world. With the Terrans, there was no joking around either. Lie detectors were employed when somebody asked for Terran citizenship in order to find work on other planets and citizenship was being recommended if they agreed to go through genesis.
It was a time when the Terran Federation needed to be resolute in their actions in order to minimize the chances of any internal strife from arising. It meant that the Terran Federation didn't make many friends among people who thought of their methods as almost oppressive, and among those were certainly the entitled. Those with money and connections. Such people meant nothing to the Terrans and had no power to influence the selection process on who was next on the list. Yet, such powerful people usually had expectations of being treated differently from others, even when they were older than sixty-five or had done something that would flag them by some government agency.
Off course, the Terran Federation was located on Terrania, on the starbase above the island, and on other federal holdings located on other planets, which meant that some big shot on Earth had no way of reaching them, much less being able to influence their decision-making process. It meant that people in Earth's government were taking the brunt of those people's ire, which, for the most part, meant Hayes.
Jack entered the United Nations building in which Hayes had an office as Earth's Secretary of Extraterrestrial Affairs. A clerk promptly asked him for his ID. He gave the card to him. The image was matching his current appearance, with the name Bobby Fischer written on it. He then went through a scanner that was promptly and thoroughly fooled by the holo-emitter responsible for the change in his appearance. He quickly passed through before picking his belongings. Daniel followed only seconds later, he as well without raising any flags. It was decided that they would use fully valid yet false identities when coming on Earth and that they would keep their true identities hidden until the very last moment, which was until entering Hayes office. Nobody liked it, but both Jack and Daniel wanted to be able to see their own planet for at least half an hour instead of simply being beamed inside Hayes' office, with no chance of meeting anybody who wasn't Hayes.
The elevator deposited both of them on the wanted floor. A short walk and once more giving their IDs was enough for them to be ushered into Hayes' office without much delay. They both deactivated their holo-emitters, finally showing their true appearance.
"Jack! Daniel!" Hayes said as he walked around his desk in order to greet them.
"Henry," Jack said as he squeezed Hayes' hand in greetings. "How long has it been? A month?"
Hayes was thinking. "That long huh? It's possible. I know that I haven't seen this guy here for at least three months," Hayes said as he now squeezed Daniel's hand, giving a short-lived smile before changing his expression into a more somber one. "I was sorry to hear about your misfortune, Daniel, but I'm happy now to see you're finally back with us safe and sound. How's Vala doing?"
"She bounced back to her usual self after only three days involving a lot of partying and spending money on Earth. Mostly on clothing, I think," Daniel replied.
"She's the same as always," Hayes replied, before pointing at the two armchairs standing in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat."
"Don't mind if we do," Jack muttered while taking one of the chairs. Daniel sat on the other one.
"So, you must be asking yourselves why I called you here today," Hayes inquired.
"The Genesis Project comes to mind," Jack spat back immediately.
"You're not wrong," Hayes replied, with a little hesitation. Clearly, there was more than just that particular reason. "As you know, in the last three months, the number of organized protests has risen to two hundred worldwide, of which seventeen turned violent. Also, there have been five terrorist attacks this month alone."
"We are aware, yet, we have no idea on what we can do to change the situation. I mean, speeding up the process can go only so far and there's not much else the federal government can do-" Jack said, abruptly stopping as he remembered something. "Wait! You're not thinking of-" Jack asked.
"No, no, that would be too extreme. Earth's government is not going to call the Federation to qualm the unrests. We are not there yet," Hayes responded promptly. "And I'm confident we will never get there."
"Ah, good-good. For a moment there I thought you wanted us to intervene. We don't even have a proper federal police yet, and involving the Navy or the TIA would be too extreme, and messy," Jack concluded.
"Right now what I'm asking is for the Federation to work on making the whole Genesis Project go as smoothly as possible and maybe to think of increasing the age limit," Hayes explained. "And before you say no, I know that there are studies showing how even people older than that could easily go through the process without any side effects."
"Sure, but we are going to have to deal with the repercussions if somebody dies during the procedure," Jack retorted. "You know very well that those people against the project are waiting just for something like that in order to inflame even more people. the next moment you see a ten-year-old girl crying her eyes out in front of every newsgroup because her grandpa died during the procedure."
"As I said before, you do what you can without risking anything. I also know that an increase of a hundred percent is a lot to ask, yet still too little to make a real difference."
"Okay? So, why are we here then?" Jack asked, puzzled. Hayes had asked practically nothing of them except the usual do-what-you-can crap.
"Beside the unrests due to the Genesis Project that we all knew would be controversial and risky to implement, yet we all agreed the benefits greatly outweighed the downsides, overall Earth is in a great place. The only way it could be better is if the devastation the Vargas caused didn't occur and for the few countries like North Korea that are still refusing to join the rest of the world on this next chapter of our journey to understand that it is time for Earth to come together. However, with proper monitoring and by pushing the right buttons at the right times, we think there won't be any surprises from those countries and that eventually, they'll join the rest of the world since, in the end, they simply won't have a choice in the matter.
"The knowledge you have given Earth is also enough to keep our scientists and companies busy for the next several decades, even without any new updates to the already received and massive package. Clean and cheap energy, transportation technologies that are making life much easier, food production capable of reaching even the most impoverished regions of the planet, and a plethora of knowledge that will allow Earth to prosper and progress without the risk of an economic collapse or of any major setbacks. Additionally, and probably the most important thing, the change in our lifespan that nobody could have even dreamt of just a few years back. That is the current situation and prediction for the future of Earth, which is a very bright prediction in my informed opinion," Hayes concluded his little speech.
Jack turned to glance at Daniel, unsure of where this was all going, because, somewhere, it must be going. He just didn't know where. "So, what you're telling us is that everything's peachy?"
"Exactly!" Hayes replied, smiling. "Everything is peachy… except for the little problem that no private citizen or company can build and then use a spaceship in order to travel freely through space."
Jack knew from the moment Hayes put that big smile of his that something big was coming. Something that made him want to be sick today and unable to participate in this meeting he was now very much embroiled into with no chance of escape. Jack slowly turned, noticing that Daniel's face was expressing the same sentiment. It was the expression of fear. The time to have that conversation has finally come and he didn't know how to get out of it. No wonder Hayes didn't ask for anything concerning the troubles they were having. He was going to ask for the big one, about the Federation's white whale no one was supposed to talk about. "I must say, I didn't know you can put such a smile before asking for something like that. It sent chills down my spine. A feeling I didn't sense in quite some time."
"Well, I was the President of the United States for two terms. I learned a few things on how to deliver big requests properly so that the other side, let's say, is disarmed for a moment."
"Yes, well, you accomplished that perfectly," Daniel contributed.
"Still, performance aside, you know what you're asking right?" Jack asked, squinting slightly.
"Of course I do," Hayes added, again putting the same smile on. "I'm asking for what we were promised."
Again, chills went down Jack's spine while taking another blow. He had to admit it. Hayes was good. It made him realize that when it comes to being a politician both he and Daniel were mere beginners, at least when compared to the likes of Hayes. "Again with that smile!"
"I know what was promised, but you must realize in what situation we are in," Daniel continued, clearly deciding to take the initiative from Jack. "Everything that was discussed before the formation of the Terran Federation was only if the situation was favorable. We are now at war with an extremely dangerous enemy, with the result of having our entire star system littered with mines and other very dangerous devices meant to protect us from any alien incursion. The Terran Federation cannot have privately owned ships moving about at a time like this."
"I agree that this is no time for privateers to be flying around the galaxy," Hayes replied, again putting the same smile. "So, why don't you spring a nice Executive Order forbidding privateers from using spaceships in this perilous time of war, while at the same time you give us the promised knowledge allowing us to start building the first generation of commercial interstellar spaceships?"
If Jack weren't so healthy, he would probably get himself a heart attack at that exact moment. Hayes got them again with the Executive Order. Of course, forbidding privateers from using spaceships because it was too dangerous was in the Federal Council's power, not even very strange to be ordered in time of war. However, the Council was stalling, in truth, not wanting to give the necessary knowledge to build spaceships, and it was doing it for a good reason. When it came to the various law enforcement agencies the Terran Federation needed, they were falling far short. After three years, the Terran Federation still had no real force capable of policing Earth, their colonized planets and other holdings. It was a massive job and at least one agency at full capacity was needed, but the TBI (Terran Bureau of Investigation), the tentative name they were going with, right now barely had a few hundred people working in it, with almost no assets whatsoever.
Jack also knew that their situation wouldn't change anytime soon, as both resources and personnel were being funneled into the Terran military apparatus as soon as available in order to prepare for the massive clash they all knew was coming. However, this wasn't such a big problem since there was no way for any private citizen in the entire Terran Federation to leave the confines of a planet except by using a transport ship that belonged to the Terran Space Navy (TSN). The TBI wasn't needed because there was only a negligible chance of a crime being committed outside the jurisdiction of the planetary governments because there was no way to leave orbit unless under the watchful eye of the TSN personnel onboard one of their ships.
Nobody was foolish enough to try something criminal under such scrutiny.
Now instead, things were starting to unravel. Getting the necessary knowledge to build hyperdrives and spaceships capable of being used for mining, transport, or even as luxury boats for the rich and famous who wanted to pay top bucks in order to visit some crappy nebula in the middle of nowhere, was only the first necessary step in order to get what they wanted. Once ships were completed by corporations in droves from all of the planets in the Terran Federation, new demands would be asked of them to slowly lift the ban on travel. First, it would probably be for mining and similar stuff that can be automated to a high degree, hence putting only a small number of people in danger. Then, they were probably predicting that the war with the Vargas would lessen, at the very least in the Milky Way galaxy, at which point more requests would be sent to the Council so that travel was allowed more and more, and even for commercial purposes. All this would happen in maybe a year or a year and a half from the moment the Terran Federation released what was asked of them, yet both Jack and Daniel knew that in such a short time they would not be able to create the appropriate agencies needed to uphold the law and keep order on a Federal level.
"Jack, a promise is a promise and you know that the people who supported the creation of the Terran Federation asked for this particular concession from you. I know the Terran Federation would like for no private person to ever be able to leave the confines of the planet they live on unless under the scrutiny of the TSN, I get that, but I'm also certain that you're aware how unrealistic that wish is," Hayes continued after hearing no reply from either Jack or Daniel. "Also, if I'm to be frank with you, Jack, I'm not sure what about this makes you so worried."
Jack gave Daniel a glance, giving him a nod.
"It's because we cannot guarantee that the infrastructure and agencies needed to assure that laws are abided by will be ready when people start venturing into space," Daniel revealed what their true problem was.
"And not only a police force, customs or the necessary judicial system won't be ready. The needed TSN forces needed to quickly react in case of a ship in distress or the TIA that will have to keep a constantly watchful eye so that something unwanted doesn't find its way back to Earth or some of the other planets through a privately-owned ship, like what happened with the Chinese and the Aschen…"
"Let me stop you right there, Jack," Hayes said, clearly having noticed that Jack was on the role. "I get that things are not perfect, but don't you think that you're panicking for no good reason? I mean, the way you are telling it, it seems that suddenly thousands of ships will explode forth from our planets like rabid dogs wanting nothing else than to cause mayhem everywhere they go."
"Well, I do think it will look more or less like that, yes," Jack replied, fully imagining what Hayes depicted, with crazed people on their ship's helm itching to find out what's out there.
"Of course, we know it won't be exactly like that, but you must realize, Henry, that the moment we remove all restrictions, companies will start fighting over resources that can be found in space, be it for mining or some other lucrative business that can be found in space," Daniel explained.
"And with these problems, we actually haven't even touched the big elephant in the room yet," Jack added.
"Which is?" Hayes asked.
"In order to have efficient hyperdrives, you need an efficient power source, which translates to building Naquadah fueled nuclear reactors," Jack explained. "Even on Earth private companies can't buy plutonium, yet you expect us to fuel Earth with an even more dangerous material."
Hayes looked pissed. "Jack, for some weird reason you think of me as the enemy here and you're making a fuss about things that are not a problem at all."
Jack blinked twice. He didn't have a clue where this was going. "I don't understand."
"I got nothing," Daniel added.
Hayes sighed. "I'm not asking you to do something that's against federal laws. If Naquadah is on the list of regulated substances, then you simply don't allow private companies to own or use it, or give any knowledge on how it can be used. In this particular case, you don't give information on how to build Naquadah fueled nuclear reactors. This will inevitably cause problems when building spaceships, probably forcing companies to utilize fusion reactors instead, or fission if Earth's government allows the use of fissile fuel that's available on Earth and that's not regulated by the Terran Federation like Naquadah is. It will probably delay the development of the first gen of Earth spaceships and instead of having thousands of them living orbit like, as you described, rabid dogs after the restriction for space travel is lifted, you'll have many times less of them to worry about, isn't that right?" Hayes explained, this time giving a much more benevolent smile than the last few times. "As I've said before, today I'm only asking for what was promised, and nothing more. This means that what I want is for you to release the scientific theories necessary to develop hyperdrives, nothing more and nothing less."
Jack finally understood. Hayes was helping them. The man must have known what problems they were having and he was asking for the bare minimum that was promised so that he could tell people on Earth that they got it, while in truth, it would give them some major headaches. Jack knew that it wasn't impossible to build interstellar ships with working hyperdrives even without the need for Naquadah, but the task wouldn't be an easy or cheap one to develop. Fusion reactors could be used, but the theory behind the current reactors used on Earth would need to be refined in order for the reactors to be able to work in space while also giving a high-power output even though much smaller and able to fit on ships. The fusion reactors used on Earth were very efficient and low maintenance, but they were built without thinking of their size since it wasn't important for something that was to be placed on the planet's surface.
Once designed, interstellar ships that use fusion reactors would inevitably be bigger and yet would give out much less power than if Naquadah reactors were used. Less power meant less speed, and bigger ships meant more money. Combined, it meant fewer companies would be able to readily build them or even want to. All this meant that instead of a year or of a year and a half, they could rather predict two or maybe even three years before the first commercial spaceships were ready, and then there wouldn't be thousands of them, but much fewer in need to be monitored by the Terran Federation.
In the end, Hayes was really trying to find a solution that satisfied everybody. It was a good thing they had him inside Earth's government. He wasn't sure if someone else would have been so considerate of the problems the Terran Federation was having. "So, we only need to give the basic theory behind hyperspace travel?"
Hayes smiled again. "Wasn't that what I asked for at the beginning of this meeting?"
"Yes, you did," Jack continued, quickly giving a glance at Daniel. "Of course, we will have to reconvene with the rest of the Council before we can give you a final answer, but I'm pretty sure that in, let's say, a month's time the Terran Federation will release the requested scientific papers."
"Of course, of course. I didn't think you'd be able to give me an answer on the spot. A month's time is more than acceptable for me," Hayes replied promptly. "Well, this finishes the formal portion of this meeting. Now we can relax a little and talk about whatever we want."
"Why do I have the feeling that we are the only ones that need to relax?" Jack continued.
"I too have the strange sensation that this entire meeting went exactly as you planned for it to go, Henry," Daniel added.
"Well, I'm glad to see that there are still a few things that I can teach you," Hayes replied. "Now, let us go off the record now. Can you tell me something about how things are really going out there? I mean, we have rumors and theories floating around, especially after the Vargas managed to strike a blow at Earth with those three missiles that hit Asia, and I know the Terran Federation is giving constant updates, but I also know that a lot is not being said for security reasons or in order to evade mass panic. So, what's the uncensored version of what we are facing? Strictly between us, of course."
Jack gave Daniel another glance, before sighing. "Well, if it's between the three of us here in this room, then the answer is, we are swimming in crap up to our noses, barely able to breathe. I mean Earth and our other holdings are safe for the time being, of that, we are certain of. The way we dealt with the attack on Earth, with the Vargas losing around two thousand ships, showed them that we won't go down easy. Also, the Vargas are currently pretty low on the number of high-end ships in this region of space, which gives us some breathing room. To us, but also the Jaffa and the other races in this galaxy as well.
"The problem lies in what is coming, and in the fact that as far as we know there's no end to it. We can't win against an enemy if we can't find where they come from. We don't even know their true strength. Like hard numbers of ships, planets - stuff like that - or what else they have in store for us. As far as I can tell, if we don't come up with some miraculous trump card, there's no way we can win. The most we can hope for is to somehow push the Vargas out of the Milky Way galaxy and then set up some kind of blockade to keep them out. However, even for that, I don't really know how we are going to accomplish it, and even less keep it that way indefinitely afterward," Jack explained, feeling frustration starting to rise in him.
"My point of view is the same, or maybe even worse," Daniel began explaining, probably by thinking of some recent memories. "I saw what the Vargas use as their foot soldiers and in a nutshell, it's ugly. Even without going into how efficient those things are in depopulating a planet of humans, we can quickly conclude that communication of any kind is not possible. Those Crabs are mindless killers, only doing it in order to feed, the Reapers are machines that are programmed to kill - hence no joy there either - and the last are the Hunters, which seems to be able of communicating with us, but they simply don't care for it. I think that that race was the same even before meeting the Vargas. Hunters enjoying the thrill of the hunt and nothing else matters. Hence, no common ground with them can be found either."
"Even without more Vargas ships coming to the Milky Way galaxy, we will soon be overwhelmed by the Reapers," Jack continued. He was of the opinion that the Reapers were also a threat they need to pay more attention to.
"I thought the Reapers weren't such an opponent? I thought the Jaffa and the other human races were more than capable of dealing with them even on their own?" Hayes asked, mystified by this last revelation.
"Well, they are. For now, that is. The problem is that the Reapers are building in numbers and they are doing it without the need for any specific infrastructure. As more ships are built, they too begin replicating even more of themselves. Soon, there will be too many to deal with, no matter what technology we possess," Jack responded, again thinking how he really didn't like intelligent machines in general.
"The Vargas are not stupid. They are not thinking simply in terms of bringing a large fleet of very advanced ships to beat us. They are employing other means to achieve their goal, which probably is to cleanse the entire universe of any threat. In order to achieve that, swarming a galaxy with cheap machines can have the same outcome as by using the much more expensive and advanced ships the Vargas employee. Thinking of it, there is a greater chance of us finding a weapon capable of stopping the Vargas ships than finding a way to stop an opponent that grows exponentially, no matter how much weaker the individual units of the second opponent are," Daniel continued.
"Do we have a way to stop the Vargas ships at least, if not this machine menace?" Hayes asked.
"There are several theories we are working on and that could result in a weapon system capable of achieving that goal. The problem is that we don't have a clue when our research will yield any results," Daniel answered. "Now that I'm back after three months that I was missing, I can say that not much progress has been done in completing such a weapon."
"It's not the fault of the scientists working on the research either," Jack continued, predicting Hayes asking why they weren't getting any results. "The problem is that we are reaching the end of what it is possible and what's not, which is not strange at all. The Vargas can easily be construed as the ultimate enemy, with advanced tech smartly utilized. Their ships are meant to survive everything except the most destructive weapons that can be created. We are also not the only ones who are reaching the limits of our comprehension. Both the Alterrans and the Asgard are racking their brains trying to come up with the underlying theories we need in order to create the wanted systems and we are doing it with the knowledge brought from the ascended Alterrans by Argos. Without all that, we would never be thinking of building half of the systems we are trying to build at this moment. It is strange to say that the fact that we are working on almost impossible to understand theories is a good thing, and the thing that could save us in the end."
"Why are these theories being almost impossible to understand a good thing?" Hayes asked, clearly not following Jack's train of thought.
"Without the knowledge from the Ascended Alterrans, we wouldn't be able to even start working on some of the things we are trying to build at the moment, and from studying the Vargas ships there are strong indicators that the Vargas don't have access to the ascended knowledge we do. If they did, some things we found on their ships would have been built in a slightly different way simply because built that way would have increased the overall efficiency of their ships," Jack explained. It meant that the Vargas didn't have some of the knowledge necessary to work on the same type of weapons they were working on.
Hayes was thoughtful for quite a long time. "So, you're saying that only ascended beings could have learned some things no mortals ever could, and since the Vargas don't use that knowledge even after such a long time, possibly a span of even more than a billion years, then we have a chance of coming up with something that the Vargas can't."
"Exactly," Jack continued. "The entire research that is done in the pocket universe, the Clava Thessara Infinitas, is focused on creating things that the Vargas couldn't have conceived and maybe even more importantly, don't know that we can create them. This is our only chance to have an overwhelming advantage over them. A superior weapon and the element of surprise, since I'm certain that if given enough time, the Vargas would be able to counter whatever we invent and no matter with what knowledge. They are just that kind of enemy."
"Yet, you say that even if we somehow manage to build such advanced systems, be they meant as a weapon or some other system that increases the survivability of our ships, such still wouldn't be suitable for fighting the Reapers," Hayes responded.
"Exactly right," Jack continued. "In order to win against the Reapers, I think that high-end but at the same time also difficult to build weapon systems aren't the way to go,"
"Huh, that sucks," Hayes said, deflated. "Pardon my language."
"No, we agree completely. It does suck," Daniel replied promptly. "But, I think that Sam was on the right track on how to approach the Reapers' problem, so even there we have hope."
"Sam has an enormous amount of ideas on an even larger number of problems. Frankly, I'm not sure how her head doesn't simply explode under the pressure. To which idea are you referring too?" Jack asked.
"Well, she said that we should think of our galaxy as the body and the Reapers as a pathogen. In that case, nature tells us that the best way to win against such an enemy is to create specific antibodies for that particular pathogen, antibodies only capable of tackling this specific threat. Sam says that this should be the optimal solution since the Reapers' greatest weakness is their lack of flexibility. They are as they are, unchanging in their appearance and behavior. This means that we should be able to build the perfect killing machine constructed with systems specifically built to fight them efficiently," Daniel explained.
"It makes sense and I think Sam's idea can show us the direction we need to go, yet, the difficult task of coming up with the blueprints for this perfect killing machine still remains unsolved. With all of our scientists already overtaxed with projects, we don't have many people to task with this one," Jack explained one part of the problem. "Also, even if we go with Sam's idea, we still have a big problem that we need to overcome. As opposed to how our body fights of a disease, we do not have the ability to flood the whole galaxy with killing machines. A galaxy is simply too big for that to be a possibility."
"I see we are still far from finding a way to push the Vargas out of the Milky Way galaxy," Hayes stated, more to himself than to anyone else. "Well, at least there are some promising possibilities. That's something, right?"
Jack didn't exactly know how to respond to that. He knew they were not giving Hayes the answers he wanted to hear. The man probably wanted to hear that real progress was being made and that a resolution to this conflict was if not fast approaching then at least somewhere on the horizon. Yet, if he responded in such a way, that would be nothing but a lie. It was true there was a chance of finding a magic bullet that could end the war in a year's time; after all, they possess knowledge not even the enemy had. However, optimistically thinking that this magic bullet is so close to being developed can be a very dangerous way of thinking.
"Well, there's also the chance of help coming from some other place. We shouldn't forget that Liam's out there. Doing who knows what, but certainly something that is messing with the Vargas. Maybe once he comes back he'll have important information and maybe even allies that can help us. After all, the Vargas are the enemy of every sentient race in the galaxy. There should be a few races left that can support us in our fight and that have a grudge against them."
"I agree. The mere fact that the Vargas haven't sent an overwhelming force our way suggests that they have other problems they need to deal with. Maybe Liam or some other race is giving them a headache," Daniel said, adding some optimism into an otherwise pretty grim conversation. Not everything was as black as they had been making it sound.
"True," Hayes replied, still thoughtful for some reason. "Still, I think it is a good thing these facts I've heard today are not spread throughout the planet. I think that after the attack eight months ago, the one that regrettably took millions of lives in Asia, people need all the optimism they can get. And getting the news that we are actually losing ground to the Vargas and that we currently have no idea on how to end this war would have a very bad impact on people."
It was true that the damage in Asia done by the Vargas was a big blow to Earth. It was the second time something like that happened. The first time was after Ba'al had managed to bring two Ha'tak while Earth was undefended. Still, the fact that the Vargas lost two thousand ships in the attack and that only three out of thousands of missiles had actually made it inside Earth's orbit, made the tragedy sound like an overwhelming victory for the good guys. It was still a shock, but far smaller than after what Ba'al had done to Earth. In that instance, millions of people lost their lives while the enemy lost only two meager ships. Combined with the fact that, at the time, people didn't know about aliens or that the governments knew about their existence but decided to keep it secret, the two incidents had different optics attached to them. All in all, the battle fought not so long ago left people with the sense that they were protected, rather than the sense that they were exposed to enemy incursions. Because of it, keeping an optimistic spin to the news Earth was receiving was even more important now.
Jack's earpiece chirped. "What is it?"
"Sir, your next appointment is in fifteen minutes," Jack heard Walter's voice saying.
"Thank you, Walter. We are finishing up here anyway," Jack responded through the earpiece before disconnecting.
"It seems our time's up," Daniel understood what was going on after hearing Jack's reply. "It really was a short visit."
"That it was," Jack added. "At least we were able to take a walk and see some of the many changes happening on Earth."
"If you have some free time, let's schedule a proper tour of Earth so that you can see all the changes that are happening around the world," Hayes responded. "Strolling through a few streets in the middle of New York isn't bad, but far from enough to get the whole picture of what Earth's becoming."
"You're right about that," Jack responded. "I'll have to ask Walter when I have enough free time for a longer visit."
Jack and Daniel got up on their feet. It was time to go back to their daily routine. After shaking hands with Hayes, Jack contacted Walter again, asking to be beamed away. It didn't take long for the beaming ray to envelope both him and Daniel and whisk them away.
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