Daughter

Chapter 53 – Bees

Elda shivered when the Firefly landed on the moon where the Jaffa were victimized.

Reynolds didn't fail to notice. He got up from the co-pilot's seat. "Crawford, Elda: stay with the ship. Baker, take point."

Smith hit the button to open the hatch. Three members of SG-3 filed out. The door quietly whined closed upon their departure.

Elda tried to busy herself with maintenance logs at the co-pilot's console. She needed the distraction.

Crawford leaned back on the storage console behind her and crossed his arms. His eyes tracked his teammates through the forward port as they wandered away from the ship. He knew why Reynolds left them behind. The two of them were put through some shit the last time they were here on this moon. He was basically giving them a break.

He would have been grateful if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to be alone with Elda.

"I don't know what they think they're supposed to find. I thought everyone else already went through the entire facility," Elda complained.

"Could be anything," Crawford replied flatly.

Elda decided the logs weren't going to be distracting enough. Maybe conversation would do. "How's Chelsea?"

He swallowed. "She's good."

Elda glanced over at him from her seat. "Anything new?"

Crawford shook his head, pouting his lips out casually.

She narrowed her eyes at him. She'd been so distracted by developments on Tek'ron that she'd nearly forgotten what she meant to ask him about. His demeanor changed once they boarded the Hammond to go home from the space station.

"Darling? What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "Nothin,'" he lied. He gestured out the forward port. "Just really don't wanna be here."

She grit her teeth. She could relate. "Did they mistreat down in that mine?"

"Uhh… they pushed me around a bit. Forced me to work. But that's about it. Wasn't there long enough for anything else to happen."

"Right. Reynolds and Baker found you."

"Yep."

She gazed back out the forward port. The moon base had been cleared of its previous personnel. Those workers were now prisoners of the Jaffa High Council. The SGC happily handed them over to an authority that could decide what to do with them. The Jaffa were the ones wronged here. They had the right to decide punishment. Elda suspected the workers would be executed at some point, if the Jaffa didn't find them useful in some other way.

The minions didn't possess any sensitive intelligence, either. They were purposely kept in the dark by the lead scientist. They were paid handsomely for their silence and for their obedience. An interrogation by the Hammond's crew did not yield anything of value from them. They were merely puppets.

Elda now considered all of the small ships still parked in neat rows. "What do you think is going to happen to all those vessels?"

Crawford stepped forward to peek out and see what she was looking at. The tel'tak they previously used to get here was among them. "I dunno."

"Has the SGC ever had this many ships to commandeer at once?"

"Not that I know of. This might be a first." Crawford scratched his chin. "I bet we could keep some or all of 'em."

"Yeah, but where?"

"Here, I guess."

"No stargate."

"Yeah. Or maybe they'd move 'em over to the Alpha Site," he said thoughtfully.

"There's room over there?" Elda had never been to it.

"Yeah. Planet's all ours. Plenty of space to park these vehicles."

"Hmm. The SGC could use a bunch of smaller ships like these. Our battlecruisers are spread too thin."

"Everyone's been sayin' that, Elda. That's part of the reason why they hired you."

"What?"

"Cuz you're a pilot and you have access to a cute little ship like this one."

She scrunched her face. "My ship isn't cute," she argued. "It's a beast."

He almost retorted by saying she was cute. But he stopped himself. He had to refrain from flirting with her. Even if she was expecting it and would playfully flirt back just for fun. Crawford settled for snorting instead. He really had to listen to Smith better this time. As much as he hated to admit it, his buddy was right. He'd been going too far with her.

It was starting to mess with his head.

He forgot himself when they went back to that space station. All the things that made him like her a little too much were there. Now he tried to fill his thoughts with his girlfriend. She deserved to be the only one he cared about.

Elda stared at him, sensing once again that something was off. She frowned when he didn't turn to look at her. Something was bothering him, but she couldn't tell what. She decided not to corner him for now. Her mind was swimming in too much turmoil, between being back on this dreadful moon and the idea that her Tek'ronian villages wanted her for more than she thought she could handle. Elda could only deal with one thing at a time.

The radio crackled. "Elda, come in."

She automatically reached up to the radio clipped on her tac vest with a hand. "I hear you, Colonel."

"Run a scan. I wanna know if there are any underground components to this facility."

"Standby." She brought up the necessary functions on her console. The navigation system already had the ability to analyze celestial bodies like this moon. Understanding the composition of a planet or a star helped it determine its gravitational pull so maneuvers like slingshots could be properly calculated. Meanwhile, the enhanced trackers that came with the Firefly's upgrades included ground-penetrating sensors. Zershan transmitters needed to be able to work underground, too. Working in tandem, the two systems could fulfill Reynolds's request to map hidden structures.

The console spit back a report on the heads-up display. "The Firefly is not detecting anything underground aside from the mines."

"Copy."

She let that function drop from the screen. Elda simply leaned back in the seat.

Crawford let his hip rest against the pilot's chair as he crossed his arms. "Maybe they're comin' up empty."

"Maybe." She absent-mindedly played with the controls. The comms system came up. She scrolled through the logs just to pass the time. They had no tasks to complete while they were waiting here, just guarding the shuttle. And she'd already gotten bored reviewing maintenance. The ship was fine. It wasn't due for anything.

More minutes passed in silence. Elda's mouth twitched at Crawford's unusual lack of conversation. They should have been cracking jokes or making fun of each other by now. She thought about bringing up his change in behavior again, but then the console chimed.

Crawford pointed. "What is that?"

She leaned forward. "Not sure." She tapped around in the display. The comms system was sensing a signal. "Some sort of comms burst."

"From where? To where?"

Elda had the system run an analysis. It brought up a simple report. She reached up to her radio. "Colonel, are you noticing anything happening in the facility?"

"Lights just dimmed for a second."

Elda shared a look with Crawford. "The ship just detected a powerful comms burst. Some sort of signal was sent from the surface. That wasn't you, was it?"

"No. We'll head to one of the control rooms and see if we can identify the source."

"Understood."

"Can the ship figure it out?" Crawford asked, now leaning over her shoulder. The display was presenting its report in Goa'uld, which wasn't very helpful to him. He could barely pick out keywords.

"It's unclear where the signal went. But judging by the power drain required to send it, it might have gone far."

"How far?"

"Somewhere halfway across the sector maybe?" She gestured at the display. "Ship sensed the signal, but doesn't have access to anything more about it."

"We got something. We're heading back," Reynolds stated.

"Copy," Crawford acknowledged on the radio.

After another ten minutes, the remainder of the team returned to the ship. Elda and Crawford gazed at them curiously.

Reynolds gestured for Elda to get back in the pilot's seat. "Power it up." He re-took the co-pilot's chair.

"Sir, what did you find?" Crawford asked.

Smith answered by holding up his data pad. "That comms traffic went somewhere familiar."

Reynolds began inputting a gate address into the DHD. With no stargate in the vicinity, the navigation system automatically converted it to coordinates and calculated a proposed flight path for the pilot to follow.

She stared at the holographic display. "You want to go there?"

"Yes, I do. Let's fly."

Elda complied. The ship began to rise. Soon they were clearing the atmosphere of the moon and jumping into hyperspace.

Baker leaned against the wall with the storage racks on it. "The signal was a regularly-scheduled push. Even though the lead scientist is gone, the system was still set to send out a report."

Smith shook his data pad in the air. "Used this to realize it was going somewhere we've been before. That temple planet."

"The one with the barbeque?" Crawford asked in surprise.

"That's the one," his friend replied with a grin. "Hey Cakes, did you bring any cash?"

"I know what you're thinking, Smitty. Yes, I did," she sing-songed without turning around to look at him. She could imagine the anticipation on his face.

Baker smiled. "Sweet." He cracked a grin toward Smith and Crawford.

Reynolds closed his eyes and shook his head briefly in amusement at his team. "What's our ETA?"

Elda had learned that he meant 'estimated time of arrival'. It was an acronym she had to get used to. They didn't use that sort of shorthand in Goa'uld. "Hour and ten minutes by hyperspace."

"Alright. Settle in, people."

"What are we going to do when we get there?" she asked.

"Get back into that control room and see what it's doing with the burst from the moon facility."

"Uhhh, sir?" Smith said uncomfortably. "How are we going to get back in?" The last time they were there, he and Elda had to seduce a mark just to accomplish that.

"We'll figure it out when we get there, Corporal." Reynolds brought up the comms system to relay a written report to the SGC, telling the base where they were headed to next.

"Are you kidding me?" Mitchell said with a disapproving look at Daniel and Vala. They were all huddled in one of the station motel rooms vacated by the marines.

"Establishing a peaceful accord is one thing, Cameron," Vala argued. "But it's useless unless we have something to trade."

"You should have checked with me before you offered up ships we don't technically own!"

"Actually," Daniel cut in, "we do own them now."

"What?"

"Legitimate salvage," Vala said nonchalantly.

"You sound like Elda."

"The other me raised Elda. Where do you think she got it from?" she challenged.

Carolyn began to laugh. Cameron looked at her with exasperation. Teal'c smiled.

Daniel was grinning proudly. "Cam, it's perfect. The SGC could use those ships as regular transport between this station and wherever else Thel's people want to go to. Meanwhile, we can deliver the goods we already started trading for."

"Deliver the goods," Mitchell repeated with a groan. "Now you're starting to sound like the Mal Dorans!"

"Can't beat 'em, join 'em," Daniel quipped.

Vala and Carolyn laughed. Teal'c smiled wider.

Their CO shook his head and grumbled. "I still need to run this by Command. You lot drive me up the wall. What did you request in return?"

Vala smiled toward Carolyn. "Upgrades to Medical. They'll provide the labor and the parts."

The doctor's eyes went wide. She stood. "What."

Her friend smiled primly at her. "Mmm hmm. I figured… well, we figured… that something like that would be very useful."

"Actually, the idea to ask for something like that was inspired by the medical ward you ran in the future," Daniel explained.

Carolyn turned to him now and blinked rapidly. "Really?" she asked eagerly.

"You had some fancy gadgets of your own there. It's how you deactivated the tracker they stuck into Jack's neck. He barely felt the pinch."

She gasped. "I always wondered how she did that. I honestly would have no idea where to start if I needed to do it now."

Daniel shrugged. "Apparently the SGC we visited in the future had done a pretty decent job acquiring technology and know-how from all around the galaxy. They put it all to good use. I even remember security sweepers were embedded into the base walls. Anyone with a symbiote would be flagged. Anyone with certain diseases would be detected."

Cameron and Carolyn shared a look of amazement.

"Is it safe for you to be telling us all that?" Mitchell asked.

"What do you mean?"

The Colonel glanced around worriedly. "There won't be any timeline-crushing fiascos induced by us knowing details about the future?"

Daniel raised a brow. "By this point, I think it's obvious things have changed. Saving Sam and Gracie caused enough of a ripple."

"Throw Big Gracie into the mix and it's a tsunami," Carolyn added. "Nothing we can do but ride the wave."

Cameron looked between them. He sighed heavily. "I can't even imagine what life would be like without any of those girls."

"I said the same to Big Gracie before she left," Carolyn agreed.

"ColonelMitchell, Ishta once suggested that her arrival presents us with a unique opportunity. We can learn from the faults of her timeline and rise above them to create a paradise of our own choosing."

Everyone regarded Teal'c thoughtfully.

"Sounds kind of profound," Cam replied.

"It is profound," Daniel retorted. "It's like learning from history, but in reverse. You don't get a chance like this everyday."

"We're here," Elda announced when the Firefly established orbit around the temple planet. "Now what?"

Reynolds scratched his chin. "We decided that the temple is actually a ship, right?"

"Right."

"Don't spaceships have bays?"

Elda blinked repeatedly. "Huh. That's a good point. Yes, they normally do. Although I'm having a hard time imagining what part of that old piece of junk would be considered its docking bay."

Reynolds tapped at the console to activate the same set of commands Elda used to analyze the moon facility in search of hidden structures. "Could we use this?"

Elda swiped the display over to her side. "Maybe," she said contemplatively. She instructed the system to analyze the temple ship down on the surface. The holographic display lit up with a new schematic. A blueprint of the old ship was now being drawn as the sensors mapped out its features.

"That's so friggin' cool," Smith marveled as he watched from behind them.

"Yeah," Baker agreed.

Crawford had his hands buried in his pockets up until now. He let one out to point. "Hey, what about that part?"

Reynolds and Elda leaned closer. "I'll be damned," their CO intoned.

The temple ship was bigger than anyone had ever imagined. The part that was accessible on the surface was only the tip of the iceberg. The system showed that the ship was mostly buried underground. Eons of geological change on the planet must have driven it further and further into the soil.

It had merged with the planet itself.

"Good eye, Darling," Elda complimented toward Crawford. "That is our new in. One quick shot with an energy weapon could vaporize the surface soil and free up the entrance to that docking bay."

"Uhhh… what about the people that live down there?" Smith asked.

"Colonel, do you know which feature can detect life signs?"

"Hmm," Reynolds intoned. He tried tapping around in the menus. "Enhanced trackers section?" he checked.

"Right."

"Okay… here." His command overlaid a new layer onto the schematic they were viewing. It showed a multitude of dots clustered near where they knew the temple was. Other small clusters were scattered nearby, but none were close to the entrance they wanted to use. "I'm guessing these dots are the people we don't want to vaporize."

"Correct."

"You think it's safe to send a shot down there?"

"If we use a tightly-controlled beam, they might barely notice."

"Oooh! Oooh! Sir! I volunteer!" Smith said excitedly.

The entire team turned to raise their brows at him.

He bared his hands outward. "What?"

"Oh my God," Baker murmured.

Crawford began to crack up. "You wanna be the weapons specialist so bad."

Elda grinned. She looked at Reynolds encouragingly. "He did fire off the only warhead this ship has ever used."

Their CO stood up. He quirked a smile at Smith, who sat down enthusiastically in his place.

The younger marine rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"You look like a kid on Christmas morning, Smith," Reynolds ribbed.

Smith didn't hesitate to bring up the weapons array on the screen. "Perks of the job, Colonel. This is one of my happy places."

Elda laughed aloud. "Let me get the ship closer first. Don't fire anything yet."

She maneuvered the Firefly around to enter the atmosphere at a point where the clusters of people wouldn't notice them. The ship confirmed that their path would not be within sight of anyone on the ground. The forward port glowed red briefly as the vessel broke through the protective, gaseous layers of the planet. It calmly descended at an angle until it reached their intended destination. As far as Elda could tell, they were coming up from the backside of the settlement, where no one could see what they were doing.

The team gazed out the forward port. Elda let the ship tilt so they could all look straight down at the spot the navigation system was highlighting. No one felt themselves shift their weight as their bodies technically became parallel with the ground. The gravity pack was working perfectly fine.

"That's a whole lotta rock, not dirt," Baker commented.

"The weapons system gonna handle that?" their CO asked.

Elda nodded her head. "I think so. Smitty?"

"Analyzing." The weapons array spit back a quick report. "Looks like I've got a suggestion here for how to pulverize that rock."

"Yeah, but we don't want to send the beam too far. It might damage the ship underneath," Elda pointed out.

"Right, right." Smith tapped around more. He was looking mostly at numbers in Goa'uld. He had become more comfortable with them since living on the station for two months and staring at the timers everyday. "I think this might do it." He looked up and behind him at Reynolds. "Permission to fire, sir?"

The Colonel's eye twitched. "Permission granted."

"Pow, pow, pow," Smith said playfully. He let his finger gently press the button on the console to activate the beam. A port opened up on the Firefly's side to reveal a giant gun turret. It shot out a laser toward the rock. With the ship still tilted down, the team could watch the energy beam gently peel away layers of rock that had been laid down over the course of centuries. No one could actually say how long that ship had been parked down there.

The system chimed, prompting Smith to let go of the button. Dust puffed across the port in a heavy cloud of smoke. The ship instantly activated an electric pulse to buzz the debris away. That was automatic. Elda didn't even have to ask.

When the port cleared up, the rock was gone. A gleaming set of bay doors were in its place. They were circular, with a straight seam running down the middle.

Elda clapped her hands toward Smith in congratulations. "Good job, Weapons Specialist!"

Baker patted on his shoulder. "Alright, my turn."

Smith gave up the seat to Baker.

Their 2IC deactivated the weapons array. He brought up the commands for navigation now. He'd observed how the Hammond manipulated their system with docking procedures. He intended to do the reverse, understanding now that their ship could make those bay doors open. He got the system to start talking to the other ship.

Elda looked on, impressed. She sensed that Baker's command of Goa'uld was a little more advanced than their two younger teammates. He was picking out all the right choices on the menus.

"Tell us what you're doing there, Lieutenant," Reynolds said.

"I'm having the Firefly interrogate that ship's system, looking for the commands to open those doors." The system pinged. "Got it."

They all watched as the bay doors of the temple ship retracted. There was plenty of space for their smaller vessel to fly through.

"Good one, Baker." Reynolds looked at Crawford. "Since we're all taking turns, you're up."

"Sir." Crawford took the seat that Baker vacated. "Orders?"

"Make sure we're not about to fly into a bee hive or something."

"A what?" Elda asked.

"Tell you later, Baby," Smith said with amusement.

Crawford brought up the enhanced tracking system. He had seen the other commands while Reynolds was messing around with it looking for life signs. His hand paused over one menu item. He looked to Elda for confirmation. She nodded. He clicked. The holographic schematic of the ship now zoomed into the drawing of the docking bay they wanted to enter. It showed it was devoid of activity. Completely inert. Shapeless blobs inhabited the perimeter inside.

"Just what are those things?" Reynolds asked.

"System can't say, sir. Probably need to get a little closer so sensors can bounce off 'em."

"Elda."

Their pilot prompted the ship toward the bay without entering. It hovered close to the opening.

The schematic now refined itself. The blobs straightened out into the shapes of small rectangular shuttles. Elda gasped excitedly. "Oooooooh."

"None of them are active, right?"

"No, sir, everything seems to be completely dead in there. No engine signatures. No active weapons, far as this thing can tell," Crawford reported.

"Fly us in, Elda. But nice and slow."

"Yes, Colonel."

The Firefly did as it was bid. The ship carefully entered the bay. Elda was prepared to reverse thrust in the blink of an eye. But nothing happened. The ship they were invading made no defensive moves. She tilted the back of her vessel down so their angle would match that of the bay's deck. The shuttle made contact with a soft thud.

"And we're in," she announced.

"Good work, everyone. Elda, Baker, with me. Crawford and Smith, stay with the ship. The minute you smell shit hitting the fan, get the Firefly the fuck out of here and head straight back to base. The rest of us can always get out the other way we did last time."

"Yes, sir."

Their chests were heaving as they finished. Carolyn's grip on the sheets loosened as she caught her breath.

She bit her lip. That one was good.

Cameron bit her shoulder from behind her. His mouth hovered over her neck, alternating between bites and breathy kisses. He pulled his lower half away slightly so they could both fall flat onto the bed. His hand stroked her hip as she covered her eyes with an arm.

She was smiling. He grinned to himself with satisfaction.

"You left me behind," he complained, referring to her departure before SG-1 was ready.

"Am I in trouble?"

He laughed quietly. "Maybe you are."

"If that's what happens when I get in trouble..."

Cameron pulled her into his arms with a chuckle.

She kissed his neck. "I'm sorry. You know I love you, Cam."

"I love you, too. Don't ever leave me again, ya hear?"

"Never. Never ever."

"You think if Carolyn was stuck with all of us on the Odyssey, they'd be just like this, too?" Vala wondered aloud as she sat with Teal'c and Daniel in a restaurant for dinner. They found one on the same level as their motel.

Teal'c raised his brow at her.

Both of his companions looked at him pointedly, challenging him to respond with an opinion.

The Jaffa didn't say a word.

Vala huffed. Maybe one day he'd reveal more about that lost timeline. But apparently today wasn't the day.

"Mitchell is such a hypocrite," Daniel muttered.

"I know!"

"He complains about us and look what he turns around and does."

Teal'c looked away in Jaffa exasperation. They were ones to talk. He'd come across them countless times all over the Odyssey in various states of undress. He and Cameron had begun to record the incidents as tally marks on a wall, just for kicks. Those marks were erased the moment Sam sent Teal'c back and deleted that timeline. He had never been more sad to look at a plain wall after it happened.

He considered his two teammates now, much younger than how he remembered them. They were still vibrant and healthy. He drew joy out of it. And Vala was once again with child. He hoped this one would survive.

Her only pregnancy on the ship hadn't lasted very long.

Teal'c was keeping a watchful eye on her, hoping to catch signs of an impending miscarriage before it was too late. He remembered what symptoms she presented with. And he remembered there was nothing any of them could do to stop it. They didn't have Carolyn Lam with them at the time. Sam was the closest they got to a medic on board. And she was helpless to stop the devastating loss, which she later explained would have probably happened anyway, regardless of any doctor's intervention.

The team mourned that loss heavily.

Teal'c tried to bring himself out of his suddenly somber mood. He couldn't dwell on something that technically never happened. Even though it was very real to him.

Daniel and Vala continued to banter with each other. Teal'c faded into the background as they complained more about Mitchell. He didn't take offense. He was naturally quieter than they were. It only made his words more meaningful when he did contribute to conversation. He was content to let them go on, thankful that his good human friends were even alive.

"You know what we should do?"

"What?" Vala asked, sensing mischief in her betrothed. Her thumb unconsciously fingered the ring on her left fourth finger.

"Keep score."

"Oooh. How?"

"I dunno. Tally marks?"

Teal'c suddenly grinned.

"Ha! I know what those are now," Vala declared proudly.

"Yeah. Every time he sneaks away with her, whether it's here or wherever, tally mark." Daniel pointed an index finger into the air forcefully as he said it.

Vala rubbed her hands together. "This is one game I don't want to win."

"The more marks they have, the more they lose."

"We just need to make sure we don't get caught, Darling."

Then they both remembered that Teal'c was right there.

They looked chagrined. "Sorry, Teal'c," Daniel apologized. "Maybe we shouldn't have taken it that far."

The Jaffa inclined his head.

"We're just joking," he said.

Vala glanced sideways at Daniel. "Liar."

"I would like to declare that I have observed progress in you, buddy," Smith said annoyingly.

Crawford rolled his eyes for the tenth time that day. "Would you please shut the fuck up?"

His friend cracked an amused grin across from him in the crew compartment. "You're handling things well. Elda's bubble is now secure."

"Gee, that's funny. I saw you popping that bubble this morning in the briefing room. Ass."

"Orders, Crawford. Orders."

"Get the fuck outta here."

Smith just laughed. "Hey, man. I'm just saying: Good job. You're actually listening to me for once."

"How 'bout you listen to yourself, hypocrite?"

"I will!" he promised. "I swear, I ain't touchin' her neither."

"Good." Crawford groaned. "You're such an asshole."

The other marine just grinned delightedly. "Why, thank you," he said proudly.

Crawford rolled his eyes for the eleventh time today.

"This place is super creepy," Elda said quietly.

"You afraid of the dark, Baby Cakes?" Baker teased. He was bringing up the rear while Reynolds was in the lead. Elda was between them, keeping a watchful eye on corners in the dark corridors of the old ship.

"I'm more afraid of what hides in the dark, Lieutenant."

"Boogeymen and ghosts," he said, drawing out the words and wobbling his voice. It was too dark to see the look of confusion on her face at the way he said those words. But he cracked a grin anyway. He'd have to get the boys to explain Halloween to her someday soon.

"Baker, shut up," Reynolds cut in with a flat tone.

"Sir."

Reynolds peeked around another corner cautiously. The light attached to the top of his P-90 only went so far. One of his hands held Elda's data pad, which was homing in on the control room they found before. The signal from the active comms system on board was still going strong. And SG-3 was heading right to it like moths to a flame.

He paused before a set of doors. The data pad was telling him the source of the signal was up. Way up. "Any idea how to open this door?"

Elda drew closer while Baker kept an eye on the corridor behind them. "Don't see any controls. The last time we were here Crawford just waved that girl's access card across a door to open it."

"Like a magic wand," Reynolds muttered. He glanced around. "Might need to find another way up." They didn't have that access card anymore. Elda re-planted it on the unconscious woman as they left, so she wouldn't even know she lost it.

Elda peered down at the data pad in his hands. "All the lifts are probably shut like this. Maybe we have to find an access shaft like the ones on base."

"Is it me or does this thing say we gotta go five levels up?"

"We have to go five levels up."

"Well, shit."

Baker spoke up. "There doesn't happen to be another door that's closer, is there?"

"Only on the surface," Elda replied. "But then we'd have to get past all the people that hang around there."

"Right."

Reynolds stared down at the data pad, which had its own copy of the ship schematic on it. Apparently the little device was capable of analyzing its surroundings in much the same way their shuttle could. He marveled at how useful it was out in the field. And now Elda had scored the SGC enough to hand a couple out to each SG-team. He decided he'd order her to run a seminar or something, to teach others how to use them. Maybe Smith could help her.

"Elda, you think this thing could act like the access card?" the Colonel asked.

"Hmm. Maybe." She took the pad and held it up to the door. A dialog box popped up. "Oh wow. Good idea, Colonel." She hit a button.

The door began to squeal as it struggled against countless years of neglect. Metal scraped loudly against metal, making them all cringe.

"I dunno how safe this lift would be," Elda said hesitantly.

"Ship's pretty damn old," Baker agreed.

Reynolds hazarded a peek in. He quickly darted his head back out just in case. "What if we test this elevator? Send it up without us inside? Let's see what happens."

Elda tried that. She let the data pad hover near the opening and found a new command to make the car move. The doors sealed shut with another nail-on-chalkboard-like scratch. Everyone ran their tongues across their teeth to stop them from vibrating.

Sounds reverberated from within the shaft. And then they heard something fall and crash. The deck beneath them shook.

They all shared a look in the minimal light of the men's P-90s.

"Okay, lifts are a no-go," Reynolds declared. "Cakes, open this door back up."

"Colonel?"

"Elevator shafts always have ladders."

Elda used the data pad to force the doors open, despite an automated warning that a car was not there to receive them.

The opening screeched again, but the sound was slightly less grating than before. Evidently some of the rust had been scraped away. Reynolds let the inadequate light from his P-90 shine down into the shaft. It didn't do much. He couldn't see how far the car had fallen. He waved his light around and eventually found the ladder rungs he was expecting.

He reached in to pull on a few of them, testing how sturdy they might be.

They didn't budge.

"Are we sure about this?" Elda asked anxiously.

"Objective is up there," Reynolds reminded. "Feel free to find us another way if you can."

She glanced at the data pad, bringing back the ship schematic it had built. There was another lift on the opposite side of the corridor. There were access tubes running vertically inside the walls. Nothing encouraging. Nothing trustworthy.

She looked up at Baker, who had been staring at the pad with her. They both shook their heads.

"That's what I thought." Reynolds pointed at the shaft. "Up we go."

"Corporals, come in," Baker said into his radio.

"Reading you loud and clear, Lieutenant," Crawford answered.

"Be advised: the lifts on this derelict ship are unsafe to use. We are about to climb five levels via a service ladder in one of the elevator shafts."

"Copy." Crawford let go of the button on his radio. "Hey, did you activate the tracker on Elda's new pad?"

"Uhhh, I thought I did," Smith said, pulling his data pad out of his vest. It lit up instantly within his hands. He tapped around. "Yeah, it's actively reading her."

Crawford relaxed a little. "Good. Send that to mine. I don't have it yet."

Smith held out his pad toward Crawford's. Both devices chimed to signal a successful short-range transmission.

A light flashed from outside the forward port.

They both turned to the window instantly.

"The fuck was that," Crawford said, standing immediately.

"Thought you said everything was turned off in here," Smith complained. He quickly pocketed his data pad.

They both rushed to the front and gazed out the port.

"Not seein' nothin' now."

"Doesn't mean something ain't there," Crawford grumbled as he sat back down in the co-pilot's chair. He brought up the sensor array. It showed no activity.

"Try comms. Maybe there's a signal."

The display switched to the requested function. The Firefly noted the strong carrier waves coming from the control room somewhere else on the old ship. That wasn't surprising. It's why they were here.

A light flashed again out the forward port. It was gone as quickly as it came. "Oh shit, something's out there, dude," Smith said as he tried to crane his neck to see through the window.

"Whatever you do, do not fucking open that hatch."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

"Get in the pilot's seat. Get ready to activate the autopilot," Crawford ordered, adopting his authoritative tone.

Smith sat down and brought up the relevant commands. He quickly demanded navigation and DHD control to be brought over to his side with a tap of a few buttons.

While he was programming the system to get them through the gate to Tek'ron, Crawford was hurriedly cycling through other available features of the ship. He was trying to see if there was another way to identify the source of the flashes they both saw.

When he activated the weapons system, multiple targets suddenly appeared on the HUD before him. "Uh oh."

"Bunch of fucking bees, Crawford. Reynolds was right."

"Colonel, come in."

Static crackled. "What is it, Corporal," Reynolds said through heavy breaths. He must have been climbing the ladder.

"We've got multiple contacts here in the bay. Radio chatter might have triggered 'em."

"Get the fuck out of there, Crawford. That's an order."

"Yes, sir."

Smith hit the virtual button for 'Go' in Goa'uld. The ship instantly lifted off the deck of the bay.

The light they saw flashed again before them. It remained within their view, pulsing rapidly as the Firefly attempted to rise. Its red glow was foreboding.

The boys felt something impact the side of the ship. It pinged off the metal hull.

The autopilot reported that something was wrong. It was recommending an immediate stop.

Another ping sounded off somewhere else on the hull.

"Should we shoot them?" Smith asked.

"We don't even know what they fucking are," Crawford retorted. He locked worried eyes with Smith. "Switch, motherfucker."

They quickly exchanged seats. They both strapped into the harnesses just in case.

Smith's hands flew over the controls for the weapons. He instructed the system to run an analysis. He was clearly more comfortable with the components of this upgrade than Crawford. He instinctively knew how best to use them.

The ship buckled and the autopilot chirped again, demanding an all-stop for some unknown reason.

"Go means go, Firefly!" Crawford shouted at the ship.

More pings on the hull sounded off. The red light glowing in front of them seemed to be following as the ship ascended achingly slow. It was as if the autopilot was refusing to make the ship go any faster.

Reynolds gazed down below him briefly. Elda was still there. So was Baker. No one had fallen yet. But they still had quite a ways up to go. It was going to be a long afternoon. He figured once they got up to the level with the control room, they could just walk right out the door onto the surface. They could use the gate to meet back up with the team. He assumed the Corporals would program the autopilot to bring them through a wormhole to Tek'ron. If they weren't on that planet waiting for them, he'd dial Earth right away.

"Elda," Crawford sounded off on the radio, "the ship doesn't wanna move."

She hooked her elbow around a ladder rung and activated her radio. "What do you mean?"

"Autopilot keeps spitting back a warning. Seems like something is holding us down." A loud thud came through on the radio.

"Crawfy," Elda said seriously, "Listen to the system. Something just impacted the hull."

"Elda, we are surrounded by these things."

"What are they?"

Smith answered on the radio. "Twenty-two independently-powered contacts. They're buzzing around us like bees. A few of them are sitting on the hull like birds chillin' on electric wires."

"Smitty! English!" Elda chided.

Reynolds rolled his eyes. "Get a mayday out. See if any of our cruisers are in range," he ordered.

"Copy."

He looked down. "Elda, ideas?"

"No way to know what's harassing them without seeing it myself." She scrunched her face as she tried to think. She'd never had this problem before. "Boys, try your data pads."

There was a pause.

"No connection. Whatever these things are, they don't interact with our station tech," Smith reported.

Baker spoke on the radio himself. "Smith, get navigation back up. Let our ship talk to this grandpa ship. See if you can ask it to deactivate whatever the hell's in there buggin' you."

"Copy."

Another pause. Baker glanced up at Elda, who was regarding him worriedly in the emergency lighting of the shaft.

"Sir, it worked."

Everyone breathed out dramatic sighs. Reynolds glanced upward. They could either finish their climb, or they could go back to the bay to figure out what went wrong in there. "Standby, Corporals," he ordered. He let his voice carry down. "You two good to keep going?"

"Yes, Colonel."

"All good, sir."

Reynolds got back on the radio. "Any response from a cruiser?"

"Nothing yet, sir," Smith answered.

"Alright, remain where you are. If one of them gets in touch, inform them of the situation. Maybe they can nitpick those fuckers off the Firefly for you. We're continuing on here. Stay in the ship. I repeat: Stay in the ship."

"Yes, sir."

"Nitpick?" Elda asked from below him.

"Elda, not now," he complained.

Baker tiredly laid down on the deck an hour later. He needed a minute.

Elda was similarly fatigued near him.

Reynolds was up and about, scanning the level they had reached. "Get your lazy asses up."

They both complied. Then they followed as Reynolds used the data pad to show them a path to the control room. It seemed to be a circuitous route around locked blast doors.

Elda quickly grabbed his tac vest and pulled him back from the corner he was about to pass. Reynolds glared at her. She put a finger up to her mouth in a shushing motion.

Voices could be heard in the distance. They backed up and found a wide column to hide behind. The owners of those voices kept walking, never noticing their presence.

Reynolds peeked his head around, seeing no one. He motioned for his team to follow.

They made it to the room they wanted within another minute. The data pad was able to open its door. Inside was the same room they remembered. It was wide, with columns set up along the perimeter. A control station inhabited the center. The three members of SG-3 made quick work of clearing the room and ensuring that no one was there.

Elda rushed forward to reactivate the console. She held up her data pad to translate what was there into Goa'uld.

Baker hovered near her while Reynolds watched the door.

"Okay. There's the pilot control we saw before. Here's communications." The HUD flipped to the appropriate screen. "There's our transmission from the moon facility."

"So it really did come all the way here," Baker noted. "What's this old boat doing with it?"

Elda raised her brow. "Forwarding it to somewhere else."

"Where?"

She glanced back and forth between the native system and her data pad repeatedly as she tried to find the answer to his question. "I don't exactly know, but we have coordinates."

"Sir, did you catch that?"

"I heard you," Reynolds confirmed. "Now find out what the heck those things are in the bay."

Elda grimaced. She didn't even know where to start. She tried clicking into menus she'd never accessed before. The pilot blew out a breath as she searched. She activated her radio. "Boys, can you see any of the things that were bothering you before?"

"Negative," Crawford answered. "Pitch black out the forward port."

"Were you able to see anything ever?"

"Just a red light."

"Red light," she repeated with perplexity. Elda tried to wrack her brain. She thought back to other motherships she'd traveled on before as a child. What would be small, independently-powered, and with lights? Ha'tak didn't have anything like that. She would have seen them somewhere on the one Jasuf's village controlled. She turned to her 2IC. "Lieutenant, what did Smith mean by bees?"

"You don't know bees?"

"Remind me please. Remember? Not from Earth?"

"They're insects. They live in a hive together made of honey. They buzz when they fly. When they get pissed, a group of 'em will surround something and sting."

She tried to imagine the concept he was describing to her. She vaguely remembered it from when she was very, very young on Earth. But the closest image she could think of now were the cargo flyers that buzzed around the space station.

Elda decided to try something on the menus of the old ship. She found something akin to 'cargo hold.' Her data pad tried to translate what else was there, but it would seem it wasn't working well. The language had no equivalents in Goa'uld for them. She backed out of this menu and thought more.

Baker watched her patiently.

Maintenance? Eh. Worth a try.

Suddenly the system lit up with color. Baker leaned in and pointed. He counted. "Well, shit. Twenty-two."

"Still no idea what those things are."

"What are they doing?"

Elda squinted between the display and her translation on the data pad. "Just sitting there. They appear to be standing by."

"For what?"

"Don't know."

"Can you turn them off? Maybe make 'em return to base?"

"Return to base?"

"You know, back to wherever they were before we came through here and woke 'em up."

"Okay…" She hit more commands, trying to find the equivalent to 'home.' Something came up and she tried it. The system confirmed a response.

The radio crackled.

"Sir, was that you?"

Reynolds tipped up his chin at Elda to answer. He remained at the doorway.

"Crawford? What are you seeing?" Elda asked.

"The bees are buzzing again. But they sound like they're detaching from the hull."

"Oh, look, one of 'em just waved hi in the window," Smith quipped.

Baker and Elda shared a look.

"I swear," she complained, "sometimes he is too much for me."

He grinned at her.

"Weapons array is showing them all retreat, Elda," Smith reported. "Did you do that?"

"I think so. Can you tell what they look like now?"

"Kind of remind me of Rellie's robots."

"The fuck?" Reynolds said from the entrance.

Elda's mouth dropped open. Then she smiled. "Is the Firefly reporting any more threats?"

"Negative. Whatever you did, they're gone."

"See what autopilot says now."

Crawford answered, "All in the green."

Elda sighed. At least that challenge was over. She hoped.

A voice cut in on their chatter. "SG-3, this is the Hammond. Please respond."

Reynolds began cussing under his breath.

Baker groaned.

Elda shook her head at their terrible timing.

"This is SG-3 leader, go ahead."

"We received your mayday. What's your status?"

Reynolds cursed even louder now.

"Mom," Elda whispered as she entered the lab.

Sam turned away from the work table. "Hey, come on in." She gestured to the machine currently being taken apart before her. "Some find you brought me here."

"What even is that thing?"

"A maintenance bot."

"What!?"

Sam grinned in triumph. "See this? Tools for making repairs. And this? Lasers. Pretty cool!"

Elda smacked her forehead. "We thought these things were attacking my ship!"

"Oh no. They were trying to see if they needed to fix your ship."

The younger blonde slumped onto a nearby stool. She grumbled loudly. "Ugh. Just ugh. I was all worried about the marines."

Sam laid a hand on her shoulder. "I get it. But hey, now we know. And what's even cooler is the SGC has yet another ship to study. And shuttles!" She seemed giddy to have more things to tinker with.

"Yeah, speaking of… What are we doing with the ships leftover on the moon facility?"

"Oh, Daniel and Vala negotiated for those to be used as long-range transportation for station tourists."

"Say again?"

"Yeah, you weren't here when we got that communique. It's a long one. General Landry will probably have a briefing to update you."

"Okay," she said tiredly.

"What's the matter?"

"I am just exhausted. Climbing five levels on a rickety ladder while worrying about marines really does things to my nerves. And my back." Maybe Elda would go home to Jasuf and get him to give her another backrub. That sounded like it would be delightful. She glanced down at her watch. Then she tried to calculate what time it was on Tek'ron.

Yeah, she could make it work.

"I'm going home to Tek'ron. I'll see you tomorrow."

Sam smiled at her, hardly surprised. "Say hi to Jasuf for me."

Elda hugged her. "I will." She left the lab.

Sam turned back to the exciting project in front of her. "Oooh, what does this thing do?"

A/N: As I've reread that last scene over and over while checking on this chapter, I marvel at how much I made Sam seem as adorable as Elda... or was it that Elda got that from Sam? Chicken and egg debate I guess. Anyhoo, thanks for sticking around. More to come as the adventure continues. See you next time!