FIC: : Balance of Power - Part Two
Title: Balance of Power - Part Two
Author name: alexcat
Artist name: alexcat
Beta name: larian and Larry
Word Count: 25,945
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Main Characters and/or pairings: SG-1. SG-18(Atlantis crew), Jonathan O’Neill. Jack O
Neill, Hank Landry.
Genre: Science Fiction
Summary: Is there a new threat to the galaxy after the Ori and Goa’uld are defeated?
Warnings: Some violence but not very graphic.
Disclaimers: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters
Part Two
Chapter Seven
- Langara
The Ruling Council of Langara was being as stubborn as they had been before their near miss with destruction several years ago.
“Why would they attack us?” One councilor said.
“Because your planet is a huge ball of naquadah and naquadria,” Mitchell explained.
“But we are peaceful,” another chimed in.
“They don’t care,” Carter said. “We are not even sure why they are attacking planets like yours but they are and yours is especially at risk. They blew up one planet with a huge core concentration of naquadria. Until we find out why, who they are and how to stop them, your people are in danger. You need to have your planetary defenses on alert. Maybe even an escape plan.”
“For who? There are millions of us. We can’t just gate away.” This was from one of the former Kelownan leaders.
“We know that but perhaps you could at least save some, save your culture and some of your people if the worst happens.” Sam knew how stupid it sounded but Earth had faced the same thing on at least one occasion. That was why they had Alpha and Beta sites.
“We prefer to think there is a solution,” Jonas said.
Mitchell sighed. “When you think of it, tell us. In the meantime, you need to be ready to defend this planet and we will be in orbit, watching and waiting. It’s our best chance of catching them.”
*
Jonathan wandered away after the dinner meeting with the Ruling Council. He wandered through one corridor then the next, remembering being here before, remembering how Daniel had been fatally wounded being a hero and how Jonas had almost worked himself to death in atonement for what he’d done. It had taken him a long, long time to forgive Jonas Quinn.
“There you are.” It was Jonas.
“I was just taking a walk.”
“You look awfully familiar. Have we met? I think you’re too young to have been at Stargate Command when I was there.”
“No sir. You and I have never met but I’ve read lots of mission reports. I feel like I know you.”
“They said your name is O’Neill. Are you related to Col--- General O’Neill? You do resemble him. Maybe that’s why I think I know you.”
“I am his cousin’s son.”
Jonas smiled. “The resemblance is uncanny. I bet you hear that a lot though.”
“Not too often these days.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Col. Mitchell said tell you it’s time to head back up to the ship.”
Jonathan nodded and followed Jonas back.
They were orbiting the planet in less than an hour, listening and watching for anything unusual, anything at all.
*
Jonas Quinn was meeting with the military leaders of his world. The former enemies still held their standing armies even though they weren’t at war anymore. They all argued a bit but in the end there was little to do but set all their defenses on alert and hope that SG-1 caught the enemy before they did any serious damage.
He didn’t doubt for one minute that they would be a target. He’d worked with SG-1, with O’Neill and Carter long enough to know that they knew what was going on and that they were usually right. Convincing his people was another thing but they had come a long way from the days when they were divided into enemy countries poised to destroy one another. At least they tried to work things out now before they resorted to violence.
He wondered about the boy. There was something more than just being a cousin’s son. He would ask Carter. Maybe she could tell him something more.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
“Do you think they believed us?” Mitchell asked.
“Jonas did,” Carter answered. “And if he is as influential as I think he is, they will listen. They won’t like it but they’ll do as he suggests.”
Vala looked at Jonathan. “I noticed Jonas followed you when you went for a walk. Did he notice who you resemble?”
“I don’t just resemble him. I am him, just… younger and different.” Jonathan smiled.
Carter laughed. “Yep, you’re different. But not as much as you think. Not nearly as much as you think.”
Carter went to the bridge to talk to Col. Caldwell.
*
“Our long range sensors aren’t picking up anything yet. It’s as quiet as a tomb out there tonight,” Caldwell told Carter. “I just hope it stays that way.”
“I kind of hope we find them sometime. I want to stop them before they kill any more people or destroy any more planets. And I want to know who is behind it.”
“Probably just some new leader in the Lucian Alliance trying to show how ruthless he is.”
“Well, he’s convinced me,” Carter returned. “Now it’s time to stop him.”
“Do you think there is a reason he is doing this or do you think it’s simply terrorism?” Mitchell asked Carter.
“I don’t know. Terrorism isn’t the Lucian way though. They are in it for the money. They really don’t have any reason to destroy naquadah.”
“Unless they are doing it to drive up prices for the naquadah that they have,” Mitchell said, coming aboard the bridge.
Vala chimed in on that one as she joined them. “Yes, they’d do that.”
“Then we need to find who they’re selling to,” Mitchell said.
“How will that help though?” Jonathan asked. He’d been with Mitchell and Vala. “I don’t think we can scare the buyers into boycotting. Not with our one ship to their who knows how many. I swear if I didn’t know better that this was something the Goa’uld would do.”
“But the Goa’uld are gone. We all know that,” Mitchell shot back, almost defying anyone to argue with him and no one did. He had seen the last system lord’s Goa’uld removed and destroyed by the Tok’ra and he’d seen even more than the others knew he’d seen. He knew the Goa’uld were gone.
Still…
“Well, we know it’s someone, someone ruthless enough to sacrifice his own men with no regard for them at all,” Carter reminded them all.
Mitchell sighed. “It could be anyone, anyone at all.”
They all knew he was right.
~~~
Chapter Eight
Neither one of the planets that the Stargate teams were watching was the next target. The next planet had a huge storage facility for mined naquadah. Storing and shipping the rare mineral were the main industries on Sequanah IV. The planet was sparsely populated and most of its inhabitants were natives of other worlds. When their sensors reported alien ships not far from them, the several hundred residents locked up, grabbed their valuables and gated to the worlds they came from, taking the natives with them.
But the naquadah was stolen and the storage facilities were destroyed, along with the few small towns dotted over the one medium-sized continent.
Word came to SG-1 aboard the Daedalus rather quickly and to Daniel Jackson and SG-18 a bit later as communications were a little slower on the remote planet. They were relieved yet not really. All of them wanted to catch these people and stop the destruction before it got worse.
General Landry sent a team to question the survivors but there was little they could tell. Goa’uld ships attacked and they ran. That was it, really.
*
- The Daedalus
“Maybe they know that we’re waiting for them.” Jonathan said when they got word of the attack.
“That could be very possible but there’s little we can do about it,” Cam said.
“This ship isn’t exactly invisible orbiting the planet here anyway,” Vala added. “I vote we go down to the planet and see what sort of food these dullish people have to offer. Maybe the food is more like Jonas Quinn than it is the people we’ve met.”
Jonathan had always thought the people of this planet to be a dull and tedious lot too but he decided not to say a word. Besides, he didn’t remember the food being all that fine either though they did make a nice cake.
“I’m sure we can find something to eat there, though the Daedaluss has a fine mess hall too.” Mitchell didn’t want to go back to the planet. He agreed with Vala; he wasn’t crazy about the people either. He even wondered why Jonas ever bothered to go home.
They finally agreed to see what was on the menu in the ship’s Mess. To Jonathan’s delight, the cook was an excellent baker and had made chocolate cake for dessert.
They all sat at the same table and talked, not about the mission but about what they’d been doing since the last mission they’d all gone on together.
“So how is it to have your very own ship, Carter?”
“I enjoy it. My crew is great and it’s a lot easier than managing the operations in the Pegasus Galaxy was. McKay can be more trouble than a whole crew sometimes. And Sheppard only obeys orders when either he wants to or you force his hand. He is a good soldier though. One of the best.”
She grinned at Cam. “So is SG-1 as fun since the ‘band’ left you again?”
“Hey, I still got Daniel and Vala to keep the trouble level high so I’m happy. We’ll see how much trouble young O’Neill here causes on this mission, won’t we?”
They all turned to the young clone of Jack O’Neill. “So how do you like it so far?”
“Not much action and I *am* used to being the team leader but you all seem to have some idea what you’re doing so I’m good.” He dug into his cake. “As long as there’s cake now and then, I’ll be fine.”
Vala was so busy eating that she hadn’t said a word. Sometimes Cam wondered how she stayed so nicely shaped then almost blushed at his own thought. “Food to your liking, Vala?”
“Yes, very good,” she mumbled around a chicken leg.
They all just laughed. One of the men from the bridge approached their table. “Col. Mitchell? We’re picking up three ships on our medium range scanners. Too far yet to identify but they will be in range very soon. Colonel Caldwell thought you might want to come to the bridge.”
Suddenly, everyone at the table was all business, even Vala, as they cleaned up quickly and headed up to the bridge.
“Do we know what we have yet?” Cam asked as they all entered the bridge.
“They do appear to be Goa’uld in design, sir, but so far they’ve have not contacted us.”
“All decks, red alert,” Caldwell ordered. “We might as well be ready for anything.”
SG-1 found seats as the bridge became a beehive of activity with sensors and weapons being brought online as well as shields being readied.
“Send this message: Please identify yourself. This is the sovereign space of the planet Langara,” Caldwell said.
There was no answer at all. The ships kept coming. They finally came close enough that the planet had picked them up too and had brought their planetary defense weapons online too.
They all waited.
And waited until finally the three ships changed directions and left.
“Scout ships?” Mitchell asked.
“I’d say so,” Caldwell answered. “If they didn’t know we were here before, they certainly know now.”
“Is that a bad thing? Maybe it will keep them away.” Mitchell said.
“The George Hammond didn’t keep them from Icarus base,” Carter told them. “They acted like we weren’t even there. Just honed in on the planet and blasted away. The only reason we took any damage at all is because we were shooting at them and a few of them shot back.”
“If we can’t defend the planet, then why are we being so easy to find? Shouldn’t we be hiding?” Vala asked.
“Like I said, I’m not sure it matters,” Carter repeated.
Carter and Mitchell were ready to chase the ships but they all knew that wasn’t their mission. Not yet anyway.
Jonathan summed it up for all of them. “So now we wait, dammit.”
~~~
Chapter Nine
- Planet P3X-403
The mining planet was ready too. The men would gate out and the Unas would go underground where they had hidden in past centuries from enemies such as the Goa’uld. Daniel was torn. He felt like he should stay with the Unas but Landry had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to be on the ship with SG-18.
“I hate waiting,” Sheppard said for about the tenth time in an hour. “Anything yet?” He asked the ship’s captain, Col. Marcus Means.
“No, Col. Sheppard. You’ll be the first to know.”
Sheppard paced while Ronon and Teyla watched, both with their knowing smiles. Lorne, on the other hand, was almost as wired as Sheppard was.
“If Rodney were here, Sheppard would have someone to annoy,” Teyla told Ronon.
The big man just smiled and grunted, which was a whole conversation for him.
“Besides us,” she added and raised her eyebrows.
Jackson was flipping through his notes and jotting things in the little book he carried with him. He had said little since his trip to talk with the Unas chieftain.
“Sir, we have three ships on our mid-range sensors,” one of the ship’s techs announced.
“Any identification?”
“Too far yet to tell but soon.”
They all waited and a message came from Earth. Three Goa’uld ships had buzzed Langara just a few hours ago. In a few more minutes, the ships were identified as Goa’uld ships. They came in quietly and left the same way, as the three had done at Langara.
“Now what?” Daniel asked.
“We wait. Same as before,” Sheppard said, though he seemed none too happy about it.
*
- Somewhere in the Pentagon
Rodney McKay looked at the information on the computer screen then looked some more. How Rush had dialed the ninth chevron, he didn’t know. Certainly not by using this information as it was. He and that child, Eli something or another, that they sent with him to Icarus base had to have changed something to make it work.
Really, other than as a puzzle, it was all quite academic anyway. Since the planet they dialed from blew up, there was no way to check and see what would work until somewhere they found another planet. And the thing was, they hadn’t even found this one. The Lucian Alliance had given the coordinates to them.
He might as well report to General O’Neill. There was no sense in delaying it. He suspected even someone like O’Neill knew that there was no hope of getting the Icarus people back.
Unless they could dial back from where they were.
He wondered where they would send him now. He didn’t want to go to Area 51 and tinker with alien junk to see how it worked. That was a waste of his talents and his intelligence. Maybe he could hire on with a think tank. But then he’d have to put up with all the semi-intelligent idiots… It was hard to be Dr. Rodney McKay.
He knocked on O’Neill’s office door.
“Come,” the general shouted though it was obvious that he was on the phone with someone. “Tell them to sit tight. Those ships will return with more. I’d bet anything on it.”
O’Neill hung up the phone and looked at Rodney. The general had that deeply annoyed look that most military men seemed to have when they looked at him. “No way to bring them back, is there?”
“Not unless you have another naquadria planet to play with.”
“Just as I thought then. Thank you for your time, Dr. McKay.”
McKay knew he was being dismissed but he also knew that he had no orders yet to be anywhere else so he just stood there.
“Yes?” General O’Neill was getting that flushed look that military men eventually got around when they dealt with him.
“Where am I to go from here? You mentioned joining SG-18 but --”
“How about Langara? Carter is there. Maybe the two of you can reverse some polarity or something and fix this mess. You can gate there from Colorado. I’ll have you a plane standing by in a few minutes.”
As Rodney was leaving he heard O’Neill bellow. “Sanders? Get me a plane to the SGC for McKay!” He saw the general’s assistant come running down the hall looking as annoyed with O’Neill as O’Neill had looked at him.
McKay smiled. He’d rather go where SG-18 was but Carter would do. Very well indeed.
*
- Langara
“Why do we get McKay?” Mitchell asked General Landry.
“Because General O’Neill said so.”
“Well, I guess we get McKay then. Carter will be thrilled.”
“Thrilled about what?” She said as she joined them on the bridge of the Daedalus.
“McKay is heading to the planet from the SGC. Guess you’d better let Quinn know,” Mitchell grinned as he said it. He knew that McKay had a geeky crush on Sam even though he was dating the pretty Dr. Keller from the Atlantis group.
“Oh boy!” Sam actually liked Rodney in an aggravated sort of way.
“I think they want the two of you to make some kind of miracle and make this go away,” Mitchell said.
“I think we’re pretty short of those these days.”
*
Rodney joined SG-1 aboard the Daedalus in a short while. Mitchell had gone to the Mess hall and nabbed a lemon for himself and one for Jonathan too. He smiled, thinking about the first time he’d met McKay on Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy and how John Sheppard had told him that Rodney was allergic to lemons then given him one as a means of Rodney Control.
Jonathan remembered Rodney well. He remembered being responsible for sending him to Russia too when the whole thing was over. It was a good thing McKay didn’t know who he really was, he thought as Mitchell gave him the fruit and told him the story.
When Rodney beamed up from the planet, Mitchell threw his lemon into the air and caught it, grinning at Rodney McKay all the while. He was still grinning when Rodney gave him a very dirty look and asked Carter to show him his quarters.
~~~
Chapter Ten
- Somewhere in the galaxy
“Did they see you?”
“Yes sir. They did not give chase or attack but they saw us. At both planets.”
The leader smiled. He’d bet Jack O’Neill was so angry that he could barely form words. He knew it would be driving them all crazy, just sitting out there waiting and waiting for what they didn’t even know for sure. Which was exactly what he meant to do.
“Good job. Now we move to the next phase.”
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
McKay and Sam were geeking away at one table in the mess hall and Mitchell, Vala and Jonathan were poking fun at them from another table.
Jonathan was enjoying himself. He had missed this though the O’Neill that he was now had never actually experienced it. He missed watching Carter talk about science and even though he had done a lot more studying this time around, he still had no clue what she was talking about at least seventy-five percent of the time. It felt good to listen to her voice though.
Vala was doing a more than passable job of flirting with Mitchell even though he was her CO. Since she was a civilian contractor of sorts, rank didn’t mean much to her and aside from Daniel, Mitchell was the sexiest man she knew. Besides, he was safe. Even if he had wanted to be naughty, he wouldn’t. Mitchell was a man of honor, something she’d had to learn about when she came to Earth. She liked to think she might even have a bit of honor herself now.
Mitchell’s comm device beeped. “Mitchell.”
It was Caldwell. “We’ve got company again, Mitchell. I think there are more of them this time. I’m letting the planet know.”
They arrived on the bridge a few minutes later.
“What have we got?” Mitchell asked.
“Long range sensors detected a small fleet coming in. Still maybe a day out but they’re closing fast,” Caldwell told them.
“You mean I get here and the bad guys are going to attack?” McKay asked.
“Looks like it,” Sam said and patted his shoulder.
Caldwell ordered his communications officer to contact Earth first then the Odyssey to let them in on the situation.
“Sir, the Odyssey reports a small armada coming toward them too. Same as here, maybe a day out.”
Mitchell sighed. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“What’re you? Han Solo?” Rodney asked.
“Maybe. Does that make you C3P0?” Mitchell pulled his lemon from his pocket and held it out as if to cast away evil.
McKay actually said nothing but his face did turn a bit pink. ‘Score!” was Jonathan’s thought.
Caldwell was used to the antics. He knew how soldiers acted under stress. That banter was one of the things that kept them sane but he never could get used to some of Mitchell’s pranks and jokes. He said nothing.
*
- On planet P3X-403
“Here they come again,” Sheppard told his team as soon as he got back from Col. Edwards’ tent. The team had beamed back down to help with some evacuation plans for the mining ops and security. “There are more of them and they’re about a day out. Same number headed toward Langara too.”
Jackson frowned. “Maybe I should let the Unas know.”
“The mines are closed and the Unas seem to have faded into the scenery. I think they know already,” Ronon said in a sudden burst of words. Those were the most words Daniel had ever heard him say at one time.
“I suppose so. I still feel responsible for them somehow.”
“Mitchell tells me you feel responsible for everyone.”
Daniel laughed. “Oh didn’t they tell you? I’m the conscience of SG-1.”
Sheppard said, “Don’t you mean do-gooder?”
“Well that too, I suppose.”
“The Unas seem pretty canny. They know if the mines are closed, they should hide, right?” Sheppard asked.
“Yeah, they do. But if those men land, the Unas will come out to fight.”
“Daniel, the planet is their home. They have a right to fight for it,” Teyla spoke from her own experiences.
Col. Edwards had decided to stay too. The men he tried to send up to the Odyssey refused to leave him so they decided to wait it out in caves too.
“Col. Edwards, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Daniel started.
“If they can stay, we will stay. I know I thought of them as savage monsters at first but they’ve grown on me. They work hard and they respect us if we do the same. I intend on staying. Now you and your team get back up to that ship and defend us.”
Jackson was rather taken aback. Col. Edwards had been all for shooting the Unas to get them out of the way so the rich naquadah veins could be mined. He had been furious when Daniel had negotiated with the Unas for peace. Daniel would not have expected the man to have come to like them but it appeared that he had done just that.
“Yes sir!” He smiled at Edwards and he and SG-18 beamed off the surface.
Back aboard the ship, they checked the information they’d gotten and rechecked the sensors. The ships were still approaching and it looked as if they’d be here in less than twenty-four hours.
Daniel felt helpless, a feeling he hated and had hated ever since his wife had been taken by the Goa’uld so many years ago. He still thought of her often and wondered sometimes if he could have done more to save her. He missed her. He supposed he always would.
Almost as if on cue, the communications officer called him over. “Dr. Jackson, this message came in for you from Langara.” He handed Daniel a note.
“Daniel - Take care of yourself. You still owe me a date. Love, Vala”
He blushed to top of his head when he read it. That woman! She could do it to him every time. He hoped he made it back home to tell her that it wasn’t even a date the first time.
~~~
Chapter Eleven
- In orbit around Langara
“They’ll be here in approximately thirty minutes,” Sam told Caldwell and the rest of those on the bridge.
“Go to red alert.” Caldwell told his crew.
The planet below them was notified though they were monitoring the ships too. Now they waited.
Cam paced and Rodney went to the mess hall to find something to eat. He said he thought better on a full stomach and he figured he might need to think. Or maybe he might need a last meal. Sam calculated this and that and watched the sensors and scanners, tracking the ships.
“I count seven ships exactly. One Al’Kesh and six smaller ships,” she informed the bridge.
Caldwell barely had time to call ‘Battle stations’ and launch the 302s as the ships came out of hyperspace and began firing on the Daedalus. Any damage was minimal as the larger ship fired back at them, taking out two of the small ships right away. Another one was hit as they made a second pass. The Daedalus did a bit of shaking and such but suffered no real damage.
“Reports coming in from the surface. They’re taking a few hits but nothing too bad yet,” Carter called out. “They’re shooting back.”
“Target the Al’Kesh,” Caldwell commanded. “All ships, be careful of the other three but target the Al’Kesh.”
Then as suddenly as it began, it was done. The Al’Kesh and its three remaining companions began to run and before they could be stopped, the whole group jumped out and was gone.
“Damn it!” Mitchell cursed. “I wanted to catch one. How did they do planetside?”
“Only a few minor injuries but some buildings were destroyed,” Carter answered. “Jonas says thanks.”
*
- In Orbit around P3X-403
There were nine of them when they hit, one Al’Kesh and eight smaller ships. The Odyssey carried a larger group of 302s that were able to wipe out all the small ships with only minimal damage to themselves or the planet below. The Al’Kesh got
away.
As soon as the fight was over, Daniel asked to be sent down to the planet. His request was granted.
He found Col. Edwards and his men safe in one of the shallow caves that they had made into a home. The cave was warmer than tents or Quonset huts and more stable when the weather turned really bad during the planet’s winter season.
“You and your men all right?”
“Few cuts and bruises from stowing away things but we’re fine. Those 302s got them so fast that we didn’t even get to use our artillery.”
Daniel grinned. “That’s actually a good thing, Col. Edwards.”
“If you say so.”
“I’m going to check on the Unas. I may not be back until after dark. Watch for me?”
“Will do. Be careful out there.”
*
Daniel found the Unas quickly or rather they found him.
“Ships come. Ships gone. We are unharmed.”
“I am glad. Ships might return. Still dangerous.”
The big Unas patted Daniel on the back as one would a child. “We not fear. You go back to soldiers.”
Daniel smiled and headed back to the camp. He was amazed at how complex these beings really were. He had learned much about humanity from Chaka and from them. It looked as if perhaps Col. Edwards had too.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
General Hank Landry had been anxiously awaiting reports from his two teams. He had been in the command center all day, aggravating the Chief to death.
“Anything, Chief?”
“Not yet, sir.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Walter announced that they were getting a message from the Daedalus. “They were attacked but suffered little damage. They took out three ships but the enemy made its escape.”
“The planet?” Landry asked.
“SG-1 reports that there was little damage there either.”
Relief washed over Landry. Now if the other one got by as well. He called and informed General O’Neill what was happening and said he’d get back to him as soon as he heard more. Unless he was badly fooled, Jack sounded as nervous as he was.
Word came in from SG-18 a few minutes later that both ship and land based forces were fine. Even the Unas, Daniel had added to the message.
The only thing that worried Landry was what would happen next. Could they fight off a mother ship with her full fleet? He didn’t think so. And he was certainly sure that it wasn’t over with yet.
*
- Somewhere in space
He laughed. They didn’t do badly at all. He would love to see Jack O’Neill try to figure this one out. The bastard. Maybe he’d figure out eventually that all of this was for him. Well, most of it anyway. Controlling the galaxy supply of naquadah would be a nice bonus for all his efforts.
But that wasn’t his only mission.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
Rodney went over the notes that General O’Neill had given him once more. He was sure that he knew what happened and how they’d done it. But could they replicate it? No. At least, he didn’t think so. He knew he should talk to Carter about it but he wanted to run some more data, to study it some more. He didn’t want to be wrong when he told her his theory.
“What’re you working on, Brainy Smurf?” Col. Mitchell asked as he sat down beside Rodney in the mess hall.
“Just some numbers. Nothing you’d ever be able to understand.”
“I still have my lemon,” Cam laughed as he pulled the yellow fruit from his pocket. “You should be nicer to me. You may end up on my team sometime and I might not pull your ass out of the fire like Sheppard and Lorne do.”
Rodney closed his laptop, harrumphed and left the table.
“What did I say?” Mitchell asked to his retreating back. Then he turned his attention to young O’Neill. “Come sit with me, O’Neill. I seem to have scared McKay away.”
Soon enough, the other members of the team were at the table too. Carter reported that SG-18 and the Odyssey were all right. They’d taken more of the enemy down but there had been more of them too. “I guess I’d better find Rodney and let him know,” she said as she finished her food and rose from the table.
“We were lucky this time,” O’Neill said.
“Yeah, this time,” Mitchell echoed.
~~~
Chapter Twelve
- On board the Odyssey
Daniel sat straight up in his bunk. He’d been dreaming of Sha’re. She had spoken to him in her softly accented English.
“Look behind, Dan-iel,” she said as she smiled at him.
“What does that mean? What are you?”
She’d cut him off. “Look behind you…” and she’d faded away as had the dream.
He got up and looked around. He was bunking with Ronon. The big man was still sleeping like a log and snoring like one too. He got up and headed to the bridge. He wasn’t going to sleep anymore tonight. Might as well try to figure out what was going on.
Col. Means wasn’t on the bridge. His second-in-command was. Major Lorrie York. SG-1 had worked with her before. She was a good officer.
“Dr. Jackson, don’t you sleep?”
“Not tonight apparently. Coffee?”
Maj. York sent someone for a fresh pot and offered Daniel the seat she normally sat in while she took the command chair. “The bridge usually runs a skeleton staff when Col. Means is asleep but tonight we thought one of us should be here. So here I am. It’s quiet. I don’t expect anything more but it’s better to be safe, I suppose.”
“I suppose. I think we were lucky today.”
“I think so too. Several more Al’Kesh ships and we might have been toast.”
“It’s the Mother ships I hate.”
“You think they’ll come after us in one?” Maj. York asked.
“I think it’s very possible.”
“You’d think they’d finally all be blown up, wouldn’t you?”
“I suspect there were more system lords at one time than we can even imagine… and they all had Mother ships, probably even more than one.”
The coffee arrived and Maj. York poured both Daniel and herself a cup.
“I have a bad feeling about this one, Dr. Jackson, like we’re missing something that we should actually be seeing.”
“I have that same feeling. I can’t shake it.”
They talked for a bit longer, about lighter subjects then Daniel rose. “Guess I should try to sleep again.”
He bid Maj. York a good night and was gone.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
Carter and Rodney were talking about the ninth chevron.
“Do we have the equation that Eli Wallace solved?” Carter asked.
“Yes, General O’Neill gave me a copy of it to look at.”
“What do you think?”
“That the math is right. The boy solved it. It must have gotten the gate going because they’re gone.”
“Where do you think they went, Rodney?”
“I … I’ll tell you something but you can’t tell anyone.”
Carter was a bit uncomfortable with anyone telling secrets they shouldn’t tell. “Maybe you’d better keep it to yourself.”
“I think the puzzle was that the point of origin was earth. Where they went, I’m not sure but I am sure they locked in the ninth chevron.”
“That makes sense. I just wonder where they went.”
“No way of knowing without the device. I told General O’Neill as much.”
“Did you tell him your theory about the gate address?”
“I didn’t have it then.”
*
Jonathan was awake in his bunk. There was something bothering him but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. Something about those raids. He felt like they were personal somehow. Maybe not directed at him, Jonathan, but maybe at General O’Neill. He couldn’t help but feel this was someone from the past come back to haunt them.
But who? All the enemies he remembered were dead and most of them were Goa’uld. Could there be one more out there? Mitchell said they were all dead. He seemed very sure of it too. What if he was wrong?
*
Vala was thinking too. She was thinking about Daniel and hoping that he was all right. She knew he was more than likely in some cave with those Unas creatures. Why she cared so much, she didn’t even understand. He said mean things to her and acted as if he couldn’t stand her but she thought he did care. It was in his eyes… along with fear. Daniel had lost much, too much, in his life and she wondered if he feared that if he let himself care, he’d lose her too.
Well, she’d survived being a Goa’uld host, a thief, and being kidnapped. She’d been burned alive and given birth to a monster in human skin. She’d even survived a weekend with Mitchell at his high school reunion. He wasn’t going to be rid of her so easy.
She smiled to herself and promptly went to sleep.
*
- Jack O’Neill’s townhouse, Georgetown
Jack had just gotten home from the office. It was late, past midnight and he was tired but he knew there was no point in going to bed. Too much had happened in the last couple of days to sleep.
He’d lost a planet, a base, a Stargate and eighty people.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he had no concrete idea who had taken them from him.
He poured himself a drink.
He turned around and saw a photo of Charlie. He threw the drink at the opposite wall. Damn it to hell! There were days when he wished he’d been on Ra’s ship when it blew. He certainly never meant to return home, to care about people. Jackson. Carter. Teal’c.
Damn Nicholas Rush! He never meant to come home either and O’Neill knew it, had known it the whole time. Rush had taken those others with him on his suicide mission and that’s what made Jack so angry. Jack had done the same thing himself and he’d had years to beat himself up for those who died because of his selfishness.
There was nothing to be done about it now. If McKay and Carter didn’t know how to find them then they simply could not be found.
And oddly enough, that was the least of his worries.
He had two planets to worry about plus untold others that could be targets too. He had to worry about SG-1 and SG-18 too. And Carter. The ships… It never ended.
He put his jacket back on and headed back to the car. At least he could find out what was going on from his office in the Pentagon.
~~~
Part Three
Part Four
Author name: alexcat
Artist name: alexcat
Beta name: larian and Larry
Word Count: 25,945
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Main Characters and/or pairings: SG-1. SG-18(Atlantis crew), Jonathan O’Neill. Jack O
Neill, Hank Landry.
Genre: Science Fiction
Summary: Is there a new threat to the galaxy after the Ori and Goa’uld are defeated?
Warnings: Some violence but not very graphic.
Disclaimers: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters
Part Two
Chapter Seven
- Langara
The Ruling Council of Langara was being as stubborn as they had been before their near miss with destruction several years ago.
“Why would they attack us?” One councilor said.
“Because your planet is a huge ball of naquadah and naquadria,” Mitchell explained.
“But we are peaceful,” another chimed in.
“They don’t care,” Carter said. “We are not even sure why they are attacking planets like yours but they are and yours is especially at risk. They blew up one planet with a huge core concentration of naquadria. Until we find out why, who they are and how to stop them, your people are in danger. You need to have your planetary defenses on alert. Maybe even an escape plan.”
“For who? There are millions of us. We can’t just gate away.” This was from one of the former Kelownan leaders.
“We know that but perhaps you could at least save some, save your culture and some of your people if the worst happens.” Sam knew how stupid it sounded but Earth had faced the same thing on at least one occasion. That was why they had Alpha and Beta sites.
“We prefer to think there is a solution,” Jonas said.
Mitchell sighed. “When you think of it, tell us. In the meantime, you need to be ready to defend this planet and we will be in orbit, watching and waiting. It’s our best chance of catching them.”
*
Jonathan wandered away after the dinner meeting with the Ruling Council. He wandered through one corridor then the next, remembering being here before, remembering how Daniel had been fatally wounded being a hero and how Jonas had almost worked himself to death in atonement for what he’d done. It had taken him a long, long time to forgive Jonas Quinn.
“There you are.” It was Jonas.
“I was just taking a walk.”
“You look awfully familiar. Have we met? I think you’re too young to have been at Stargate Command when I was there.”
“No sir. You and I have never met but I’ve read lots of mission reports. I feel like I know you.”
“They said your name is O’Neill. Are you related to Col--- General O’Neill? You do resemble him. Maybe that’s why I think I know you.”
“I am his cousin’s son.”
Jonas smiled. “The resemblance is uncanny. I bet you hear that a lot though.”
“Not too often these days.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Col. Mitchell said tell you it’s time to head back up to the ship.”
Jonathan nodded and followed Jonas back.
They were orbiting the planet in less than an hour, listening and watching for anything unusual, anything at all.
*
Jonas Quinn was meeting with the military leaders of his world. The former enemies still held their standing armies even though they weren’t at war anymore. They all argued a bit but in the end there was little to do but set all their defenses on alert and hope that SG-1 caught the enemy before they did any serious damage.
He didn’t doubt for one minute that they would be a target. He’d worked with SG-1, with O’Neill and Carter long enough to know that they knew what was going on and that they were usually right. Convincing his people was another thing but they had come a long way from the days when they were divided into enemy countries poised to destroy one another. At least they tried to work things out now before they resorted to violence.
He wondered about the boy. There was something more than just being a cousin’s son. He would ask Carter. Maybe she could tell him something more.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
“Do you think they believed us?” Mitchell asked.
“Jonas did,” Carter answered. “And if he is as influential as I think he is, they will listen. They won’t like it but they’ll do as he suggests.”
Vala looked at Jonathan. “I noticed Jonas followed you when you went for a walk. Did he notice who you resemble?”
“I don’t just resemble him. I am him, just… younger and different.” Jonathan smiled.
Carter laughed. “Yep, you’re different. But not as much as you think. Not nearly as much as you think.”
Carter went to the bridge to talk to Col. Caldwell.
*
“Our long range sensors aren’t picking up anything yet. It’s as quiet as a tomb out there tonight,” Caldwell told Carter. “I just hope it stays that way.”
“I kind of hope we find them sometime. I want to stop them before they kill any more people or destroy any more planets. And I want to know who is behind it.”
“Probably just some new leader in the Lucian Alliance trying to show how ruthless he is.”
“Well, he’s convinced me,” Carter returned. “Now it’s time to stop him.”
“Do you think there is a reason he is doing this or do you think it’s simply terrorism?” Mitchell asked Carter.
“I don’t know. Terrorism isn’t the Lucian way though. They are in it for the money. They really don’t have any reason to destroy naquadah.”
“Unless they are doing it to drive up prices for the naquadah that they have,” Mitchell said, coming aboard the bridge.
Vala chimed in on that one as she joined them. “Yes, they’d do that.”
“Then we need to find who they’re selling to,” Mitchell said.
“How will that help though?” Jonathan asked. He’d been with Mitchell and Vala. “I don’t think we can scare the buyers into boycotting. Not with our one ship to their who knows how many. I swear if I didn’t know better that this was something the Goa’uld would do.”
“But the Goa’uld are gone. We all know that,” Mitchell shot back, almost defying anyone to argue with him and no one did. He had seen the last system lord’s Goa’uld removed and destroyed by the Tok’ra and he’d seen even more than the others knew he’d seen. He knew the Goa’uld were gone.
Still…
“Well, we know it’s someone, someone ruthless enough to sacrifice his own men with no regard for them at all,” Carter reminded them all.
Mitchell sighed. “It could be anyone, anyone at all.”
They all knew he was right.
~~~
Chapter Eight
Neither one of the planets that the Stargate teams were watching was the next target. The next planet had a huge storage facility for mined naquadah. Storing and shipping the rare mineral were the main industries on Sequanah IV. The planet was sparsely populated and most of its inhabitants were natives of other worlds. When their sensors reported alien ships not far from them, the several hundred residents locked up, grabbed their valuables and gated to the worlds they came from, taking the natives with them.
But the naquadah was stolen and the storage facilities were destroyed, along with the few small towns dotted over the one medium-sized continent.
Word came to SG-1 aboard the Daedalus rather quickly and to Daniel Jackson and SG-18 a bit later as communications were a little slower on the remote planet. They were relieved yet not really. All of them wanted to catch these people and stop the destruction before it got worse.
General Landry sent a team to question the survivors but there was little they could tell. Goa’uld ships attacked and they ran. That was it, really.
*
- The Daedalus
“Maybe they know that we’re waiting for them.” Jonathan said when they got word of the attack.
“That could be very possible but there’s little we can do about it,” Cam said.
“This ship isn’t exactly invisible orbiting the planet here anyway,” Vala added. “I vote we go down to the planet and see what sort of food these dullish people have to offer. Maybe the food is more like Jonas Quinn than it is the people we’ve met.”
Jonathan had always thought the people of this planet to be a dull and tedious lot too but he decided not to say a word. Besides, he didn’t remember the food being all that fine either though they did make a nice cake.
“I’m sure we can find something to eat there, though the Daedaluss has a fine mess hall too.” Mitchell didn’t want to go back to the planet. He agreed with Vala; he wasn’t crazy about the people either. He even wondered why Jonas ever bothered to go home.
They finally agreed to see what was on the menu in the ship’s Mess. To Jonathan’s delight, the cook was an excellent baker and had made chocolate cake for dessert.
They all sat at the same table and talked, not about the mission but about what they’d been doing since the last mission they’d all gone on together.
“So how is it to have your very own ship, Carter?”
“I enjoy it. My crew is great and it’s a lot easier than managing the operations in the Pegasus Galaxy was. McKay can be more trouble than a whole crew sometimes. And Sheppard only obeys orders when either he wants to or you force his hand. He is a good soldier though. One of the best.”
She grinned at Cam. “So is SG-1 as fun since the ‘band’ left you again?”
“Hey, I still got Daniel and Vala to keep the trouble level high so I’m happy. We’ll see how much trouble young O’Neill here causes on this mission, won’t we?”
They all turned to the young clone of Jack O’Neill. “So how do you like it so far?”
“Not much action and I *am* used to being the team leader but you all seem to have some idea what you’re doing so I’m good.” He dug into his cake. “As long as there’s cake now and then, I’ll be fine.”
Vala was so busy eating that she hadn’t said a word. Sometimes Cam wondered how she stayed so nicely shaped then almost blushed at his own thought. “Food to your liking, Vala?”
“Yes, very good,” she mumbled around a chicken leg.
They all just laughed. One of the men from the bridge approached their table. “Col. Mitchell? We’re picking up three ships on our medium range scanners. Too far yet to identify but they will be in range very soon. Colonel Caldwell thought you might want to come to the bridge.”
Suddenly, everyone at the table was all business, even Vala, as they cleaned up quickly and headed up to the bridge.
“Do we know what we have yet?” Cam asked as they all entered the bridge.
“They do appear to be Goa’uld in design, sir, but so far they’ve have not contacted us.”
“All decks, red alert,” Caldwell ordered. “We might as well be ready for anything.”
SG-1 found seats as the bridge became a beehive of activity with sensors and weapons being brought online as well as shields being readied.
“Send this message: Please identify yourself. This is the sovereign space of the planet Langara,” Caldwell said.
There was no answer at all. The ships kept coming. They finally came close enough that the planet had picked them up too and had brought their planetary defense weapons online too.
They all waited.
And waited until finally the three ships changed directions and left.
“Scout ships?” Mitchell asked.
“I’d say so,” Caldwell answered. “If they didn’t know we were here before, they certainly know now.”
“Is that a bad thing? Maybe it will keep them away.” Mitchell said.
“The George Hammond didn’t keep them from Icarus base,” Carter told them. “They acted like we weren’t even there. Just honed in on the planet and blasted away. The only reason we took any damage at all is because we were shooting at them and a few of them shot back.”
“If we can’t defend the planet, then why are we being so easy to find? Shouldn’t we be hiding?” Vala asked.
“Like I said, I’m not sure it matters,” Carter repeated.
Carter and Mitchell were ready to chase the ships but they all knew that wasn’t their mission. Not yet anyway.
Jonathan summed it up for all of them. “So now we wait, dammit.”
~~~
Chapter Nine
- Planet P3X-403
The mining planet was ready too. The men would gate out and the Unas would go underground where they had hidden in past centuries from enemies such as the Goa’uld. Daniel was torn. He felt like he should stay with the Unas but Landry had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to be on the ship with SG-18.
“I hate waiting,” Sheppard said for about the tenth time in an hour. “Anything yet?” He asked the ship’s captain, Col. Marcus Means.
“No, Col. Sheppard. You’ll be the first to know.”
Sheppard paced while Ronon and Teyla watched, both with their knowing smiles. Lorne, on the other hand, was almost as wired as Sheppard was.
“If Rodney were here, Sheppard would have someone to annoy,” Teyla told Ronon.
The big man just smiled and grunted, which was a whole conversation for him.
“Besides us,” she added and raised her eyebrows.
Jackson was flipping through his notes and jotting things in the little book he carried with him. He had said little since his trip to talk with the Unas chieftain.
“Sir, we have three ships on our mid-range sensors,” one of the ship’s techs announced.
“Any identification?”
“Too far yet to tell but soon.”
They all waited and a message came from Earth. Three Goa’uld ships had buzzed Langara just a few hours ago. In a few more minutes, the ships were identified as Goa’uld ships. They came in quietly and left the same way, as the three had done at Langara.
“Now what?” Daniel asked.
“We wait. Same as before,” Sheppard said, though he seemed none too happy about it.
*
- Somewhere in the Pentagon
Rodney McKay looked at the information on the computer screen then looked some more. How Rush had dialed the ninth chevron, he didn’t know. Certainly not by using this information as it was. He and that child, Eli something or another, that they sent with him to Icarus base had to have changed something to make it work.
Really, other than as a puzzle, it was all quite academic anyway. Since the planet they dialed from blew up, there was no way to check and see what would work until somewhere they found another planet. And the thing was, they hadn’t even found this one. The Lucian Alliance had given the coordinates to them.
He might as well report to General O’Neill. There was no sense in delaying it. He suspected even someone like O’Neill knew that there was no hope of getting the Icarus people back.
Unless they could dial back from where they were.
He wondered where they would send him now. He didn’t want to go to Area 51 and tinker with alien junk to see how it worked. That was a waste of his talents and his intelligence. Maybe he could hire on with a think tank. But then he’d have to put up with all the semi-intelligent idiots… It was hard to be Dr. Rodney McKay.
He knocked on O’Neill’s office door.
“Come,” the general shouted though it was obvious that he was on the phone with someone. “Tell them to sit tight. Those ships will return with more. I’d bet anything on it.”
O’Neill hung up the phone and looked at Rodney. The general had that deeply annoyed look that most military men seemed to have when they looked at him. “No way to bring them back, is there?”
“Not unless you have another naquadria planet to play with.”
“Just as I thought then. Thank you for your time, Dr. McKay.”
McKay knew he was being dismissed but he also knew that he had no orders yet to be anywhere else so he just stood there.
“Yes?” General O’Neill was getting that flushed look that military men eventually got around when they dealt with him.
“Where am I to go from here? You mentioned joining SG-18 but --”
“How about Langara? Carter is there. Maybe the two of you can reverse some polarity or something and fix this mess. You can gate there from Colorado. I’ll have you a plane standing by in a few minutes.”
As Rodney was leaving he heard O’Neill bellow. “Sanders? Get me a plane to the SGC for McKay!” He saw the general’s assistant come running down the hall looking as annoyed with O’Neill as O’Neill had looked at him.
McKay smiled. He’d rather go where SG-18 was but Carter would do. Very well indeed.
*
- Langara
“Why do we get McKay?” Mitchell asked General Landry.
“Because General O’Neill said so.”
“Well, I guess we get McKay then. Carter will be thrilled.”
“Thrilled about what?” She said as she joined them on the bridge of the Daedalus.
“McKay is heading to the planet from the SGC. Guess you’d better let Quinn know,” Mitchell grinned as he said it. He knew that McKay had a geeky crush on Sam even though he was dating the pretty Dr. Keller from the Atlantis group.
“Oh boy!” Sam actually liked Rodney in an aggravated sort of way.
“I think they want the two of you to make some kind of miracle and make this go away,” Mitchell said.
“I think we’re pretty short of those these days.”
*
Rodney joined SG-1 aboard the Daedalus in a short while. Mitchell had gone to the Mess hall and nabbed a lemon for himself and one for Jonathan too. He smiled, thinking about the first time he’d met McKay on Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy and how John Sheppard had told him that Rodney was allergic to lemons then given him one as a means of Rodney Control.
Jonathan remembered Rodney well. He remembered being responsible for sending him to Russia too when the whole thing was over. It was a good thing McKay didn’t know who he really was, he thought as Mitchell gave him the fruit and told him the story.
When Rodney beamed up from the planet, Mitchell threw his lemon into the air and caught it, grinning at Rodney McKay all the while. He was still grinning when Rodney gave him a very dirty look and asked Carter to show him his quarters.
~~~
Chapter Ten
- Somewhere in the galaxy
“Did they see you?”
“Yes sir. They did not give chase or attack but they saw us. At both planets.”
The leader smiled. He’d bet Jack O’Neill was so angry that he could barely form words. He knew it would be driving them all crazy, just sitting out there waiting and waiting for what they didn’t even know for sure. Which was exactly what he meant to do.
“Good job. Now we move to the next phase.”
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
McKay and Sam were geeking away at one table in the mess hall and Mitchell, Vala and Jonathan were poking fun at them from another table.
Jonathan was enjoying himself. He had missed this though the O’Neill that he was now had never actually experienced it. He missed watching Carter talk about science and even though he had done a lot more studying this time around, he still had no clue what she was talking about at least seventy-five percent of the time. It felt good to listen to her voice though.
Vala was doing a more than passable job of flirting with Mitchell even though he was her CO. Since she was a civilian contractor of sorts, rank didn’t mean much to her and aside from Daniel, Mitchell was the sexiest man she knew. Besides, he was safe. Even if he had wanted to be naughty, he wouldn’t. Mitchell was a man of honor, something she’d had to learn about when she came to Earth. She liked to think she might even have a bit of honor herself now.
Mitchell’s comm device beeped. “Mitchell.”
It was Caldwell. “We’ve got company again, Mitchell. I think there are more of them this time. I’m letting the planet know.”
They arrived on the bridge a few minutes later.
“What have we got?” Mitchell asked.
“Long range sensors detected a small fleet coming in. Still maybe a day out but they’re closing fast,” Caldwell told them.
“You mean I get here and the bad guys are going to attack?” McKay asked.
“Looks like it,” Sam said and patted his shoulder.
Caldwell ordered his communications officer to contact Earth first then the Odyssey to let them in on the situation.
“Sir, the Odyssey reports a small armada coming toward them too. Same as here, maybe a day out.”
Mitchell sighed. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“What’re you? Han Solo?” Rodney asked.
“Maybe. Does that make you C3P0?” Mitchell pulled his lemon from his pocket and held it out as if to cast away evil.
McKay actually said nothing but his face did turn a bit pink. ‘Score!” was Jonathan’s thought.
Caldwell was used to the antics. He knew how soldiers acted under stress. That banter was one of the things that kept them sane but he never could get used to some of Mitchell’s pranks and jokes. He said nothing.
*
- On planet P3X-403
“Here they come again,” Sheppard told his team as soon as he got back from Col. Edwards’ tent. The team had beamed back down to help with some evacuation plans for the mining ops and security. “There are more of them and they’re about a day out. Same number headed toward Langara too.”
Jackson frowned. “Maybe I should let the Unas know.”
“The mines are closed and the Unas seem to have faded into the scenery. I think they know already,” Ronon said in a sudden burst of words. Those were the most words Daniel had ever heard him say at one time.
“I suppose so. I still feel responsible for them somehow.”
“Mitchell tells me you feel responsible for everyone.”
Daniel laughed. “Oh didn’t they tell you? I’m the conscience of SG-1.”
Sheppard said, “Don’t you mean do-gooder?”
“Well that too, I suppose.”
“The Unas seem pretty canny. They know if the mines are closed, they should hide, right?” Sheppard asked.
“Yeah, they do. But if those men land, the Unas will come out to fight.”
“Daniel, the planet is their home. They have a right to fight for it,” Teyla spoke from her own experiences.
Col. Edwards had decided to stay too. The men he tried to send up to the Odyssey refused to leave him so they decided to wait it out in caves too.
“Col. Edwards, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Daniel started.
“If they can stay, we will stay. I know I thought of them as savage monsters at first but they’ve grown on me. They work hard and they respect us if we do the same. I intend on staying. Now you and your team get back up to that ship and defend us.”
Jackson was rather taken aback. Col. Edwards had been all for shooting the Unas to get them out of the way so the rich naquadah veins could be mined. He had been furious when Daniel had negotiated with the Unas for peace. Daniel would not have expected the man to have come to like them but it appeared that he had done just that.
“Yes sir!” He smiled at Edwards and he and SG-18 beamed off the surface.
Back aboard the ship, they checked the information they’d gotten and rechecked the sensors. The ships were still approaching and it looked as if they’d be here in less than twenty-four hours.
Daniel felt helpless, a feeling he hated and had hated ever since his wife had been taken by the Goa’uld so many years ago. He still thought of her often and wondered sometimes if he could have done more to save her. He missed her. He supposed he always would.
Almost as if on cue, the communications officer called him over. “Dr. Jackson, this message came in for you from Langara.” He handed Daniel a note.
“Daniel - Take care of yourself. You still owe me a date. Love, Vala”
He blushed to top of his head when he read it. That woman! She could do it to him every time. He hoped he made it back home to tell her that it wasn’t even a date the first time.
~~~
Chapter Eleven
- In orbit around Langara
“They’ll be here in approximately thirty minutes,” Sam told Caldwell and the rest of those on the bridge.
“Go to red alert.” Caldwell told his crew.
The planet below them was notified though they were monitoring the ships too. Now they waited.
Cam paced and Rodney went to the mess hall to find something to eat. He said he thought better on a full stomach and he figured he might need to think. Or maybe he might need a last meal. Sam calculated this and that and watched the sensors and scanners, tracking the ships.
“I count seven ships exactly. One Al’Kesh and six smaller ships,” she informed the bridge.
Caldwell barely had time to call ‘Battle stations’ and launch the 302s as the ships came out of hyperspace and began firing on the Daedalus. Any damage was minimal as the larger ship fired back at them, taking out two of the small ships right away. Another one was hit as they made a second pass. The Daedalus did a bit of shaking and such but suffered no real damage.
“Reports coming in from the surface. They’re taking a few hits but nothing too bad yet,” Carter called out. “They’re shooting back.”
“Target the Al’Kesh,” Caldwell commanded. “All ships, be careful of the other three but target the Al’Kesh.”
Then as suddenly as it began, it was done. The Al’Kesh and its three remaining companions began to run and before they could be stopped, the whole group jumped out and was gone.
“Damn it!” Mitchell cursed. “I wanted to catch one. How did they do planetside?”
“Only a few minor injuries but some buildings were destroyed,” Carter answered. “Jonas says thanks.”
*
- In Orbit around P3X-403
There were nine of them when they hit, one Al’Kesh and eight smaller ships. The Odyssey carried a larger group of 302s that were able to wipe out all the small ships with only minimal damage to themselves or the planet below. The Al’Kesh got
away.
As soon as the fight was over, Daniel asked to be sent down to the planet. His request was granted.
He found Col. Edwards and his men safe in one of the shallow caves that they had made into a home. The cave was warmer than tents or Quonset huts and more stable when the weather turned really bad during the planet’s winter season.
“You and your men all right?”
“Few cuts and bruises from stowing away things but we’re fine. Those 302s got them so fast that we didn’t even get to use our artillery.”
Daniel grinned. “That’s actually a good thing, Col. Edwards.”
“If you say so.”
“I’m going to check on the Unas. I may not be back until after dark. Watch for me?”
“Will do. Be careful out there.”
*
Daniel found the Unas quickly or rather they found him.
“Ships come. Ships gone. We are unharmed.”
“I am glad. Ships might return. Still dangerous.”
The big Unas patted Daniel on the back as one would a child. “We not fear. You go back to soldiers.”
Daniel smiled and headed back to the camp. He was amazed at how complex these beings really were. He had learned much about humanity from Chaka and from them. It looked as if perhaps Col. Edwards had too.
*
- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
General Hank Landry had been anxiously awaiting reports from his two teams. He had been in the command center all day, aggravating the Chief to death.
“Anything, Chief?”
“Not yet, sir.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Walter announced that they were getting a message from the Daedalus. “They were attacked but suffered little damage. They took out three ships but the enemy made its escape.”
“The planet?” Landry asked.
“SG-1 reports that there was little damage there either.”
Relief washed over Landry. Now if the other one got by as well. He called and informed General O’Neill what was happening and said he’d get back to him as soon as he heard more. Unless he was badly fooled, Jack sounded as nervous as he was.
Word came in from SG-18 a few minutes later that both ship and land based forces were fine. Even the Unas, Daniel had added to the message.
The only thing that worried Landry was what would happen next. Could they fight off a mother ship with her full fleet? He didn’t think so. And he was certainly sure that it wasn’t over with yet.
*
- Somewhere in space
He laughed. They didn’t do badly at all. He would love to see Jack O’Neill try to figure this one out. The bastard. Maybe he’d figure out eventually that all of this was for him. Well, most of it anyway. Controlling the galaxy supply of naquadah would be a nice bonus for all his efforts.
But that wasn’t his only mission.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
Rodney went over the notes that General O’Neill had given him once more. He was sure that he knew what happened and how they’d done it. But could they replicate it? No. At least, he didn’t think so. He knew he should talk to Carter about it but he wanted to run some more data, to study it some more. He didn’t want to be wrong when he told her his theory.
“What’re you working on, Brainy Smurf?” Col. Mitchell asked as he sat down beside Rodney in the mess hall.
“Just some numbers. Nothing you’d ever be able to understand.”
“I still have my lemon,” Cam laughed as he pulled the yellow fruit from his pocket. “You should be nicer to me. You may end up on my team sometime and I might not pull your ass out of the fire like Sheppard and Lorne do.”
Rodney closed his laptop, harrumphed and left the table.
“What did I say?” Mitchell asked to his retreating back. Then he turned his attention to young O’Neill. “Come sit with me, O’Neill. I seem to have scared McKay away.”
Soon enough, the other members of the team were at the table too. Carter reported that SG-18 and the Odyssey were all right. They’d taken more of the enemy down but there had been more of them too. “I guess I’d better find Rodney and let him know,” she said as she finished her food and rose from the table.
“We were lucky this time,” O’Neill said.
“Yeah, this time,” Mitchell echoed.
~~~
Chapter Twelve
- On board the Odyssey
Daniel sat straight up in his bunk. He’d been dreaming of Sha’re. She had spoken to him in her softly accented English.
“Look behind, Dan-iel,” she said as she smiled at him.
“What does that mean? What are you?”
She’d cut him off. “Look behind you…” and she’d faded away as had the dream.
He got up and looked around. He was bunking with Ronon. The big man was still sleeping like a log and snoring like one too. He got up and headed to the bridge. He wasn’t going to sleep anymore tonight. Might as well try to figure out what was going on.
Col. Means wasn’t on the bridge. His second-in-command was. Major Lorrie York. SG-1 had worked with her before. She was a good officer.
“Dr. Jackson, don’t you sleep?”
“Not tonight apparently. Coffee?”
Maj. York sent someone for a fresh pot and offered Daniel the seat she normally sat in while she took the command chair. “The bridge usually runs a skeleton staff when Col. Means is asleep but tonight we thought one of us should be here. So here I am. It’s quiet. I don’t expect anything more but it’s better to be safe, I suppose.”
“I suppose. I think we were lucky today.”
“I think so too. Several more Al’Kesh ships and we might have been toast.”
“It’s the Mother ships I hate.”
“You think they’ll come after us in one?” Maj. York asked.
“I think it’s very possible.”
“You’d think they’d finally all be blown up, wouldn’t you?”
“I suspect there were more system lords at one time than we can even imagine… and they all had Mother ships, probably even more than one.”
The coffee arrived and Maj. York poured both Daniel and herself a cup.
“I have a bad feeling about this one, Dr. Jackson, like we’re missing something that we should actually be seeing.”
“I have that same feeling. I can’t shake it.”
They talked for a bit longer, about lighter subjects then Daniel rose. “Guess I should try to sleep again.”
He bid Maj. York a good night and was gone.
*
- Aboard the Daedalus
Carter and Rodney were talking about the ninth chevron.
“Do we have the equation that Eli Wallace solved?” Carter asked.
“Yes, General O’Neill gave me a copy of it to look at.”
“What do you think?”
“That the math is right. The boy solved it. It must have gotten the gate going because they’re gone.”
“Where do you think they went, Rodney?”
“I … I’ll tell you something but you can’t tell anyone.”
Carter was a bit uncomfortable with anyone telling secrets they shouldn’t tell. “Maybe you’d better keep it to yourself.”
“I think the puzzle was that the point of origin was earth. Where they went, I’m not sure but I am sure they locked in the ninth chevron.”
“That makes sense. I just wonder where they went.”
“No way of knowing without the device. I told General O’Neill as much.”
“Did you tell him your theory about the gate address?”
“I didn’t have it then.”
*
Jonathan was awake in his bunk. There was something bothering him but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. Something about those raids. He felt like they were personal somehow. Maybe not directed at him, Jonathan, but maybe at General O’Neill. He couldn’t help but feel this was someone from the past come back to haunt them.
But who? All the enemies he remembered were dead and most of them were Goa’uld. Could there be one more out there? Mitchell said they were all dead. He seemed very sure of it too. What if he was wrong?
*
Vala was thinking too. She was thinking about Daniel and hoping that he was all right. She knew he was more than likely in some cave with those Unas creatures. Why she cared so much, she didn’t even understand. He said mean things to her and acted as if he couldn’t stand her but she thought he did care. It was in his eyes… along with fear. Daniel had lost much, too much, in his life and she wondered if he feared that if he let himself care, he’d lose her too.
Well, she’d survived being a Goa’uld host, a thief, and being kidnapped. She’d been burned alive and given birth to a monster in human skin. She’d even survived a weekend with Mitchell at his high school reunion. He wasn’t going to be rid of her so easy.
She smiled to herself and promptly went to sleep.
*
- Jack O’Neill’s townhouse, Georgetown
Jack had just gotten home from the office. It was late, past midnight and he was tired but he knew there was no point in going to bed. Too much had happened in the last couple of days to sleep.
He’d lost a planet, a base, a Stargate and eighty people.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he had no concrete idea who had taken them from him.
He poured himself a drink.
He turned around and saw a photo of Charlie. He threw the drink at the opposite wall. Damn it to hell! There were days when he wished he’d been on Ra’s ship when it blew. He certainly never meant to return home, to care about people. Jackson. Carter. Teal’c.
Damn Nicholas Rush! He never meant to come home either and O’Neill knew it, had known it the whole time. Rush had taken those others with him on his suicide mission and that’s what made Jack so angry. Jack had done the same thing himself and he’d had years to beat himself up for those who died because of his selfishness.
There was nothing to be done about it now. If McKay and Carter didn’t know how to find them then they simply could not be found.
And oddly enough, that was the least of his worries.
He had two planets to worry about plus untold others that could be targets too. He had to worry about SG-1 and SG-18 too. And Carter. The ships… It never ended.
He put his jacket back on and headed back to the car. At least he could find out what was going on from his office in the Pentagon.
~~~
Part Three
Part Four