Stargate Command
2nd September 2065
It had been a quiet few days recently at the SGC, most of their time lately was still being spent pouring over the documents received from the Asgard, and the recent activity on Abydos and now Tjaru was taking up most of the operational time available.
Things were getting back to normal though, thought O'Neill with a smile, a new mission was on the books and he was eager to get back into action, he walked into the briefing room and gave the rest of SG-1 a wave, "Breaks over kids", he took his usual seat and leaned back, hands resting behind his head.
"O'Neill", Teal'c gave him a stoic nod, Carter was buried into a technical manual and Daniel was spraying dust everywhere as he turned the pages of an old tome, steam wafted from the hot coffee beside him, a light coating of dust was floating on top which Daniel downed as Jack watched, he hid a smirk behind his hand and leaned forward.
"Anything interesting happen T?"
"Indeed, Master Sergeant Siler introduced me to the fictional entertainment you call Star Wars, it was most enlightening"
Jack nodded, "Glad you liked it, anything else?"
Teal'c gave a slow nod of his head, "I have been in contact with Master Bra'tac, he had made progress drawing more Jaffa to the cause of freedom, he wishes to discuss material support with General Hammond in future, I believe regarding tretonin and the new genetic treatment"
"I'm sure we can sort something out, you tell him about the Hak'tyl girls?, they could be good recruits"
Another slow nod, "Indeed, Master Bra'tac was most pleased to hear of other resistance groups, especially that the legendary Sodan are real, he will endeavor to contact them on behalf of all free Jaffa"
"Sounds good", Jack looked at the book Daniel was reading, "What's that Danny?"
Jacksons eyes looked at him from over the top of the book, "It's a historical piece on the Orbanians, they just left all their books to rot in storage, I managed to get this one from Kalan while we were there", Daniel closed the book and placed it on the desk, "There's a lot of evidence in their history that adds to my theory that the Orbanians are related to the pre-Coloumbian Teotihuacan civilisation in Mexico"
Jack felt braincells going on strike in his head, a sarcastic "Sounds interesting", leaving his lips, he was saved from further conversation by the arrival of General Hammond, who was followed in by the familiar figures of Egeria and Selmac.
"Lets get down to business", Hammond turned to Jack, "Your mission to P3C-599 is a go, you leave in one hour, we need to prepare the Cylon body for transport first", Hammond sat down at the head of the table while Egeria and Selmac took seats at the far end, "First though, I received disturbing information regarding the elite Jaffa fought on Tjaru", he waved to the two Tok'ra, "Our allies will explain"
Selmac bowed his head and began to talk, "They belong to Sokar, something of a boogeyman among the system lords, only beaten out by Anubis, the Jaffa belonged to him"
"Indeed, tales of Sokar's cruelty are told among the Jaffa", Teal'c intoned.
Selmac nodded, "Most system lords thought him dead after he defied Ra millennia ago but he had been in hiding, rebuilding his forces", Selmac shrugged, "The Tok'ra are aware of him though, we had spies implanted in his empire for some time, it's how we acquired cloaking technology for our Tel'tak's, Sokar has made great strides in that field"
Selmac nodded towards Jolinar, "Before Jolinar joined you she was deployed to spy on Sokar, she was also the one responsible for acquiring the cloaking technology"
Jacks head turned to the quiet member of SG-1, as did every other head in the room, Jolinar lost the resting smug face she usually sported, a feature common to the Tok'ra Jack had identified, a sigh escaped her lips, "My infiltration did not go as planned, I was captured and sent to the prison moon of Netu", a disgusted expression formed on her features, "I managed to seduce the Lord of Netu and use his ring transporter to escape to Delmak and steal a Tel'tak, it is how I escaped and how the Tok'ra have cloaking ships while the systems lords do not"
Selmac nodded as she finished, "Your forces encountered Sokar's Jaffa on Tjaru, after I examined them I returned to the Tok'ra high council to report this, it is a disturbing sign that Sokar may be planning to expand his empire"
"Wasn't Ptahmose one of Ra's underlings?", Jack mused out loud.
"Yes, we found it strange he did not attempt to latch on to a stronger Goa'uld, Apophis borders his planet so we expected him to switch allegiance once Ra was gone, we now know he did, just to Sokar instead"
"You think Sokar is going to attack the other system lords?", Hammond asked.
Selmac nodded, "It is highly possible he is simply waiting for Heru'ur and Apophis to weaken sufficiently but we believe it will happen soon, Sokar had been increasing his levels of production drastically in the past few months, we think he currently has the biggest fleet among the system lords"
A frown appeared on Hammond's forehead, "And we just put our foot in his business, will he notice our attack on Tjaru?"
Selmac nodded, "Eventually, I did manage to interrogate some Jaffa there, your freeing of the slaves on Rhosos affected Ptahmose' naquadah output, it is why Sokar's Jaffa were there, to keep an eye on him, it will be a matter of weeks at most"
"God dammit", Jack swore, just when they managed to take a snake out another slithered out of the woodwork, "Is there anything we can do?"
"There is", Egeria finally spoke, "Selmac has devised a plan, the Goa'uld are known to use naquadah explosives too, if you detonate a bomb on the surface to hide your tracks it will also implicate one of the other system lords"
Selmac bowed his head, "I did discuss this with Admiral Rooks before I used the gate to return, the Tok'ra possess several of those explosives, it would be a small matter to leave one behind on Tjaru and detonate it once you leave"
"And throwing the blame on Apophis", Carter spoke up, she turned to Hammond, "But what about the population?"
"Already being evacuated, that was the plan from the start, leave no trace of our involvement", he turned to the Tok'ra, "All the better if the Goa'uld think one of their own did it"
"It wont be foolproof but it will buy you more time to prepare, it may even make Sokar move earlier", Selmac nodded to Hammond, "Having Heru'ur or Apophis becmining supreme system lord is something we do not want but Sokar would be even worse, better that he is unprepared", he nodded to Egeria.
"I am also considering leaking information related to Sokar to the other system lords, he is a threat to all of them", Egeria finished.
Hammond turned to SG-1, "The council has already approved the bomb idea, once the evacuation is finished it'll be detonated", Hammond sighed, "The combat reports from Sokar's Jaffa are also worrying, they were all equipped with better armour and rapid fire staff weapons, along with personal shields"
"Damn", Jack felt a tinge of worry.
"I'll sent the reports over later, see if you can brainstorm ideas to counter them", Hammond stood and looked to Jack, "You have a mission to get to, dismissed"
P3C-599
Later
The rumbling of the gate activating echoed around the enclosed metallic room, dust shaking from the long forgotten curtains over the many devices in the room, an eruption of blue light lit up the dark corners as the gate came alive and several people walked out of the gate, two carrying a stretcher between them.
"Heavy bastard", O'Neill commented, he looked around the room as he and Teal'c placed the stretcher bound man on the ground, "This place could do with a spring cleaning", he watched as the other three members of SG-1 wandered into the room, they had elected to leave Jolinar behind in case Ma'chello had some kind of anti Goa'uld security system, even though Teal'c was fine in the other reality they weren't taking chances.
Carter approached a device concealed under the red netting, "Fascinating, it's like nothing Goa'uld I've seen, Teal'c, do you recognise anything?"
Teal'c approached Carter, his staff in had, "These devices are unfamiliar to me", he spoke as he gazed at an object on a pedestal.
"Ahem", Jack spoke out loud, "Remember what we're here for", he turned to look around the room, "Knock, knock, anyone home?"
"I am home", a feeble voice came from behind a curtain over the far wall, a wrinkled hand pushed the fabric aside and stepped out revealing a hunched over man, grey hair and a wrinkled face cast a look over SG-1, noting their weapons, "I am unarmed"
Jack nodded, "Ma'chello I presume?", Jack looked over to Teal'c, "Is this him?"
Teal'c stalked up to the man, staring into his face, "Since before I was born, this man has been a fugitive from the System Lords, one of my first assignments as First Prime of Apophis was to hunt this man", he turned back to O'Neill, "I have seen many images of Ma'chello, though his face had not seen as many years, it is him"
"Alright, lets speed this up, here's a new body, we know you have a mind switching device", he waved to the still body laying on the ground, he had been told it was a model five, "We know you planned to hijack the first body you saw"
A flash of anger passed on the man's face before the same look of confusion he had sported returned, "I am not this person you speak of, you are mistaken"
"Listen gramps, we know who you are and what your planning, lets skip the pretence and get down to business"
The hunched over man sighed, "Very well", he seemed to regain some strength and stood straighter, "I am Ma'chello, I presume you are not affiliated with the System Lords despite your companion", he waved to Teal'c.
"Nope, you wont find any fans of the Gould on our planet", Jack smirked.
Ma'chello nodded, he glanced to the body laying on the stretcher, "My machine will not work on corpses", he hobbled closer on his walking stick.
"This isn't a corpse, it an artificially grown human, its got some cybernetic and genetic upgrades too, so I'm told, there no mind inside either"
"I see", he pulled the sheet off with his stick, "And what is the price for this?"
"Help against the Goa'uld", Daniel spoke up, "Technology, information, anything will do"
Ma'chello let out tired sigh, "You might not like my methods", he poked the still body with his stick, "You will require me to return to your world?"
"Nah", Jack shrugged, "Consider this a gift of friendship, we'll leave an address where you can contact us, but some tech would be nice"
"Very well, move him over here", Ma'chello hobbled over to a large machine under a red cloth, he pulled it away as he passed, "Place his hands on the handles"
Jack and Daniel bent down and lifted the dead weight, a bit of maneuvering and they managed to prop it up enough to place the two hands on the handles sticking out.
Ma'chello placed his own hands on the handles on the other side of the machine, his back bent like he had been shocked before he lifelessly fell to the ground, the team watched as the previously still body began to move, standing up and looking over itself.
"Ah, what a wonder being young is", he touched different parts of his body, "And no scars any more, I feel great"
"Ma'chello?", Carter asked.
"Indeed young lady", He glanced down to see he was only wearing a hospital gown, "Although my attire could use some improvement"
He flexed his arm, "This body is strong, I can feel it", he ran a finger along his wrist, "I feel other things too, like information could flow from my hands"
"Yeah, like I said, its got upgrades, I think you have some kind of bio optical connectors in your wrists or something", Jack could barely remember the report on the Cylons, he turned to Carter, "Carter you explain"
"Enhanced strength and durability, resistance to disease and like Colonel O'Neill mentioned, the ability to directly interface with machinery", Carter listed off some things, "We think they might also have a higher life expectancy than normal humans and until recently they could download their minds into fresh bodies but the infrastructure for that no longer exists"
"Marvellous, I must thank you Colonel for this gift but I am afraid I will not be returning to your world, I simply do not trust you", Ma'chello spoke as he moved over to a cloth covered pedestal, a weapon shaped device was pulled out, "Do not mistake this for hostility, it is simply self defence"
He pointed the weapon at them, "Please move towards the dialling device", he kept the gun trained on them as they all backed up,
"Hows that for gratitude", A sarcastic comment left O'Neill's mouth.
An annoyed flash crossed Ma'chello's face, he moved to another pedestal and pulled out a data pad, he typed a code into it and tossed it towards Carter, "A database of my inventions, it should be in standard Goa'uld, consider it my payment, I think this is the last time we shall meet, I work better alone anyway"
He motioned with his gun, "Please, leave"
Jack sighed, "Daniel, dial us out"
Daniel nodded and got to work inputting their default exfil address, they never dialled directly to or from Earth, soon the gate spun up and a blast of blue light illuminated the room, "Goodbye", Ma'chello made a shooing motion with his weapon, defeated SG-1 climbed up the steps and walked into the wormhole.
"Well, that sucked", Jack moaned out on the other side, he turned to watch as the gate disengaged, "Anything useful on that thing Carter?"
"Its full of Schematics but I'll need to get them translated to make heads or tails of this"
A depressed sigh came out of Daniels mouth, "I feel sorry for him, I would have thought a man like him would be happy to have help"
Teal'c remained stoically observant, but his voice cut through the subdued atmosphere, "Ma'chello is a man burdened by his history, his reluctance to trust is not surprising given the number of enemies he has made"
Jack patted Teal'c on the back, "Deep, T", he turned to Daniel, "No point standing around here feeling sorry for ourselves, let head home", he was sure they were in for an earful from Hammond, but at least they got that data pad, it remained to be seen if anything of value was actually on it though.
He turned to watch as the gate spun up, Daniel inputting the gate coordinates as Carter fiddled with the pad, time to head home.
Boeing HQ
Aerospace Division
A dark boardroom was illuminated by only one source of light, a wall sized screen behind the man at the head of the table, everyone was holding their breath as he read from a pad, a news site dealing with aerospace matters was open, an article displayed to the executive, "A return to 'Triumph' from Boeing following poor performance of the 959 Aurora heavy lift space plane"
The executive threw the pad onto the large rectangular table, the noise causing some of the other people there to cringe, "I'll not let Lockheed or those euro scum steal the industry out from under us", Vice president Patterson spit out, "Or those Colonials"
A murmur of assent spread around the room, Patterson pulled a remote out and brought up a series of sales charts, "Ever since the Skymarshall everyone is going gaga for anti grav lift engines, then Airbus comes out with their Leopard knockoff and we're still stuck in the stone age with space planes", the charts showed a massive decline in sales following the recent revolution in ground to space travel.
Patterson had been giving this speech for a few days now, drumming up hype for the new product, the Triumph class dropship, they had spent a pretty penny to but the rights from Kerensky, it was still cheaper than designing a new ship from scratch though, after that it was easy enough to modify to suit modern tastes, but they needed a gimmick, something the others didn't have yet, enter the jump drive.
They had signed a deal with a Colonial manufacturer, Caprica Aerospace technologies, for a supply of drives and the Triumph was a big beast, easily able to mount one, thus Boeing would put out the first Terran ground to space craft that could also jump, everyone knew they were on to a winner, especially the government who didn't want to be beholden to the Colonials for all their transport craft, grants had been flowing freely to get this ready.
He clicked the button again, a media player appeared, the play triangle ready to be pressed, he turned to the managers he was here to brief, a new media storm was about to hit and they needed to prepare.
"Our spokesman was talking to the big media outlets, the interview will be dropping tonight, right now we're pushing for the civilian market, we already signed contracts with the Union for military transports", Patterson hit play.
The camera was focused on a slick man wearing a well tailored suit, Mark Wallis, the media spokesman for the company, the voice of the interviewer soon came in, "Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, Mark, the launch of the Triumph Class Heavy Lift Transport Drop Ship has created quite a buzz, can you tell us what inspired the design and technology behind this impressive vessel?"
An easy smile lit up Marks face, "We looked closely at designs made by the Star League, particularly designs on the larger side, by analyzing their specifications, we were able to adapt some of those designs to create a modern take on heavy lift transport"
Mark reached for a glass of water after he finished as the screen changed to an image of the craft in question, it looks like a very fat old NASA shuttle, wings at the back near the engines and two large doors on either side of the fuselage.
Marks voice resumed talking, "The Triumph Class dropship that is renowned for its versatility and rugged design, we studied its attributes extensively, its structural integrity, cargo handling capabilities, and overall aerodynamics, our engineering team utilized those design features as a base to improve upon, our team is very happy with the end product, the result is a vessel that not only pays homage to the original but also leverages modern advancements in materials and propulsion to improve performance"
The screen changed to show footage of a test flight as the interviewer asked another question, "The anti-gravity lift engines and jump drive sound like a game changer, to date the Triumph will be the largest commercial craft to mount them, can you explain how these technologies work together to enhance the Triumph Class's capabilities"
A dazzling smile lit up his face again, a small chuckle leaving his mouth as he spoke, "Of course!, the anti-gravity lift engines provide an incredible amount of thrust while minimizing weight, allowing the ship to lift off and land almost anywhere without the need for traditional runways, our fusion thrusters complement this by delivering high-speed travel once the vessel is airborne, ensuring efficient long-distance transit, and add on to that the ability to travel vast distances via the jump drive, these technologies significantly reduce operational costs, expand logistical capabilities, and enhance responsiveness for emergency missions"
Patterson stood from his seat and turned the screen off, "We'll be placing most of our emphasis on the jump drives, the Triumph has a clear advantage over the competition there, along with cargo capacity, our ship is over twice the length of Airbus' Leopard and a lot bigger than Lockheed's Skymarshall"
They couldn't compete on price so they'd have all the features instead, that their reputation had been in the shitter for the past few decades didn't help but offering a product that could travel from planet to planet on its own without having to transfer cargo would add up to big savings for the commercial logistics companies, they were expecting high sales.
It had better sell well he thought, he had tied his mast to this project and failure would leave him jobless, still he was confident the Triumph would be a success, if they had waited any longer things might be different though, skipping years of development by buying the design was the smart move here, he imagined that was what Airbus was thinking when they bought the rights to the Leopard.
Patterson glanced down at his watch, he needed to leave soon and make his way to the airport, they were having the launch ceremony in their Seattle facility later today and he needed to be there, fortunately cross continental travel was quick nowadays, only taking an hour by sub orbital hop, he tidied up his files as the others broke into conversation, his star was rising and he'd be holding on with both hands.
Lunar Medical Research Facility
Mare Imbrium, Luna
They placed her in the golden box, all smiles as the lid slid closed and entombed her, they told her it would make her better, help her recover her memories of the distant past, they were right.
It started with a stabbing sensation in her mind, she could feel her neurons being forced back into place as the machine sent out an energy similar to her own, it had an artificial tang to her senses but it worked, then the memories started to return.
Her name was the first, rather than the Ayiana that the person who found her had given she recalled her actual name, Cyla Urbanus, her mind swam through the thoughts as they returned, her life playing back on fast forward in her mental landscape, language returned, she could feel the similarities the tongue of the current day, it was descended from it.
Then her most recent memories came back, the plague, the government crackdown on the non-gifted as it was traced back to a fringe terrorist group, things deteriorating as it progressed, infecting all humans without care whether they had psionics or not, then using the terraformers on infected worlds, the decent into complete civil unrest and finally the collapse of everything.
She remembered the look her husband had given her at the end, the look of disgust as she was found to be a carrier, him striding off onto Atlantis and leaving her behind to rot, she had turned her tear streaked eyes to the sky as the so called Elite had fled the collapse of Alteran civilisation, escaping on their treasured floating city, she cursed them and him at the time, her sorrow causing her to flee the building and out into the frozen landscape.
She planned on dying then, she didn't realise her abilities could keep her alive in a frozen tomb, no one did, she was actually on the lower end of the power scale compared to others who could heal, using her ability on others would cause damage to herself, it was why she was a security guard and not a doctor.
A high ranking one to be honest, the government would only allow the gifted to hold such high positions, the mundanes relegated to the menial and unpalatable jobs while those with psionics ruled over them, she remembered the behind closed doors discussions, how the government had the technology to grant the mundanes the same abilities but were afraid of losing their control, if only they had, everyone might all have lived without a plague then.
He thoughts turned to the present as the machine continued its work, this new world she found herself in was run by mundanes, in a way the plague was successful, it had evened the playing field, too bad it destroyed civilisation in the process, but now humanity was far more primitive than before, she wondered how long she had been frozen in ice for things to fall so far.
She would credit them in one area, they had managed to cure the plague from her body, a miracle drug called tretonin, if only they had a similar substance so long ago, things might have been different.
Days later and she was still being interrogated, this Union had known something about the Alterans of the past based on the line of questioning they followed, things had changed from the cheery scientists and medical workers to hard faced government agents once her memories had returned, asking pointed questions about the final days of the plague.
They even knew what had become of those who fled, devoured by alien creatures, probably of their own creation, the few survivors returning here and mingling with the natives, she was surprised when she learned that the psionics of the so called Lanteans had degraded from what she remembered, only a minor technopathy being present in their society, still it was more than what remained now.
It did make a kind of morbid sense to her, the stronger the persons psionics the worse the effects of the plague upon them, the telekinetics and mind talkers always succumbed within hours of infection, whereas those healing powers such as herself and technopaths could last days, just like the mundanes would take over a week to die from the incurable infectious disease.
This new government was disappointed when she informed them she was no scientist, she knew no technologies or secrets to help them against this new enemy, these Goa'uld parasites, scavengers who had stolen whatever legacy had remained to use to enslave the survivors of the plague, another disappointment in a long string ever since she had been abandoned.
Now she sat gazing out of the window onto the dead lunar surface, watching as lights flew to and fro as ships piled their trade through the system, the looming form of the Lunar Shipyards visible overhead and above that the blue and green marble of Earth, she was deep in thought after being offered a new job, one she was uniquely qualified for.
Up there on the planet they were uncovering the remains of Atlantis' launch platform, it's drone defence system was still intact and operational she had been told, they had few enough people with the genetics to activate the system and none trained on its use, but she had been trained on that system, thus she would be offered a job to defend the planet if enemies ever approached, the one problem being the lack of a potentia, perhaps the databanks at the outpost would have a location for a spare but for now the Union was building a massive reactor on the ice above, perhaps it would be enough.
There were other less savory offers too, to preserve her bloodline she was told, her reproductive system was fully intact and they wanted her to produce, she had a suspicion they were already doing something with her blood, but children were something she always dreamed of having, until her betrayal at the end, her husband abandoning her to death.
She sighed as she stared at the stars, from what she understood the pay would be extravagant, she might just have to take that offer, better on her terms before they forced the issue, she would need to find a suitable man though, she would not let some foreign government dictate who she lay with.
A shadow approached from behind, "Miss Urbanus", the agent spoke, he handed her a folder of documents, identification, birth records, "The transport is ready, once you complete the induction training you will be sent to the Antarctic outpost, remember, not a word on where you came from"
It was time to shed her past it seemed, she stood up and cast one last look to the stars, a final goodbye to her long gone husband.
Stargate Command
Pluto Station
Jack strode into the docking port, he was still fuming after the whole Ma'chello thing, Hammond had been understanding enough and they had received the pad of schematics, Carter and Daniel were working flat out to translate them into usable data while he made his way here to say a temporary goodbye to their guests.
He spotted them waiting near the airlock, the woman Telya sitting on the bench cradling her unborn child, a bored expression was all over the tall dread locked Ronon, his fingers playing over the empty holster on his waist, his gun had been confiscated for study.
And Sheppard giving him a small wave as he approached, "Colonel, here to see us off?"
"Wouldn't miss it", Jack stuck his hands into his pockets, "You know, I could get you on a team here?"
Sheppard shrugged, "I think my heart is in Atlantis, helping the Pegasus project here is a better use of my skills", he motioned to Teyla and Ronon, "Even if its not our reality they belong in Pegasus"
O'Neill nodded sadly, Sheppard and the other two had been offered jobs on the Pegasus project, the Union was planning on sending an expedition to the distant galaxy in the future but not for a few years yet, they were going to use the fullest extend of Sheppard and his friends knowledge to train for the trip, things were on hold until a viable means of travel manifested though and a way to return to Earth.
Sheppard looked out of the view port, the dark shape of a passenger transport was closing in on the docking port, "They'll even let me train on those fighters you have, it'll be fun"
Jack nodded, "Not going to miss the gate?"
Sheppard gave him a sly smile as the ship outside connected with a clunk, "What makes you think we wont have one?, we're setting up the training facility on a planet a few hundred light years away, one of the newly colonised ones, command has promised we'll have a gate of our own soon enough, we'll need it for training"
A loud hiss emanated from the airlock as it slid open and a torrent of people began to disembark, Jack and Sheppard moved aside as the crowds walked past, Jack nodded and extended his hand, "Good luck out there Sheppard, call me if you need anything"
Sheppard's strong grip took the hand, "I'll hold you to that", he looked as the throngs thinned out, "Better get a move on, later O'Neill", Sheppard gave him a flippant salute and disappeared through the airlock, Teyla and Ronon following behind, Jack watched them board then shrugged and left towards the labs.
A short walk and knock on the door later Jack walked in to Carter and Daniel hunched over the small data pad, Jolinar was also present looking over the designs they had already copied onto paper.
"How's it going folks?", Jack sauntered into the room, hands still in his pockets, he wandered around the edges of the room, examining the various pieces and bits of machinery present.
"Good and bad", Carter spoke without looking up, "Some of these technologies are ingenious I just think they're useless for our purposes"
Jack turned his head from a jar filled with green liquid he was looking at, a bubble was slowly working its way to the top of the glass, "Oh, what's wrong with them?"
Carter sighed and put he pad down as Daniel finished scribbling a translation, "Everything in here is designed to kill Goa'uld"
Jack raised an eyebrow, "And?"
"I mean everything is some kind of assassination device, bomb or chemical weapon, not the kind of things we need to fight their ships"
"No big honking space guns then?"
Carter shook her head, "There's a few things not related to Goa'uld, the mind switching device and some medical and life support tech but it's the minority, nothing for space combat whatsoever"
"The Tok'ra will be interested in this technology however", Jolinar spoke up from where she was reading the notes, "You should be able to trade this information for other technology"
"Didn't you mention that the Tok'ra bought weapons from Ma'chello?", Daniel asked.
Jolinar nodded, "From his disciples, men and women who helped him to fight the Goa'uld, and only after he had disappeared, he did not discern between Tok'ra and Goa'uld", she shrugged, "It has been over a century since I have traded with them, I did offer to get in contact but I imagine they might all be dead now"
"Yeah, I imagine so", Jack plonked down into the empty chair and put his feet up on the table, "I'm feeling a bit disappointed with the lack of big guns, is there nothing useful?"
"Some of the power cells are interesting, but other that that this stuff is more for professional spies"
"James Bond stuff?", Jack smirked, "I could use a laser in my watch"
Carter threw the notebook at him, "Sure Colonel, because what we really need is a laser watch in the hands of a guy who can't even remember where he put his keys"
Jack threw his hands up in surrender his mouth open to quip back when the alarm sounded, his smile dropped as he leapt to his feet, the others following along as they raced for the command room, Harriman's voice calling out over the intercom, "Unscheduled off world activation"
Jack burst into the room, Hammond was there staring at the spinning gate, "Talk to me Sergeant"
"Its P3R-272, SG-2 only left for there a few minutes ago"
The address sparked a memory in O'Neill's mind, "The place with the ancient head sucker?"
"Receiving radio signal, it's SG-2", Harriman called out.
"Let's hear it", Hammond spoke.
"SG-2 to command, Kawalsky here, the device, its gone"
"Gone?", Hammond spoke into the microphone, a confused tinge to his voice.
"Yes sir, right where it should be in the pictures there's just a big hole in the wall, its not here"
Hammond turned to O'Neill, "Suit up Colonel, find out what's going on"
"Sir", Jack turned and jogged to the locker room, SG-1 hot on his heels, looks like a mystery just popped into their hands.
…
"Sir, these lines were not made by any tooling known to man, I think it was beamed out", Carter's voice came out of the rectangular hole carved into the far wall from the gate, where the ancient repository was supposedly located according to Sheppard's files.
Jack felt his teeth grind, "How long?"
Carter ran a handheld scanner over the edge of the hole, "It's hard to say but based on the build up of elements on the cut surface, we're looking at thousands of years"
"Gould?"
Jolinar stepped forward, "No, if a Goa'uld gained access to the technology supposedly in the database they would already be supreme system lord, this was someone else"
Jack felt a pulsing at his temple, the signal of a coming headache, "Asgard?"
Carter shrugged, "It's possible but according to the reports from Sheppard they already had an Ancient database, why take this?"
Jack nodded, "We'll ask next time we see one", he turned to Kawalsky and SG-2 who were standing near the DHD, "Charlie, walk me through what happened after you arrived"
Kawalsky nodded, "We walked through and everything looked normal, like the photos in those reports, we had Markham walk through the circle on the ground there and that's when the hole appeared, it was hidden behind a hologram or something"
Jack looked at the light circle on the ground, the shapes were apparently Ancient text, he walked through himself but nothing changed, Markham was supposed to have the ancient gene according to Sheppard so it wasn't that, looks like someone stole the repository, and thousands of years ago if Carter was right.
Jack pointed to one of SG-1 standing near the DHD, "Dial the SGC, I need to talk to Hammond"
Moments later Hammond was on the radio, an angry silence radiated out after Jack had explained what they found.
"Sir, I think we need to check the other location, P3X-439"
"The other repository, permission granted, if it's still there we need to secure that database"
"We'll head there right now, we'll contact you as soon as we know, over"
"God speed, SG-1, out"
The gate soon cut the connection to Earth, Jack motioned to Daniel, "You know the address right, I'll have egg on my face if we need to ask the general now"
"Sure, one second", Daniel moved to the DHD while everyone else got ready, soon another wormhole lit up the enclosed space, SG-1 and 2 passed through into an open green field, in the distance the ruins of a large structure were just about visible.
"Lets move", Jack waved them forward, "Kawalsky, stay here and cover the gate"
SG-1 made the trek to the building in the distance, Daniel had produced a pad from his uniform and was reading over a copy of the mission report from Sheppard's reality, "Daniel, please don't take classified mission reports through the stargate", Jack admonished as he saw that.
"Oh, sorry, I took it when I knew we were heading to the first repository, I thought it might come in handy"
Jack raised a finger and pointed to his head, "Keep it in here for the missions, we don't want a data pad to just drop into enemy hands"
"Fine, I wont do it again"
They were nearing the building now, Jack saw it was actually a gigantic statue that was missing its head, "Wonder who that was", he spoke as he scratched at his chin.
"Based on what we know of the Ancients, probably a psychic dictator", Daniel spoke, his head still glued to the pad, "In the other reality the device was exposed by pressing a letter on this wall", he stopped in front of a wall of ancient text, it was under the awning of the statue.
Daniel adjusted his glasses as he began to read the wall, "I'm not as well versed in ancient as my counterpart, this might take awhile"
Jack took to throwing stones while Daniel worked away, a few minutes later and an "Ah ha!" reached his ears, Jack turned to watch as the wall behind Daniel moved, wobbling like a bowl of jello as a large rectangular hole appeared.
"Well, damn", Jack walked closer and poked his head inside the hole, "Looks like someone beat us here, Carter?"
Carter ran her hand held scanner over the hole, "It's been gone a long time, based on these readings we're looking at over a hundred thousand years"
Jack felt his jaw drop at that number, "That long?", he sighed, "Guess that rules out the Goa'uld, the question remains, who did take them?"
Daniel leaned into the hole, "There is another possibility", he looked back at Jack, "They were never installed in the first place, we have to remember that our reality while similar on the surface has some major differences from Sheppard's"
"Alright, there's nothing here, lets head back to base, I don't think the council will be pleased", He knew a few top people were salivating at the possibility of ancient tech, too bad it was gone before civilisation on Earth was formed, or reformed he supposed.
There went his evening.
Heliopolis
Littlefield City
5th September 2065
It was a brand new city they were flying over, an aerial tour to showcase what he Union had to offer, down below a mass of freshly built concrete boxes lined the streets, apartment towers reaching for the sky and in the distance their destination, the Alliance Forum building, itself another quickly constructed concrete box, squat and low to the ground, painted in light colours and surrounded by tastefully laid out green spaces, a far cry from the busy gate terminal, where throngs of refugees freshly arrived from Tjaru were pouring through the gate and onto waiting transports to be taken to the refugee centres around the city.
Ambassador Dreylock watched the city speed by below, it was amazing to think it didn't even exist only a year ago, she cast her eyes to the horizon where the ocean was crashing against the cliffs nearby, the silhouette of an ancient structure remained there, now covered in scaffolding as work was undertaken to save it from further collapse.
She didn't like this planet, it was dreary and wet compared to the warm sun of Kelowna, she felt the aircraft jerk as it came in for a landing at the Forum building, she spied the edges of the still expanding urban area, yellow painted machines digging holes and pouring concrete to construct more homes for the displaced of the galaxy, Heliopolis now sported a population in the hundreds of thousands, Terrans and those they had rescued from far away planets.
Outside the city she could just make out the beginnings of farmland, the refugees the Terrans had rescued being granted small dwellings and a bit of land, the more primitive cultures were more comfortable with that, while the advanced Rhososians had taken up residence in the city proper, the markets, she had been told, were a vibrant clash of many different human cultures.
She felt a loud thunk as the aircraft set down on a landing pad, an escort was waiting as she exited, "Madam Ambassador, this way please", a suited functionary directed her and the rest of her team who were disembarking further into the building, they crossed the chilly landing pad in the light drizzle of rain, the faces of the Kelownan party each bore a scowl, none of them were happy being here, regardless of the weather.
It had started a last week when the gate had activated in full public view, it had been on display in the Lorunis national museum when the Terrans had decided to call, things had been cordial at the start with the Terrans indicating that weapons technology could be traded for naquadria but they had some conditions that would be a hard pill to swallow.
Namely that the three major states on Langara put aside their differences and work together against the alien Goa'uld threat, she felt a bit of bile rise in her throat when she began to recall what happened when the Kelownan government flat out refused to even consider that proposition, they were on the verge of expelling the Terran diplomat when the veiled threats had come.
They knew about the bomb, the implication being that it would be revealed to the Andari Federation and the Tirania Confederacy well before it was ready, they were still years away from a working device, they also let it be known that the Terrans had space craft able to easily reach Langara, and would have no problem trading advanced weapons to the other powers, including nuclear weapons.
The sheer arrogance and gall of the Terran diplomat had shocked the government, but he kept his threats to innuendo, things became more bleak when a ship had arrived in orbit, the Terran threats were not idle at all, the very real possibility of the Terrans supplying advanced weapons to the other two nations had caused the government to back down and actually consider their options, soon after all three Langaran nations had agreed to a peace conference hosted on a Terran world.
Now she was walking under an alien sky into the drab concrete block of the Alliance Forum, humans from other nations hurried around, not just Terrans but people from the Colonies of Kobol, Pangar, and Orban, it made her realise how small their own conflict must seem to a multi-planetary power like the Union.
She sighed in frustration as they passed through the glass doors and into the foyer, the Terrans were playing hard ball and they had the backing of the other powers represented by the Alliance, they were also pushing for the Langaran nations to join up too, dangling the carrot of advanced weapons and space travel over them.
She knew why they were so aggressive, the Goa'uld were a threat to warrant their actions, she knew only a few days ago a large battle had occurred over a Terran world, a battle with significant casualties, if she were in their shoes she would probably be doing the same, she knew First Minister Valis would.
There was another reason to be here apart from the implied threats, a report from the Terrans, a rather detailed one describing tectonic instability and the eventual destruction of their world if a naquadria bomb was exploded, how they managed to get the data was beyond her or anyone else from Kelowna but the facts presented within were hard to dispute, they must have been watching them for longer than suspected.
Large wooden doors were thrown open and she stepped into the large conference room, she spotted her opposing Ambassadors turning from their death glares at each other to give her annoyed glares, the Andari and Tiranians had always hated each other more.
Taking her seat she watched as the neutral arbitrators of these peace talks walked in, a three man team composed of members from all three nations of the Alliance, at Kelownan request it was headed by the least powerful member, a negotiator from the nation of Pangar, she sighed as he moved up to speak, this would take a long time to hammer out.
Stargate Command
Pluto Station
6th September 2065
A loud TV was blaring out a news report on the latest negotiations happening on Heliopolis, it was quickly shut off when Hammond hit a button on the remote, "The Council is pushing forward with contacting the other advanced human nations, a ship is already en route to Tagrea to initiate contact"
The room was quiet with the droning of the news reporters, containing only Hammond and SG-1, Jack raised a hand and scratched at his chin, "How did we get a ship out to those Langarans so fast anyway?"
He mostly kept it to himself but he knew his stars and Langara was nearly thirty thousand light years away from Earth, even the best drives they had would take weeks to get there.
"Remember the Cylon ship that the Colonial expedition encountered, the Guardian baseship?", Carter spoke up from beside him.
He nodded to her, "Didn't they steal the jump drive from it?, is that how they got there so fast?"
Carter gave him a smile, "Exactly, part of studying it involved mounting it in a Colossus freighter", She spoke with exuberance, "I've been keeping up with the research, the team is close to making a breakthrough after we got access to the latest Colonial jump drives, they were already close to the performance of the Cylon drive, we should be able to replicate the design ourselves soon"
Jack nodded as the technical talk went over his head, "So, they sent that freighter?"
"Yep"
Jack raised an eyebrow, "Was that a good idea, what if the Gould find them?"
"It was decided at a higher level than us Colonel, Command felt the risk was worth the reward, they didn't want the Kelownan's denying access to naquadria so they sent that ship", Hammond spoke up from the end of the table, "Let's move on to your upcoming mission"
"P2Q-463 or Vyus to the locals", Hammond brought up the mission report from the other universe, "At a late industrial level of development but currently suffering from a sterility problem from overuse of a pesticide called Dargol"
"It's also where Linea fled after the other SG-1 rescued her from the Taldor prison", Daniel commented with a look of disappointment, "According to the report she was responsible for the Vorlix, returning everyone on Vyus back to their youth at the cost of their memories"
"Quite so Doctor Jackson", Hammond nodded to him, "The Council feels their level of development is useful enough to be included in the alliance, you are to travel there and initiate contact, we'll have medical support on hand to see if we can solve their sterility problem"
"And if we cant?", Jack asked.
Hammond shrugged, "We have other options available, there are many primitive groups who would love to help solve the Vyan population crisis in exchange for an improved quality of life, we might be able to facilitate something with the groups we know", Hammond leaned back in his chair, "There is also some technology we could share, I understand that artificial womb technology is something we gained from the star league?", he directed the question to Carter.
She nodded, "It is", a sheepish look came over her, "There's also the possibility we could recreate what Linea achieved, according to the report she used Dargol to create her reverse ageing drug"
"It is under consideration but without Linea it will probably be a dead end", Hammond told them.
"What about the old bat herself?, or the Taldor?", Jack asked the team and Hammond.
"The council has decided to leave them alone for now, the reports indicated a highly xenophobic society and no one wants to expend the resources to court them right now", Hammond shrugged, "And without them telling us we don't know the address to their prison world"
"Apart from the transporter technology mentioned in the report we don't even know how advanced or developed they are", Carter added, "It would probably be better to approach them via a ship"
"Right", Jack nodded, "Lets get this show on the road, with your permission sir"
Hammond nodded and rose from his chair, "SG-1, you have a go"
….
The other side opened up into a dusty warehouse, wooden crates and tarp covered objects cast shadows as SG-1 walked out of the gate, shafts of light pierced the gloomy darkness as the gate closed down behind them, Jack cast his gaze around the darkened storeroom, "I don't think they come down here much"
"This room looks like a storeroom for artifacts", Daniel spoke as he pulled a sheet off the DHD, "They probably don't know what the gate even is"
Carter approached the DHD and wiped a streak of dust from the surface leaving a clean spot, "It looks like it hasn't been used at all"
A sound of approaching footsteps could be heard approaching from the door at the top of the rickety stairs, a shadow loomed before it as SG-1grouped up and waited, Jack raised a hand, "Hello?", he said loudly.
A loud click proceeded the door creaking open to reveal the aged face of a man, thick spectacles were on a chain around his neck, he reached for them as he stared with a confused expression at the members of SG-1, "Who are you and how did you get in here?"
The man stepped forward letting a shaft of light illuminate SG-1, revealing their faces to him, an expression of shock came over his face, "Young?, you are all young", the man began to stumble down the stairs, rushing to get close to SG-1.
"Hold your horses there gramps", O'Neill moved forward to arrest his downward travel, letting the man lean against him, "We're not from around here"
Daniel stepped forward, "We come from another world, we travelled here through the stargate", he waved to the large metal circle behind them, "We're explorers, we came to meet you"
"It has been so long since I saw a youthful face, you come from another world?", the aged man asked as he placed his glasses on his face.
Jack nodded, "Yep, Jack O'Neill", he pointed to himself, "Commander Carter, Daniel Jackson, Jolinar and Teal'c", he indicated the members of SG-1 in turn as they each nodded a greeting to the man, "So, who are you?"
The man brushed a few errant bits of dust and fluff of his rumpled looking clothes, he stood as straight as he could and introduced himself with an extended hand, "Doctor Sidol Zervis", Jack shook the offered hand, "I am the curator of this fine institution, the national archives of Vyus"
A dark expression came over his face, "Unfortunately you arrived just as our society is about to end, in a few years nothing will be left"
"How so?", Daniel asked, they needed to go through the motions, Sheppard's reports were beyond classified so they needed to let things play out.
"Dargol", Zervis spat, "The miracle cure to plague of the Veinroot Mite, crops yields went up massively but our birthrate began to fall, by the time the link was found it was too late, no more children were born"
"Oh", Daniel seemed crestfallen, "We might be able to help with that, is there anyone we can talk too?"
A spark of hope could be seen in Zervis' eyes, "You can?, Come, I'll take you to the prime minister right away"
He raced up the stairs as fast as his aged frame could carry him, SG-1 following him up out of the basement of the archive building, once outside Jack got his first look at the city, late 19th century sprang to mind as he viewed the smoke spilling chimneys everywhere and the strange airships in the sky, everyone seemed to love airships he thought, they had loads on Pangar too, he guessed they were around the same level as Pangar.
A loud backfire had him reaching for his gun but it was the truck that Zervis had started up, it looked like a cross between a steam engine and a horse drawn carriage, "Hop on my friends, the government buildings are quite a walk from here"
Jack shrugged and hopped onto the back of the rickety machine, Zervis pulled out into the streets and Jack saw the sense of despair in the faces of the few people wandering about, not one of them looked under fifty and he saw the looks of astonishment as they saw the members of SG-1, a small crowd had begun to follow the truck as it slowly made its way through the city.
Jack felt the atmosphere press in as they travelled through the city, everything was run down and miserable, gaunt faces stared out of dirty windows, while pedestrians coughed in the soot filled air, Jack was reminded of the worst of Dickens' stories as he watched the streets pass by.
A dead silence filled the air, the lack of children apparent as street after street passed, Jack turned to Carter to relieve some of the tense and depressing atmosphere, "So Commander, anything interesting happening?"
Carter was jolted out of her thoughts when he asked the question, "Not much sir, I did hear they had finally gained access to the ancient outpost in Antarctica, we should get a complete address database from the systems there soon, but they still need to solve the power problem"
"One of those ZPM's?"
"Yes, we do know there is one on Praclarush Taonas but according to the reports it's charge is very low, it will run out after using the drones pretty quick according to those reports, we need more or another power source"
Jack nodded, Praclarush Taonas wasn't that far away, especially now with the drives they got from the Colonials, only a few thousand light years, he heard a ship was already on the way there too, equipped with one of their few ring transporters, but it wasn't a long term solution to the power issue.
"Anything come to mind?"
"One thing did sir, P4X-639, the time loop machine, it must have an independent power supply apart from the geomagnetic storm, I want to have a look there, plus, the reports said that Malakai had advanced tech, his people could be useful allies"
Jack rubbed his chin, "I'll take it up with Hammond, more allies are always useful"
All they seemed to be doing now was chase after the other advanced civilisations in the galaxy, he understood why, Earth needed all the help they could get, even fairly primitive worlds like this one, he recalled the list, some of the worlds would be a pain, like Tegalus, the other reality had a religious uprising on that world because of their arrival, they would need to be careful how they approached some of these civilisations.
Jack glanced away from the crowd following listlessly along behind them, he could see hope shine in their eyes but it was early days yet, this world would need a lot of help to set straight, the truck pulled up before a large marble clad building, he could see the signs of disrepair, cracks and missing bits of stone, an aged guard carrying an old style rifle waved them through after Zervis had a quick chat.
"He'll call ahead to the prime minister", Zervis shouted back to them, pulling the truck into the gravel paved car park, they dismounted as people began to come out of the building, led by a powerfully build old man, in his sixties by the looks of things.
"Amazing", he said as they approached each other, "It had been a long time since I saw people as young as you"
"Prime minister Vellar, these are the people from another world", Zervis spoke to the man.
"Is that so", Vellar waved them into the building, "Please, come inside so we may talk in private"
Minutes later and they were sitting in the well appointed office of the Prime minister, his earlier exuberance had disappeared and he now looked older and tired, an exhausted sigh escaped his lips as he looked at SG-1.
"My people are doomed, we have had no children in over four decades and even then the birth rate had already fallen far, our logistics and food production are near collapse already, we only have a few years before mass starvation becomes a reality"
Vellar stood and made his way to the window as SG-1 digested the information, "Look out there, misery and sorrow are all we have left now, not even the energy to riot, our spirits are already broken", he turned back to SG-1, "Zervis claimed you could help, I do not see how, it is already far too late"
Jack motioned to Carter, she nodded and spoke, "We have a few ideas already", she raised a finger, "There are many planets, less developed than yours, it would be easy enough to import them to work your farms and make children of their own, you would just need to educate them"
Vellar raised an eyebrow, "Training takes time, less developed you say, how primitive are they?"
An embarrassed flush lit her cheeks, "Most of them have only advanced to using iron, others only bronze", Anything past the Iron age and the Gould tended to blow you up Jack thought to himself.
Vellar sighed, "They might be useful working the fields for mining but our industries need trained people, teaching huge amounts of people would be impossible right now"
"We also have access to artificial womb technology, and more advanced medical technology than your own people, we might be able to fix the sterility problem and enable you to have children of your own, or just make them in the iron wombs"
Vellar sat down, "An intriguing offer, one I would take in a heartbeat, but still it sounds like the work of years, our problems are more immediate"
"We have a surplus of foodstuffs, we can feed your people in the interim", Jack spoke.
Vellar nodded, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I am afraid it is too little too late, I will of course accept your generous offers, my people deserve some hope at least"
"P3R-118", Daniel spoke up, "The planet covered in ice with the dome city"
Vellar looked confused, "I fail to see how that helps"
Carter however was nodding, "Of course, most of the population is slaving away underneath the city, they are trained and of a higher development than Vyus, it would be perfect"
Jack raised an eyebrow, "Mind sharing with the rest of the class?"
Daniel turned to Jack, "Their planet is basically uninhabitable, we could move the population of P3R-118 here, they wont need to educated nearly as much as someone from the land of light for example, it helps out both parties"
Vellar began to smile, "Yes, an already trained population, we have plenty of empty houses and farms they could inhabit right away, would they be amenable to such a proposition?"
Jack nodded, he remembered the report now, implanting fake memories into the other SG-1, "I'm sure we can make then see reason", by force if necessary, he wasn't going to let slavery pass if he had a choice, human or Gould, "I'll talk to Hammond when we get back, in the meantime we can ship humanitarian supplies to your planet", he nodded to Vellar.
"We would be most thankful, apart from an ageing population our health has declined from lack of food, we are scraping by as it is", Vellar stood and extended his hand, "We would also like to pursue the other ideas you had, having children of our own would liven many lives on Vyus"
Jack stood and shook his hand, "I'll be talking to my superiors when we get back, we'll do everything we can to help"
….
General Hammond was shocked when Colonel O'Neill had proposed his idea for P3R-118, "Colonel, you are asking for a lot", Hammond sighed, "For good reasons but it will be a hard sell to the Council, give me a few hours to talk to some people and I'll see what I can do, for now though I can authorise supplies and medical experts to travel to Vyus and analyse their sterility issue"
"Thank you General, we can also put out some feelers to worlds we know, like the Land of Light or Simarka", Jack smirked, "Heck, the people of Cartago might want to move somewhere where they wont be taken for Gould hosts"
"I'll arrange some teams to ask", Hammond looked over to O'Neill, "You also need to get ready if I get approval, SG-2 and seventeen are at your disposal if we get the green light, I'll assign some other teams later"
"Yes sir, thank you sir", Jack stood and saluted Hammond before exiting the office, he had some SG teams to talk to.
P3R-118 (The Dome)
7th September 2065
Bright daylight illuminated the remembrance park and the ring of the gods resting on its plinth at the centre, joggers turned as the ring began to vibrate before the inner ring started to turn, most wisely took the chance to get out of the park, others watched fascinated as a blue water like substance formed in the ring, exploding outward and shocking the gathering crowd, once it stabilised a sphere travelled through, its glassy lens taking in the city in the dome.
Fascination turned to horror as large hovering machines poured out of the portal, their deafening whine causing the few to remain to cover their ears, obvious guns tracked around as men leapt from the back of the vehicles, guns drawn, the few remaining park goers decided to leave when the men advanced, forcing the issue.
"That's the last of them, still no military or police response", Kawalsky told Jack as SG-2 politely told the remaining civvies to leave the area, now it was a waiting game, deploying the hover tanks and several SG teams was all theatre, he planned on strong arming the leader of this place, Calder he was called, into releasing the people slaving away underneath the city, he was actually surprised when Hammond gave him the green light, the Council it seemed, was all for it.
Jack nodded to Kawalsky, "The report said there was no military and only a small police force, and most of them are just to put down any potential revolt from those below", he looked around what he could see of the city, towering apartment blocks surrounded the park containing the gate and beyond those was the massive dome enclosing it all.
The place was big, bigger than it sounded from the reports, there looked like there could be a million plus just in the city proper and who knew how many more working below, he could see local cars speeding along on the roads snaking around the buildings, the park was located right in the middle and nearby was the looming form of the Administrators office and government building.
"We'll give them a few minutes before we move on the Administrator", Jack finally decided, he turned to look at Kawalsky, he seemed a bit down, "How are things on you end, we haven't had time to chat in a while"
Charlie sighed, "The last mission was a bit of a mind fuck, even knowing the reports we still got strapped into those virtual reality chairs, it was the North Korea mission", the last part came out quiet, Jack nodded in understanding, the mission was the one where their old commander had died, trapped on the rusty barbed wire of the DMZ as the KPA closed in, memories best forgotten, it was hard to rationalise that with the fact that North Korea was now a member of the Union, all was forgiven in the face of parasitic snakes.
"How's the robot double?", Jack asked, changing the subject seemed the best option.
Kawalsky shrugged, "Haven't really talked to him, its too weird, last I heard they were running missions to that bug planet, the one that turns people into more bugs"
Jack shuddered in disgust, glad he never had to go near that place, "Yeah, sounds like a job for robots, they find anything useful there?"
"Sorry Colonel, I've got no idea if they found anything, I think there just trying different methods to kill the bugs"
Further conversation was put on hold as a vehicle approached, local law enforcement by the looks of things, Jack waved over the rest of SG-1 and moved in front of the landed hover tanks, time to say something he always wanted to try, as the two local police exited their car he opened his mouth, "Take us to your leader", he heard Daniel facepalm and Carter sigh, he smirked.
….
"Administrator Calder, they are in the waiting room", his secretary told him, he felt the pangs of anger begin to face, his hand was still closed into a fist, nothing compared to when the armoured hovercraft and nearly one hundred armed soldiers had exited the ring of the gods though, their large guns quite clearly pointed at the dome, he had been livid at the interlopers intrusion then.
Varyndor was once a beautiful green jewel, filled with a diverse array of people and life, then their orbit had shifted a fraction of a degree, everything that had been there before was now in cased in layers of ice and snow, the only salvation for the people the dome city of Haven, now hundreds of years later the dome still stood in defiance of the icy hell outside.
Calder looked away from the large bay windows in his office and turned to his secretary, "Send them in", he returned to contemplating the dome in the distance, the few people who remained lived lives of relative luxury but it all depended on the toil of the workers below, they kept the system running, food growing and generated the heat to keep the dome liveable, without them they would soon descend into anarchy.
He looked up as the door opened again and five unknown people entered the room, all armed with large weapons, similar to those available to the nations of Varyndor before the cataclysm, unfortunately such weapons were in short supply in the dome in current times, he would need to rectify that if others decided to visit in future, he internally scoffed, to think a method to escape this world was under their noses for all this time.
"You Calder", the angry voice of the presumed leader of these people spoke, the man with greying hair was giving off a sense of anger, directed at himself, Calder frowned, he had done nothing to cause such a visceral reaction.
"Yes, I am Administrator Calder, leader of this city"
The man approached and got in Calder's personal space, "Well, mister leader, we know about the slaves down there", he pointed through the floor, "About your mind stamping, and we're here to put a stop to it"
Calder was taken aback, how did they know, "I fail to see how we treat our citizens is any of your concern", he inched closer to his desk drawer, where he kept his pistol.
The man leaned closer, his friends moving around him and to the door, trapping him inside, a strong hand moved like lightning and gripped his wrist, stopping it in its tracks, "I'm making it our concern", a shove threw Calder into his chair as the man pulled open the drawer and took the gun, he gave it a glance before throwing it to the large man with the golden head ornament.
The man stood before Calder, his hand on his gun, "I'd like to just shoot you now and get it over with but we are civilised people", a finger jabbed him in the chest, "Get on the phone and call up Brenna, we're going to sort this all out now"
Calder looked up at the man, he felt indignant anger fuel him as he spoke, "No, I will not let some foreigner come here and upend our whole society, our system has allowed our society to survive an ice age", Calder sucked in a breath, "Guards!"
Calder felt himself being picked up and dragged towards the windows, he heard the blond woman speak from the doorway, "The doors barred sir, but they'll be able to break in soon"
"This wont take long", Calder was shoved against the window, "We don't tolerate slavers like you back home", his head was turned to look out the window, "See that precious dome of yours, if you don't release the slaves we'll blow a hole in it and free the slaves anyway"
Calder was tossed onto the ground as a pounding could be heard from the door, his previous indignant anger had disappeared, now fear and a sense of impending doom was all he could feel, he would be ripped to shreds if the dome failed from lack of workers and the people of the city would not work themselves, altered memories could not cover the total loss of their workforce.
"Please", he began to beg, "If we loose the workers we'll all die"
He watched the man smirk, it was a sinister look to Calder on the floor, "Well, we can help there too, see, we actually need workers ourselves, a planet called Vyus has a bit of a population problem", the man waved to the city outside, "There's plenty of room for everyone, you just need to forget the slavery"
Calder's head dropped, he was at the whims of a man on a mission, there would be no reasoning with him, he glanced out to the city, only very few were aware of the workers, just like the workers were unaware of the city, if either party found out what had been happening it would be his head, he sighed defeated, he looked up again, the man was offering his hand, left with on choice Calder took it.
…
Jack kept his face like stone as Hammond read over the report, a less than pleased look written on his face and the occasional raised eyebrow, "Care to explain Colonel"
Jack sighed, "I don't like slavery, or slavers, he had it coming", he had worked several missions against human traffickers in his early spec ops days, the memories still haunted him at night sometimes.
Hammond nodded, "I cant condone your treatment of this Calder but I wont argue with the results, he agreed to transplant the whole population to Vyus?"
Jack nodded, "Yes sir, it'll take a few months but they'll do it", he paused and looked at Hammond in the eyes, "We'll need to station a few SG teams to make sure they follow through"
Hammond sighed and kept reading, "A fake problem with the dome?"
"Yeah, its easier if people want to leave, without the slaves it'll break down anyway, so it's partly the truth too"
Hammond close the report with a thunk of paper hitting his desk, disappointment written all over his face, "Colonel, I expect a certain level of comportment in my SG teams, ensure you rise to that level in the future, dismissed"
Jack nodded and left, he was feeling sorry that Hammond was disappointed in him but not for laying hands on that creep Calder, he'd do it again in a heartbeat, bad enough they had snakes to deal with without adding the human variety on top.
Knowing that the workers on that world would now have a better life was enough, the people of Vyus would live too, their critically low population boosted by over a million people from the dome and Union experts were already working to solve their lack of children, he hoped on his next visit there he would hear the sound of children's laughter.
They also got a new ally out of this too, Prime Minister Vellar was all too happy to join up, bringing the alliance to five members, Earth, the Colonials, Pangar, Orban and now Vyus, soon the Langarans would be on board too and probably Tagrea as well, a welcome boost after the disastrous battle at Abydos.