Mitchell, Nicole Keller, Hailey, Zalenka, Gardner, Ginn, and Wallace were picking themselves up off the floor.
"Someone tell me what just happened?" asked Mitchell.
"Give me a minute I'm trying to make sense of this navigation reading," replied Ginn.
"I'm looking over the sensors," replied Zalenka.
"I can tell you all systems are normal," replied Wallace.
"The navigation system can't be right. It says we traveled over one hundred billion light-years," replied Ginn.
"I'm sorry did you say one hundred billion? With a B?" asked Mitchell.
"It looks like the system is correct, a few moments after we entered hyperspace, we accelerated to something off the charts. Our systems can't even register the speed," replied Zalenka.
"We were only in hyperspace for a second," replied Mitchell.
"The acceleration was that extreme," replied Zalenka.
"Wait I thought the universe was only fourteen billion light-years wide?" asked Mitchell.
"The known universe is fourteen billion light-years wide," replied Zalenka.
"The known universe? So we are out along the rim?" asked Mitchell.
"If my calculations are correct at max hyperdrive, it will take us three and a half years to reach Altera," spoke Wallace.
"That's if we go in the right direction," replied Zalenka looking at Wallace's calculations.
"Three and a half years?" cried Nicole Keller.
"We have wormhole drive, it make take a number of jumps but we should be able to get back in a single day," replied Mitchell.
"Sir, I am detecting ships approaching us," replied Ginn.
"On screen," replied Mitchell.
The screen showed three ships about half the size of Curiosity approaching. They took a position directly in front of Curiosity. A planet could be seen in the distance.
"Ginn lay in a wormhole jump, to get us out of here if we need it," ordered Mitchell.
"She can't," replied Zalenka.
"Why?" asked Mitchell.
"We have no navigation data to use. We don't even know for sure which way is home," replied Zalenka.
"Can we jump to hyperspace without going another one hundred billion light-years?" asked Mitchell.
"I don't know," replied Zalenka.
"How about something short range within our sensor range, but away from these ships?" asked Mitchell.
"I can do that," replied Ginn.
"Sir we are getting a signal from those ships," replied Hailey.
"On screen," replied Mitchell.
"One second I have to make some adjustments," replied Hailey. After a few minutes, a video came into focus. A reptilian creature appeared on the screen.
"Hi, we come in peace," replied Mitchell.
The creature looked at them confused and stunned.
"Sarah a little help here," spoke Mitchell.
"What am I supposed to do?" asked Gardner.
"You're the linguist!" exclaimed Mitchell.
"Let's see what I can do," spoke Gardner pointing at herself, "Sarah."
The creature turned and spoke in a guttural language.
"Wait that almost sounded like Dravidian," replied Gardner. She began punching up on our workstation. Before long she looked up the word peace in Proto-Dravidian.
Gardner then spoke, "I think they are speaking a mixture of Tamil, Toda, and Irula."
Mitchell staring at her, "Can you translate?"
"Trying to now," replied Gardner.
Gardner spoke, "சமாதானம்"
The figure on the screen turned to look back at the crew of the Curiosity, "அமைதி ஆம்"
"What did you say? And what did he say?" asked Mitchell.
"I said 'Peace' and he replied 'Peace Yes'," replied Gardner.
"Now that is a good start," replied Mitchell.
"Sarah if you could help me I might able to setup a translation system for us to use," replied Wallace.
"Let's do it, my Dravidian is not the best," replied Gardner.
"How would these people this far from Earth know a language from Earth?" asked Mitchell.
"That is a question I would love to have answered," replied Gardner.
"That is why we are out here," replied Nicole Keller.
The figure on the screen spoke again, "நாங்கள் உடம்பு சரியில்லை"
"What did he say?" asked Mitchell.
"I think he said 'We sick'," replied Gardner.
"Is he asking if we are sick, or is he saying they are sick?" asked Mitchell.
"I don't know," replied Gardner.
Nicole Keller looked up, "I think he is sick!" Watching as the figure fell over on the screen.
"Sir the other two ships are returning to the planet," replied Jinn.
"நீங்கள் நன்றாக இருக்கிறீர்களா?" shouted Gardner.
"What was that?" asked Mitchell.
"I asked if he is alright," replied Gardner.
"Sir, that ship has one life sign on it, and it's fading," replied Ginn.
Mitchell turning to Nicole Keller, "Can you help him?"
"I have no idea," replied Nicole Keller.
"Eli beam him to a medical pod," ordered Mitchell.
"Yes sir," replied Wallace. Punching on his console, a flash of light from the view screen could be seen.
"Heading to medical," replied Nicole Keller.
"Let me know what you find out!" yelled Mitchell.
"Will do!" shouted Nicole Keller running from the bridge. Everyone took a few minutes to let the realization of everything transpiring to sink in. Mitchell looked around the bridge and could see everyone was scared, confused and lost. He took a deep breath to gather his own thoughts and work out a plan.
"What do we do?" asked Wallace.
"Zalenka I want you working on how to get us back home. Figure out if we can safely use the hyperdrives or not. Then figure out a way we can use the Wormhole drives," ordered Mitchell.
"On it!" replied Zalenka heading to his lab.
"Sarah I want you and Eli working on setting up that translation system. If they speak a language from Earth then chances are others will to. We need to be prepared," ordered Mitchell.
"Shouldn't take more than another twenty to thirty minutes, with this new computer core," replied Wallace.
"Ginn I want you scanning as far as you can, looking for any threats and updating the navigation system as much as possible. I want to be able to make at least small jumps with the wormhole drive if we can. If those ships start to return let us know immediately," ordered Mitchell.
"Sir I have the bridge if you want to check on Dr. Keller and our guest," replied Hailey.
"Thank you!" replied Mitchell heading out for medical.
Mitchell on his way to medical was trying to figure out the next steps, if they were three and half years from Earth at max hyperdrive, that was going to be a long haul. He didn't know if the engines were even capable of that, or if they would have to make multiple stops along the way, a question for Zalenka when he had a chance. Forty minutes ago they were safely in between Pegasus and Milky Way, then now they were one hundred billion light-years away. Those aliens had massive ships but only one person on board something didn't add up. He hoped to establish good relations with them, they may need a friend out here. Hopefully, Keller is able to help him. However, his comrades didn't seem to care.
Mitchell arriving in medical, "Tell me some good news."
"I was able to place him in stasis. What I think is his heart is barely beating. Scans are showing his system is shutting down. I'm running a full analysis of his body, to try and determine the cause," replied Nicole Keller.
"Can you heal him?" asked Mitchell.
"Right now I can't even tell you what needs healing," replied Nicole Keller.
Mitchell took a good look at their guest in the medical pod. He was easily a foot taller than him. He looked more like a chameleon, walking upright. He could see a short tail sticking out from behind a leg and reptilian skin covering his body.
"He seems more related to the Unas that we have met back home than anything else we know about," replied Mitchell.
"That's a good idea, let me check his anatomy against an Unas," replied Nicole Keller.
"We have their anatomy on file?" asked Mitchell.
"Yes, Commander O'Neill thought it would be a good idea to study them," replied Nicole Keller, "And we are lucky he did. They are not a perfect match but much closer in matching."
"Hey whatever I can do to help," replied Mitchell.
"Well, there isn't much to do here for a while. It's going to take a while to scan and sequence his genes. Hopefully, the system can find something from that," replied Nicole Keller.
"Heading back to the bridge. Let me know the moment you know anything," replied Mitchell.
Mitchell stopped along the way to catch his own breath. He had to show he had it all together for the crew. He laughed at himself, it wasn't a crew, it was a team of seven, on a ship designed to hold over six hundred. This was going to be one for the books.
Hailey was reviewing the sensor logs of the planet. It appeared to have over one million inhabitants. Only a few ships, only a few looked like they could actually fly. The two that had approached Curiosity and one other.
Mitchell arriving back on the bridge, "Status?"
"Sensors are showing no threats currently. The two ships that returned to the planet appear to be two of three ships capable of flight. The remaining ones are derelicts it appears. Scans show a population of over one million," replied Hailey.
"We are close to having the translation system in place. It will automatically start for any communication on the view screen and Avidan can be called on to perform the translation as well," spoke Wallace.
"Good work, any word from Zalenka," asked Mitchell.
An alarm just went off on Wallace's station, "Sir someone has disabled the wormhole drive."
"That would be Zalenka," replied Mitchell.
"Yes that's here in the logs," replied Wallace.
"Hailey you have the bridge. Going to talk to Zalenka," replied Mitchell.
Zalenka was hunched over his station in his lab when Mitchell entered.
"Something you care to share?" asked Mitchell.
"We can not use the wormhole drive," replied Zalenka.
"Why?" asked Mitchell.
Pointing at a small black smudge in a containment chamber, "That is what happens if you try to establish a small wormhole."
"An explosion?" asked Mitchell.
"Yes, there is something out here that causes the wormhole to be very unstable. I do not know what yet," replied Zalenka.
"OK, how about hyperdrive?" asked Mitchell.
"Hyperdrive will work just fine. I was just going over the logs, and it appears the second we started to enter hyperspace, a ribbon of energy hit us. I've never seen anything like it before, however, we accelerated to a speed of 10^24, for that brief of time we were in hyperspace, we jumped this far out. Logs show we were in hyperspace less than a millionth of a second," explained Zalenka.
"That has to be a new speed record. Does any of this help us?" asked Mitchell.
"Yes. Because I know how we got here I know which way home is from here," replied Zalenka.
"That is a great start!" explained Mitchell.
"That ribbon is why that star was accelerating so fast. I believe it had hit the star at some point," replied Zalenka.
"Can our sensors detect ribbons like this?" asked Mitchell.
"Yes so we should be able to avoid them," replied Zalenka.
"Avoid them I want to use them to get back," replied Mitchell.
"Not a good idea. We were extremely lucky that the ship didn't tear apart. The stress it underwent from the acceleration even with inertial dampeners, we're lucky to be alive," replied Zalenka, "I had just sent a message to Eli, asking him to check the nanite repair system for any repairs,"
"So you're telling me that we can't duplicate it?" asked Mitchell.
"Chances of that happening are as good as McKay eating a lemon," replied Zalenka.
"I know we were expecting delays on communications the further we moved away from Earth, how about from here?" asked Mitchell.
"Destiny was experiencing delays under a second, which considering that distance was amazing. from here I would expect several minutes," replied Zalenka.
"Minutes? We can live with that," replied Mitchell.
"That's not the problem. Distance is also going to weaken the signal. I don't know if our signal would be strong enough for them to even pick up," replied Zalenka.
"You sure are full of good news," replied Mitchell.
"I might be able to focus the signal directly at Earth, but that is going to be limited still," replied Zalenka.
"See what you can do, anything that can help," replied Mitchell.
"Will, I've been part of a lost crew before, on Atlantis, so I know how it feels to have that communication," replied Zalenka.
"I bet you do," replied Mitchell leaving for the bridge.
Three hours later Mitchell called the crew together to go over status.
"Anything on our guest?" asked Mitchell.
"He has a virus, that is woven into his DNA. The system is working on extracting it. However it's going to take a little time," replied Nicole Keller.
"Is it contagious to us?" asked Hailey.
"Not to us," replied Nicole Keller.
"Zalenka, update everyone on our status?" asked Mitchell.
"When we entered Hyperspace we were hit by a ribbon of energy that accelerated us to 10^24 light years a second. While we were in hyperspace for less than a second, it through us this far out, basically 100 billion light-years. In this region of space, something is making wormholes completely unstable. If we attempted to create a wormhole we would probably destroy this and the next couple of solar systems in the explosions. Hyperdrive is working and we can use it. I have sent the basic direction of Earth in the navigation system. We have about ninety billion light-years of blank navigation data between here and there," answered Zalenka.
"What about communication back to Earth?" asked Mitchell.
"We have not gotten any signal from Earth. We have no way of knowing if our signal is getting through," replied Ginn.
"That's because we are too far away. The signal doesn't have the strength for them to pick up. The same goes for us receiving theirs. Plus there would be roughly a nine-minute delay in our message. I am working on a way to direct a signal toward Earth, with increased strength. I hope they can figure out that it's more than static," replied Zalenka.
"Ship status Eli?" asked Mitchell.
"Zalenka asked me to check the nanite repair system. While everything looked like the ship was in good shape, they have actually been repairing microfractures over the entire ship. From the hull to the frame everything was pushed to its limit. Our nanites kept any leaks from happening but it's still going to take another seven hours before all repairs are complete," replied Wallace.
"We got extremely lucky the ship held up to the extreme stress of the flight," replied Zalenka.
"What about the translation system?" asked Mitchell.
"Eli and I have it functioning. It will cross-reference any language we hear and try to find it in our records," replied Gardner.
"Universal Translator, nice," replied Mitchell.
"Star Trek again?" asked Gardner.
"How is our food stores?" asked Mitchell.
"I checked on those. We have enough food stores in crystal storage to last the seven of us, for a hundred years. Water as well," replied Hailey.
"So folks. It's the seven of us out here on a ship designed to hold seven hundred. Thankfully we have plenty of food and water. We know which direction home is in, and we are going to start our journey back there," replied Mitchell.
"How are we supposed to work this ship with just seven of us?" asked Wallace.
"The ship can be flown by one person, and much of it is automated. We will be taking advantage of all of that as much as we can. Some of us are going to have to double up on our duties. Sarah, I need you to work work with Nicole as a backup medical. Zalenka, Eli and Ginn you three should be able to alternate your stations. Hailey and I will have to take turns, and can help with the navigation when needed," replied Mitchell.
"Zalenka you're going to need to show Eli and Ginn the full engineering system and anything they may need to know they don't," spoke Mitchell.
"Its the hyperspace drives, and wormhole drive I will need to show them. Thankfully rest of the systems they should be knowledgeable on," replied Zalenka.
Nicole Keller's tablet dinged, "It looks like our patient has the virus removed from his system. I'm revitalizing his DNA now. We should be able to bring him out of stasis in about 20 minutes."
"Excellent, let's give the translation system a test run," spoke Mitchell. Nicole, Gardner, and Mitchell left for the medical bay.
"Anyone else nervous about running this ship?" asked Ginn.
"As Commander Mitchell said, it only takes one person to run this ship," replied Hailey, "Trust me I understand why you would be nervous."
"Ahh this is nothing, we are on a ship, we have power, so what we are one hundred billion light-years away from Earth. This is way better than when we went to Atlantis!" cried Zalenka, "Now I'm off to try to get a communication to Earth working."
"We can do this Ginn," replied Wallace.
Down in medical, Nicole was waking up her patient.
"Avidan we need you to translate for us," spoke Gardner.
"So how does this work, we will speak, and it will, in turn, translate it into their language," replied Gardner.
Her patient jumped up from the table, taking a defensive position. Realization set in on how he felt, "நீங்கள் என்ன செய்தீர்கள்?"
Avidan spoke, "What have you done?"
"We healed you of the virus you had. We mean you no harm," spoke Mitchell.
Avidan spoke, "உங்களிடம் இருந்த வைரஸை நாங்கள் குணப்படுத்தினோம். உங்களுக்கு எந்தத் தீங்கும் இல்லை என்று நாங்கள் கருதுகிறோம்,"
The patient spoke, "அது என்ன?"
Avidan spoke, "What is that?"
"This is a hologram, that is translating our languages for us," replied Mitchell.
"இது ஒரு ஹாலோகிராம், இது எங்கள் மொழிகளை எங்களுக்காக மொழிபெயர்க்கிறது," spoke Avidan.
(Please note: At this point, you can assume the translation system is running for them.)
"My name is Nicole, I am a doctor. I healed you using our machine here," spoke Nicole.
"I am Moran. My people are slowing dying of this disease," replied Moran.
"Moran, I am Commander Mitchell. Do we need to fear any attacks from your people?" asked Mitchell.
"My people have very little time left, outside of protecting our people from aggression, we would not make any attack," spoke Moran.
"You said your people are dying, but there are a million people on the planet," spoke Mitchell.
"We are all infected. Most are too weak to care for themselves," replied Moran.
"Nicole, can we do anything for them?" asked Mitchell.
"Yes please can you cure my people like you did me?" asked Moran.
"It would be impossible to put all your people through the pods to cure them. It's taken nearly a day to cure you," replied Nicole, "However let me see I maybe able to help you."
"Please thank you!" spoke Moran.
"Now I need you to lay down and rest," spoke Nicole.
"I need to talk to my people," spoke Moran.
"Lay down, I will have someone come by to setup communication to your people," replied Mitchell.
Nicole worked late into the night, studying the virus and how to cure it, without the use of nanites. She needed a solution that would be effective across a million people and readily made available. With the help of the core, she devised an RNA sequence that would strip out the virus from the DNA. She began work on a delivery system.
Elsewhere in his lab, Zalenka was working on designing a new communication dish, that could be focused, instead of the wide broadcast of the current system. It was time for him to put his nanites to work building it.
Mitchell was the first up and was preparing breakfast for everyone in the mess hall. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits were the menu this morning.
"How did everyone sleep?" asked Mitchell.
"Never got a chance to. I have a communication dish created and ready to install," replied Zalenka.
"I have been sequencing DNA and to create an RNA strand to remove the virus, then a delivery system. No sleep here," replied Nicole.
"Like a rock," spoke Wallace.
"No sleep here," yawned Ginn.
"Getting ready to call it night, now that your up," replied Hailey.
"Thank you for taking the first watch," replied Mitchell.
"No problem. Once we get a routine going it will be easier," replied Hailey.
"Zalenka, get that dish installed, and I sent you a communication to send back to Earth. Include anything and everything you need to let them know of our current position and status. Everyone else, get a recording to send back as well," replied Mitchell
"Nicole, you need to get some rest," spoke Mitchell.
"I've got about another hour of work to do before we test out my cure. Moran has arranged for a hospital to be used as a test case," replied Nicole.
"How are we delivering the cure?" asked Mitchell.
"We are giving them the flu. Using a flu virus as a carrier to deliver an RNA sequence that will remove the DNA of the virus. It's the most virulent version of the flu we have. When I tested it on Moran, he was fully infected with at one part per million," replied Nicole.
"How are we doing the test?" asked Mitchell.
"We are going to beam in a small sample of the virus to the hospital, and it should spread like wildfire," spoke Nicole.
"You have a go, but get some rest as soon as you can!" ordered Mitchell.
"Commander Mitchell you have the bridge!" replied Hailey heading for her bed.
"Get some rest!" replied Mitchell.
Not much was going on the bridge. Zalenka was working with Wallace to get the new dish installed. Nicole finally came to the bridge with Moran.
Moran spoke, "Commander Mitchell it is good to see you."
"Good to see you up and about," replied Mitchell.
"My people will forever be in your debt. This cure has been destroying my people," replied Moran.
"Glad we could help. Dr. Keller here is amazing," replied Mitchell.
"It's the gene sequencer and analyzer that did all the work," replied Nicole.
"What do I need to do?" asked Moran.
"We will beam you to the hospital. Press this button and it will release the cure into the air, it should spread very quickly," replied Nicole.
"How will we spread it worldwide?" asked Moran.
"Once we see it is effective. We will provide you with several more of these containers. Gather as many people as you can in an area and press the button. Those people then just need to go around and meet others. They will be carriers for the cure," replied Nicole.
"I do not fully understand how this works. I am a pilot, not a medical person," replied Moran.
"Are you ready?" asked Mitchell.
"Yes," replied Moran, taking the canister from Nicole.
"Eli beam him to the hospital," ordered Mitchell.
"Yes sir," replied Wallace. Moran disappeared in white light from the bridge.
"You go get some rest," ordered Mitchell.
"No I need to make sure this works and there are no complications," replied Nicole.
Twenty minutes went by waiting and no word on anything.
Zalenka shouted, "It's working!"
"We can communicate with Altera?" asked Mitchell.
"Well, we can send communications to them. Hopefully, they can pick them up," replied Zalenka.
"Wait we can't receive?" asked Mitchell.
"Well I'm going to send out specs on my dish, they should be able to send out a directed signal back to us," replied Zalenka, "Hopefully we can pick it up."
"Hopefully?" asked Mitchell.
"Hopefully they can boost there signal enough that we can detect it," replied Zalenka.
"Send the messages," ordered Mitchell.
Wallace punched a couple of buttons, "Done!"
"Now we wait," replied Zalenka.
Two hours pass before they heard from Moran. The doctors in the hospital were seeing the cure work successfully. The patients were already being taken to other medical facilitates to spread the cure. Mitchell had the remaining canisters beamed down immediately. Moran requested if they could bring their leader on board to greet them. Gardner requested they bring a historian as well.
Meanwhile back in Altera.
"Dr. McKay our long-range communication system is picking up some sort of low power distortion," spoke the Kidwell.
"Let me have a look," replied McKay. He began looking over the signal and finally, he saw it.
"This isn't distortion this is an extremely weak signal!" exclaimed McKay. He began recording it, directed more power to boost the receiver.
Commander Davis asked, "What is the message? Who is it from?"
"Thankfully they were repeating it. It took several times to piece it all together. It's from the Curiosity!" shouted McKay.
A cheer went up from everyone around the gateroom.
"McKay with me and bring that message," ordered Davis. They went to Davis's office.
"OK, show me the message," ordered Davis.
"It's text-based and a couple of images. Commander Mitchell is saying they were affected by an energy ribbon that shot them one hundred billion light-years away from Earth. The ship and team are safe, they helping a race there. They do not have the navigation data to be able to use the Wormhole Drive to get back. Hyperspace?" spoke McKay.
"Hyperspace?" asked Davis.
"Sorry, just doing the calculations in my head. It's going to take them three and a half years to get back traveling by hyperspace at max speed," replied McKay.
"What?" asked Davis.
"That's how long it will take to travel that distance," replied McKay, "Ahh the rest of the message is Zalenka giving specs on a communication dish he created to direct a signal back to Earth strong enough for us to detect."
"Can we use that to get a message to them?" asked Davis.
"I will have to see," replied McKay.
"I will inform Commander O'Neill of this immediately. Keep this under wraps for now," ordered Davis.
"Ok," replied McKay.
Moran was excited to introduce the Grand Chancellor to the crew of the Curiosity.
"Commander Mitchell this is Grand Chancellor Dorlock, and this is one of our esteemed historians, Joran," introduced Moran.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," replied Mitchell.
In walked Nicole, "Grand Chancellor this is Dr. Keller who saved our people," cried Moran.
All three bowed in reverence to Nicole.
"Please stop that," cried Nicole.
"My people are forever in your debt. No honor is high enough for you," cried Dorlock.
"I'm just happy I was able to help your people," replied Nicole.
Gardner stepped up, "Joran, could I speak with you. I have many questions about your people I would love to ask."
"For the crew of the Curiosity anything," bowed Joran.
Mitchell and the rest of the crew continued to talk pleasantries with Dorlock and Moran.
"I am very curious, your language is a language we have from my planet. How could you possibly know it?" asked Gardner.
"My people are not from here originally. We come from a far distant collection of stars known as Avalon," spoke Joran.
"Wait you're from Avalon?" asked Gardner.
"Yes, the Builders built a great ship and collected many races from around Avalon and brought them out to this area of space. Planets that were favorable for each kind were found and we were settled there," replied Joran.
"We're these Builders great powerful beings of energy?" asked Gardner.
"We called them gods, they used the word ascended, as our history records them," replied Joran.
"We know them as the ancients," replied Gardner.
"They have taught you as well? Did they send you to us?" asked Joran.
"No, we learned on our own. They were similar in appearance to us. They have passed on, and are no longer in our universe," replied Gardner.
"That is a shame I would have wished to meet them," replied Joran.
"How long ago was this for your people?" asked Gardner.
"Twelve thousand three hundred forty-seven cycles ago," replied Joran.
"A cycle is a trip of your planet around your star?" asked Gardner.
"That is correct," replied Joran.
"Do you know the name of the one who sent you out here?" asked Gardner.
"Our history records his name as Noah," replied Joran.
"Noah's Ark, that is a story we know among my people. So tell me more about this ship and the journey to here," replied Gardner.
"What we know is they collected twenty-five women and men of each of every race in Avalon. The ship traveled for years, when it would find planets that suited each race it would deposit them with food, housing, and a teacher to teach them over the years," replied Joran.
"Do you know of any other races?" asked Gardner.
"From the ones the Builders sent we do not. We have encountered only three other races here," replied Joran.
"Can you tell me about them?" asked Gardner.
"The Verlags, they are a warlike race. They raid us from time to time. We have only been able to establish minimal communication with those we have captured," replied Joran, "Then you have the Burchen, we trade with them. However, they have stopped since we became sick. They have ships that can travel here, and trade us in food and a few of our natural resources. They are friendly, but they are always looking for a deal. Lastly, you have the Saldos. We see them rarely, we do not know where they come from. They are secretive and do not share much with anyone. When they do come it is always for water."
"Interesting, please tell me more about what your people have done since they settled here," replied Gardner.
The conversations continued for hours. Stories of their people and how they became capable of space flight. Zalenka and Hailey were particularly interested in these stories. The next day they were preparing to leave orbit to begin the journey home.
"So tell us what you learned Sarah?" asked Mitchell.
"Well, it appears Noah's Ark wasn't about saving animals from a flood but saving races around the Milky Way. Instead of two of each kind, it was twenty-five male and twenty-five female of each. They were dropped off at suitable planets for their races on their journey," replied Gardner.
"Your saying these races are from the Milky Way? Who brought them out here? How?" asked Zalenka.
"That would make sense their race was very similiar to the Unas," replied Nicole.
"Apparently an Ascended Ancient name Noah built a large ship and brought them out here," replied Gardner.
"Noah's Ark?" asked Mitchell.
"That would be the one," replied Gardner.
"Nobody stopped him?" asked Hailey.
"Apparently not," replied Gardner.
"Do we know anything more on them?" asked Mitchell.
"Only that our new friends here the Unacks, were the second to last race to be let off. They don't know what happened to the ship that brought them here, or anything," replied Gardner.
"Do they know of any threats in this area?" asked Mitchell.
"The Verlags, they are raiders. Apparently they raid the Unacks occaionally. Then a group known as the Saldos, no reported agression, but they seem to be more clandestine in nature," replied Gardner.
"I just don't get it. Where ever we go, Earth or the Milky Way seem to be the center piece," spoke Zalenka.
"It is very curious. All of our old myths seem to be true in some manor," replied Gardner.
"You know in our galactic neighborhood I would expect that. This far out to have ties all the way back there, it's amazing," replied Hailey.
"Frightening is the word I would use," replied Mitchell.
"Why do you say that?" asked Gardner.
"Just think about it. The ancients seeded life in our galaxy with the Dakara Super Weapon, and apparently did something similar in Pegasus. It seems life sprung from that, and had to expand outside of the original four races," replied Mitchell.
"I never thought about the Dakara device. It caused all of those species to evolve. If the ancients hadn't used it, none of us could be here," replied Hailey.
"It seeded life in our galaxy. We know they did something similiar in the Pegasus galaxy," replied Gardner.
"Question, where is the device they used in the Pegasus galaxy?" asked Mitchell.
"That is a good question," replied Hailey.
"They couldn't have dialed the gates in Pegasus from Dakara, the energy required would be too extreme, even for the ancients," replied Zalenka.
"There must be another device," replied Hailey.
"But where?" asked Wallace.
"Now that is a question for Altera to solve," replied Mitchell.
Zalenka had advised they should stay in their current location while giving Earth time to respond to their message. A few days turned into three weeks. Many discussions with the Unacks were held. They event discussed interest in joining the alliance, if communication and travel could be resolved.
In the second week in orbit, Ginn cried, "Sir we have a ship approaching and it's not a Unack ship,"
"Contact Dorlock, let him know they have a visitor," ordered Mitchell.
Ginn a minute later, "Sir, the Grand Chancellor says that must be a Verlag ship, and asked if we could deter them."
"Hail that ship," ordered Mitchell.
A rugged looking cloaked figure appeared on screen, Avidan began to translate, "This my territory go find your own!"
"The Unacks wish for you to leave," replied Mitchell.
"I not care," replied the figure.
Jinn spoke, "Sir, I am detecting an energy build up."
"You do not want to fire on this ship," spoke Mitchell.
An energy weapon fired striking the Curiosity toward the engines, bouncing off the shields.
"You go, or I destroy," replied the cloaked figure.
"Eli I want to make a shot that takes out their shields, but misses the ship. Can you do that?" asked Mitchell.
"Yes, one rail gun shot, should do the trick. Let me find the right angle. ... Ok got it," replied Wallace.
"Whoever you are, I'm going to wipe your shields out. Fire!" replied Mitchell.
"No!" replied the cloak figure.
A shot from a forward rail gun, put a projectile along the side of the ship. A quick flash, as the shields failed.
"Now that was one of the minor weapons we have. That took down your shields. Leave this system and do not comeback. Tell your friends the same thing!" ordered Mitchell.
"You shall pay!" cried the cloaked figure.
Meanwhile back on Altera, O'Neill was meeting with Miller, Carter, McKay and Simpson.
"So I understand you all have an idea on how we can help the Curiosity?" asked O'Neill.
"Yes sir. We build three automated ships that will travel in hyperspace, and every ten thousand light years they will drop out of hyperspace, and do a full sensor sweep to map out the area. They will also test whether wormhole drive is usable. So we can learn where this boundary is. Then they will jump back into hyperspace and move to the next point. The three ships working together will be able to map out a navigation route. We point them in the direction of Curiosity and let them go," explained Simpson.
"What does that get us?" asked O'Neill.
"They will meet the Curiosity just over halfway, and be able to deliver navigation data allowing the Curiosity to use their wormhole drive to get back then," replied McKay.
"So we tell them to start coming back, and looking for these ships, for the next two years. Is this really the best we have?" asked O'Neill.
"I'm afraid so. Wormhole drive navigation is too risky without navigation data. We only have accurate enough data withing eight billion light years. We only have that due to the seeder ships," replied Carter.
"OK, what happens if something happens to one of these ships?" asked O'Neill.
"We can have another ship use wormhole drive to jump out there and and deploy another ship," replied McKay.
"We would also like to give them subspace message relay. So they can deploy relays to help communication," replied Miller.
"We're ascended, can't we just pull them back here?" asked O'Neill.
"If there is a way to do that, we do not know about it," replied McKay.
"Even ascended we know it takes time for us to cross galactic distances. It would take a considerable amount of time for anyone to reach them," replied Carter.
"Does the repository of knowledge contain anything that could help them?" asked O'Neill.
"I've run every type of search and found nothing," replied Miller.
"Sir, this is our best chance, we won't give up trying to find a better solution, but this is one we know will work," replied Carter.
"How soon can you have the ships ready?" asked O'Neill.
"These will be limited in size, one week we can build the ships. We need an AI to pilot them," replied Simpson.
"I can create a rudimentary AI that would be able to handle this task," replied McKay.
"Then it's a go. Commander Carter I want you to lead a team continuing to investigate other possibilities," order O'Neill.
"Yes sir!" replied Carter.
Few hours later, Wallace shouted "Sir we are getting a message from Earth!"
"On screen," shouted Hailey. Wallace clicked a few buttons.
McKay came into focus on the screen, "Test Test? I hope Curiosity your able to receive this. We have created a transmitter and been able to boost the signal to a higher level for you to read. We are including schematics of our device. It's improved over the one Zalenka sent us. Please find it attached. Oh here is Commander O'Neill."
"Commander Mitchell, we are all relieved to find you alive. You had us worried for a bit. We are working on a plan to try to assist you getting back. We would recommend you get underway as soon as you can by hyperdrive to start returning. I've put our best minds, Carter, Dr. Miller, and even Dr. McKay on finding a way to get you home faster. We are preparing three automated ships that will be sent out to map out the space between here and where they meet you. Our best estimates, it cuts your travel in half. We are working to do more. As I understand from Dr. McKay we will need you to broadcast to us, so we have base direction to send our signal in. Our plan is every seven days for you to send us an update, and wait for a response from us. Of course if you need to reach out to us sooner, by all means," spoke O'Neill. He talked for many more minutes.
They also found attached notes from family members they had sent messages to back home.
"Well two years, is better than three and half," replied Mitchell.
"Zalenka, get that new transmitter built and installed. Sarah put together a report on the Unacks, and Noah's Ark. I'll put together a separate report on things," order Mitchell.
Zelenka had the new transmitter installed and ready to go later that day. Sarah had provided all the information that Jackson would need to look up any information on Noah and his incredible mission. Mitchell's report asked on leaving a transmitter for the Unacks for future communication, and proposed the question on the missing Pegasus Dakara machine.
Back on Altera, O'Neill received word that Curiosity had received their message and that a response would be coming soon. Sheppard was reviewing upcoming missions in the Pegasus galaxy, looking for one that he and Rodney could take over as cover for a covert mission. He found it, a scouting mission to check on the wraith. That would be perfect. He reached out to McKay to see if he and Keller could be ready in two weeks.
Davis called O'Neill out on the Enterprise, "Sir we received the full communication from the Curiosity. We are patching it to you directly."
"Thank you Davis. Will let you know any orders from it," replied O'Neill.
O'Neill reviewed the reports coming in. He immediately sent Gardner's report on Jackson for review. He was troubled by Mitchell's suggestion there had to be another Dakara type weapon out in the Pegasus Galaxy. O'Neill called for Woosley to discuss the Unacks request for a communication system and possible inclusion in the alliance.
"The Unacks that are one hundred billion light years away want to join our alliance?" asked Woosley.
"That is correct. According to Mitchell they have been friendly and super accommodating to the Curiosity. They realize it's not practical until a method of travel between here and there is established. Which we have a three and half year plan for that," replied O'Neill.
Woosley smiled, "We could take that time to learn more about them, teach them our language. Do you think Curiosity is going to come across other civilizations from this Noah's Ark that will want to join?"
"It's possible, at the least we know they are out there now. Dr. Jackson is working on researching this Noah and any information on this mission," replied O'Neill.
"Well I see no harm, in leaving them a communication system, so we can talk, and get to know each other," replied Woosley.
"That was my thought as well," replied O'Neill.
"What about this Dakara Weapon in the Pegasus Galaxy?" asked Woosley.
"Now that worries me. First why didn't anyone else think of this? Why did none of the ancients even mention this?" asked O'Neill.
"Could it have been before their time?" asked Woosley.
O'Neill frowning, "We have ancients from before they left Milky way. Someone should have stepped forward."
"Well as we now know knowledge is shared, and maybe those that knew didn't want to share this piece of information," replied Woosley.
"Going to order Sheppard to put together a search plan to find it, before the wrong person does," replied O'Neill.
"Would the repository have anything on this?" asked Woosley.
"I will ask Dr. Miller to research it," replied O'Neill.
Later that day, Dr. Miller was working in her lab.
"Hey sis, how are things going?" asked McKay entering Miller's lab.
"Very slow Mer," replied Miller.
"So what are you doing?" asked McKay.
"Looking for a needle in a haystack, don't ask me more. Commander O'Neill has forbidden it," replied Miller.
"OK, I know how you are about orders," replied McKay.
"So what brings you to my lab? You've been holed up in yours for a couple of weeks now," asked Miller.
"I'm under orders not to share as well. But it's to save a life," replied McKay.
"You keep saying that," replied Miller.
"I promise you I will explain soon, and it will be all worth it," replied McKay.
"It better be," replied Miller.
"I was going to join Jennifer for lunch, care to join us?" asked McKay.
"Actually I need a break," replied Miller, walking out with McKay to the commissary.
On the Curiosity, the crew received the latest communication from Altera.
"Well Zalenka, I guess you need to build a new communication system and provide to the Unacks. Make sure it includes video to send," ordered Mitchell.
"Sir I have a concern on doing this," replied Zalenka.
"What is it?" asked Hailey.
"We would need to build in an Inter-dimensional Energy Collector, and that is way beyond their technology level," replied Zalenka.
"No other power source will work?" asked Mitchell.
"Not at the levels we need to send a signal out or to pick it up," replied Zalenka.
"Hailey work with Zalenka to see what you can come up with, if necessary contact who ever you need to in Altera. Let's find a way to do this," replied Mitchell.
"Yes, sir!" replied Hailey, heading off with Zalenka's lab.
"Sarah and Eli, new task for you all. Avidan is great as a translator, here on the ship or in communication. However we need something that we can take with us," replied Mitchell.
"You mean a universal translator like they have on Star Trek?" asked Wallace.
"Here comes Kirk again!" cried Gardner.
"Kirk? Never mind, yes Eli something like a universal translator," replied Mitchell.
"Let us see what we can come up with," replied Wallace.
"What can I do sir?" asked Ginn.
"I want you to go over everything you can in our scans for navigation charts, and a way to send those updates back to Altera," replied Mitchell, "I want you to know everything there is about this area of space, and where we are headed!"
"On it sir! Do I need permission to use the astrophysics lab?" asked Ginn.
"Consider it your lab now," replied Mitchell.
"Yes sir!" replied Ginn, taking off to her lab.
Nicole was standing there, "So what do I do?"
"I guess your stuck with helping me on diplomatic relations," replied Mitchell.
"I think I may need to do some work putting together medical information on the Unacks," replied Nicole leaving the bridge.
"I think I just got ditched," replied Mitchell.
Spirits were high as the crew sat down for dinner. Mitchell couldn't help but notice that Zalenk and Hailey kept eyeing each other through dinner.
"So what's the menu tonight?" asked Wallace.
Mitchell responding, "I prepared fried chicken, with mashed potatoes, peas, and a peach cobbler for desert," replied Mitchell.
"How did you get to be such a good cook?" asked Nicole.
"My nana thought me well, she always said impress a lady with your cooking and you have her for life," replied Mitchell.
"Well she has a point, this chicken smells delicious," replied Nicole.
"I must say commander, you are an excellent cook," replied Ginn.
"OK, folks let's get one thing down. There are seven of us here. You all can call me Cam preferably or Mitchell instead of commander all the time," replied Mitchell.
"Yes sir commander!" replied Hailey.
"You all are not going to change are you?" asked Mitchell.
"Nope," replied Gardner.
"Let's dig in!" replied Nicole.
"So interesting our commanding officer is doubling as our cook," replied Wallace.
"Who else here can cook? Eli keep your hand down. After the turkey sandwich incident your forbidden from the pantry," asked Mitchell.
"That turkey sandwich was perfect," replied Wallace.
"Mashed potatoes and peanut butter do not go on a turkey sandwich!" replied Hailey.
"Definitely not with ketchup," mumbled Zalenka.
"Don't remind me of the ketchup," replied Gardner.
"Back to the original question, I am pretty good with breakfast foods," replied Ginn.
"You get breakfast in the morning," replied Mitchell.
"Can do sir! I won't let anyone down!" replied Ginn.
"Seven of us, on a ship for seven hundred. Not what we were expecting," replied Gardner.
"No it isn't. But I'm confident this team can do this. Commander O'Neill asked me if we were all up to this. My answer to him was no other team was better prepared for this, than this team right here," replied Mitchell.
The next day, Mitchell was asked to come to Ginn's Lab. He found Zalenka and Hailey already there.
"Are we having a party?" asked Mitchell.
"I asked them here to go over what I found," replied Ginn.
"What she found is pretty amazing," replied Zalenka.
"I can't believe we didn't notice," replied Hailey.
"Don't keep me in suspense," replied Mitchell
"We are at the edge of the universe it seems," replied Ginn.
"How so?" asked Michell.
"I've used our scans, and place them here, then I used the observatory from the lab here. This here on the screen is a display of all that data. As you can see here, there doesn't appear to be any other star systems in this direction," replied Ginn.
"Wait your saying we are on the edge?" replied Mitchell.
"Yes, the Unacks planet here, appears to be two systems between us and what appears to be a void or blank, or whatever you want to call it," replied Ginn.
"Can we tell what is out there?" asked Mitchell.
"We are still to far away for our scanners to detect anything there. The observatory here, is just picking up blackness beyond those two systems," replied Ginn.
"I also have another theory," replied Zalenka.
"Do share," replied Mitchell.
"That she is correct we are near the edge, and something about the edge is what is making our wormholes unstable," replied Zalenka.
"So the further we move away from this edge the better chance we will be able to use the wormhole drive?" asked Mitchell.
"That is correct, we just don't know how far we have to get first," replied Hailey.
"Excellent work, your going to be the envy of every astronomer back on Earth," replied Mitchell.
"So do we take a trip out there?" asked Zalenka.
"No, as much as I want to. Our mission is to get home now. We know where the edge is and we can come back to it, once we are fully equipped and full crew," replied Hailey.
Mitchell nodding, "She is right we need to come back when we are fully ready."
"However we could send a probe," replied Hailey.
"Yes of course we could attach it to one of the hyperspace missiles," replied Zalenka.
"We would only need a couple of hours to have it ready," replied Hailey.
"Do it! But get the communication system completed first!" replied Mitchell.
"Right away!" replied Zalenka grabbing Hailey and running out.
"Are they?" asked Ginn.
"I think the answer is yes, or soon to be yes," replied Mitchell.
"That's so sad," replied Ginn.
"Sad?" asked Mitchell.
"Not for them, just thinking, I have ELi, you have Nicole, and now Hailey has Radik. Sarah is all alone," replied Ginn.
Mitchell hadn't really given it much thought till now. He decided he should have a quick conversation with Gardner, so he decided to stop by her lab.
"Sarah how are you doing?" asked Mitchell.
"Commander, I'm doing fine," replied Gardner.
"So everything is fine?" asked Mitchell.
"OK, I've had enough of these kinds of conversations to know when someone has something they want to ask but don't," replied Gardner.
"OK, I'll get to the point. It just came to my attention that Nicole and I are an item, Eli and Ginn, and soon to be Hailey and Zalenka," replied Mitchell.
"Have they come out publicly finally?" asked Gardner.
"I guess not officially," replied Mitchell.
"I've caught him sneaking out of her quarters more times than I can count since we have been out here," replied Gardner.
"Didn't know that," replied Mitchell.
"But your worried about me?" asked Gardner.
"Well I don't want you to be lonely, or feel like the seventh wheel," replied Mitchell.
"Are you offering your services?" grinned Gardner.
"No! No! No! Nicole and I are very happy together," replied Mitchell.
"Relax, I'm teasing. Look nobody here is my type, so no worries of jealousy there," replied Gardner.
"OK, good to know," replied Mitchell.
"And unless you all start having make out sessions together, I won't be a seventh wheel, and if you do, I can assure you I can find something to do," replied Gardner.
"OK, now that I'm completely uncomfortable, I'm going to leave. You say your good that is all I needed to know," replied Mitchell.
Gardner laughed as Mitchell left. It felt good to know that Mitchell had cared enough to ask. Seeing the others all together hadn't really bother her yet.
Several days went by as Zalenka and Hailey ironed out a plan for the Unacks communication system.
"So what's the plan?" asked Mitchell.
"The Mapping ships that are going to becoming to us, are deploying subspace relays. Commander Carter has sent us the specs and we can fabricate them here, we will be deploying them when ever we make a stop. We've modified the Unacks device to use the relay to reach us. We will then send their signal on Earth whenever we stop and send a signal," replied Hailey.
"There system will be capable of receiving signals from Earth, just not sending them," replied Zalenka.
"Great how long till you have it ready? Plus what about spare parts?" asked Mitchell.
"We are giving them five systems," replied Zalenka.
"Sounds good. How soon till it's complete?" asked Mitchell.
"Four hours till they are built, and another four hours to install," replied Zalenka.
"Tomorrow will be our last day here, before we get underway. Get those devices installed and train them on how to use," replied Mitchell.
"Yes sir!" replied Hailey.
The next day, using the new communication system.
"We can not thank you enough, and we look forward to learning more about your people, through our continued communication," replied Dorlock.
"Your hospitality has been much appreciated," replied Mitchell.
"Commander Mitchell there is one last request I am hesitant to make," replied Dorlock.
"We're friends," replied Mitchell.
"Moran has asked, if he could be permitted to join your crew?" asked Dorlock.
"Moran want's to join us?" asked Mitchell.
"He has no family left here, he lost his wife and child to the virus. He would like to help you and your crew reach your home, and to further our understanding of each other," replied Dorlock.
Mitchell muted the communication channel, "Thoughts anyone?"
"He is a pilot," replied Hailey.
"We can always use additional personal," replied Wallace.
Mitchell open the channel, "He will need to understand he is under my command."
Moran jumping into the display, "I understand Commander Mitchell! I will gladly server under you! I have everything of mine packed."
"As you can see he is ready," replied Dorlock.
"We'll beam you up in one hour. Say your good byes, and be ready then," replied Mitchell.
An hour later Moran was on board and came to the bridge.
"Alright Ginn, set course for home, at maximum hyperspace!" ordered Mitchell. Everyone was holding their breath as Curiosity entered hyperspace.