(Nova Roma – Communications Room – 2 September 2016, 0805)
One moment, Cameron Mitchell was in the Pentagon. And the next, he was in a small closet. Based on the fact that the place was in the style of the Ancients, he presumed this was Nova Roma. Mitchell got to his feet and headed for the door, next to which was a small mirror. When he looked it into, he saw the face of Marc Vale.
“Cool.”
He walked out and made his way to the Control Room. Jennifer Hailey was running the show. She was giving orders and running a some kind of calculation on a display. He took a closer look at the display and realized that this was the math on Nova Roma’s position and course. Hailey looked at him.
“How did it go with General O’Neill ?”
“I’m afraid Colonel Vale is still in there. I’m Cameron Mitchell….Nice to meet you, Major.” He gestured towards the display. “How’s the math going ?”
“Right on schedule. Colonel Vale was planning….” That was as far as she got before there was an alarm.
Hailey hit several keys and the display changed. It now showed telemetry from the long-range sensors. There was an impossible spaceship approaching them. What made it impossible, was that it was an Ancient design. And – as far as Mitchell knew – the Ancients were all gone. So, how could this ship be here ? (Wherever here was.) Hailey hit several more keys.
“That’s an Aurora-class Battleship.” She began. “It will be here in less than an hour.”
“Can we speed up the math ?”
“I’ll see what I can do, sir.” She took a deep breath. “But if they’re hostile, we’re going to need to all the firepower we have. That means the tower’s own weapons and both Jumpers.”
Mitchell grabbed a radio from his belt and called for Grogan to report to the Control Room. He had memorized the entire Nova Roma roster, including who had the Ancient Technology Activation gene. (Of the one-hundred-and-three people aboard, two people – Colonel Vale and Captain Grogan – had been born with the gene. Before launch, they had managed to artificially introduce the gene into the DNA of twenty-one people.) He had just gotten off the radio, when there was a beep.
“We’re receiving a transmission from the Aurora-class ship.” Hailey said. “Orders ?”
“I think you should do the talking.” Mitchell said. “Me and Colonel Vale having switched, it might get….complicated.”
Hailey hit a key and the channel opened. A human looking female was on the other end. She was Caucasian, with green eyes and short brown hair. Mitchell thought she looked like she was in her thirties. But all of this was speculation. Just because she looked human, it didn’t mean she actually was human. The woman spoke. But her voice sounded odd. Then he realized she was speaking Ancient and that the computer was translating it into English.
“This is Captain Parron of the New Asuran Ship Defender, identify yourselves.”
Hailey looked at Mitchell. The Asurans had begun as nanites created by the Ancients. They had been meant as a weapon against a race called the Wraith. After a while, they had begun to cluster together into more complex patterns. The end form of that had been them becoming humanoids robots. At this point, the Ancients had considered them a failure and tried to wipe them out. But the Asurans had survived and rebuild. They had developed a deep hate of humanity along the line. In the end, they had been wiped out by the crew of Atlantis. So meeting these New Asurans could turn nasty.
“This is Major Hailey of the Earth Vessel Nova Roma.”
“Earth ?” Parron frowned and looked at somebody off-screen. After apparently getting confirmation of the translation. “As in the birthplace of Atlantis ? That is….impossible. The Ancients are….gone.”
“We’re not Ancients. We’re Human.”
“And you build this ship ? How is that possible ?”
“Yes and no. It’s…complicated.” She looked at Mitchell, who bit his lower lip and gave her a nod. “You’re welcome to come over to talk about it.”
“We’ll get back to your on that.” Parron said. “Defender out.”
The channel closed. Mitchell was about to say something, but then….
(Nova Roma – Control Room – 2 September 2016, 0830)
The math was still running. But Hailey was only ten minutes from locking down their position. As for the Defender, Hailey had briefed Vale on the situation. The ship was now sitting just outside of weapons range. From the sensor readings, her weapons were not armed. Nova Roma was still in orbit of the planet. The weapons were not armed, but both Jumpers were ready to launch. (Grogan and Teldy were manning them.) Vale was sitting in the Control Room, watching the readings on the New Asuran ship.
He had been briefed on several species during his time running Nova Roma, including the original Asurans. They had sounded like a nasty lot. So he was well aware that this whole thing could blow up in their faces. He was about to zoom in when the New Asurans hailed them again. He looked at Hailey and nodded. She opened a channel. It was Captain Parron who appeared.
“We had to deliberate with the New Asuran Senate, Major.” She said. “They have authorized me to send a party to your ship. If you approve, we will teleport them over.”
“Go ahead.” Vale said.
“You are cleared to teleport aboard, Captain.”
“Thank you, Major.” Parron said. “Defender out.”
The channel closed and two seconds later, there was a light and Captain Parron appeared. She was wearing what was clearly an uniform. It consisted of a pair of grey pants, a black T-shirt and a white jacket. Next to her was an older man. He looked African-American, with a grey beard and hair. Vale figured he looked like he was in his sixties. He was wearing a white business suit, with a black shirt underneath.
“Captain Parron ?” Hailey said. “This is Colonel Vale, he’s the Commanding Officer for this mission.”
“Major Hailey is the second-in-command of this base. I was busy reporting in to my superiors when you arrived.”
“I understand, if there is one thing that is universal, it’s bureaucracy. This…” She gestured towards the man. “….Is Governor Gerhard. He is the ranking official for Planet 7. He will be representing the Senate during these talks.”
“Shall we go somewhere more appropriate ?”
“Lead the way.” Gerhard said.
Vale led the way to a Conference Room. Originally, there had been a U-shaped table in this room, but it had been broken down and recycled by the maintenance nanites. The replacement was a large round table. It was made from wood and came with six chairs. They sat down at the table. Vale spoke up first. He told Parron and Gerhard about the Asurans and their conflict with the crew of Atlantis and the Wraith. Vale was not a diplomat, but a soldier. And that meant that he was not the kind to lie. He told them everything, including that they had destroyed the Asurans. After that, there was a tense moment of silence. It was Gerhard who broke it.
“Thank you for you honesty, Colonel.” He pounded the table. “Blast ! Being right sometimes really…” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Colonel. It’s not your fault…” He leaned back. “….after the Ancients tried to wipe us out and we became humanoid again, there was a schism. The majority hated Humans, but a really small group….just six of us, including me….disagreed.”
“So, what happened ?” Hailey asked.
“They tried to kill us. But we managed to survive and stole a transport.” Gerhard sat up straight. “We upgraded it and left for another galaxy. Now there are twenty-seven billion of us, spread over eighteen planets.”
“Why did you disagree ?” Vale said.
“Because it was not the Humans who tried to wipe us out. Holding you responsible for what the Ancients did, it was just….wrong. How would becoming mass murderers of the innocent have made us better ? And what would that lead to ?” He paused. “You did the right thing when your destroyed the Asuran…or as you called them, Replicator….Homeworld. They choose their fate.”
“So…what happens now ?”
“Now, I have to send a very unpleasant report back home. But, tell me, why are you here ? Are you trying to reach Destiny ?” Vale and Hailey exchanged looks. “I’ll take that as a yes. And yes…we know about the ninth chevron and the ship. As far as we know, it’s the only…asset, that would warrant travelling out here.”
“We have people stranded aboard Destiny and no power source capable of dialing the ninth chevron.” Vale began. “We found several prototypes of Atlantis’ command tower. It took a lot of effort, but we managed to fuse them into one tower. We called it Nova Roma. It means New Rome. Rome is one of the oldest cities on Earth, which it is said was built on seven hills…”
“…and you fused seven prototypes.” Parron said.
“Exactly.” Hailey began. “But if you know about Destiny, why did you never claim it ?”
“We’ve tried to connect by means of Stargate…” Parron said. “…but our addresses were locked up. We eventually discovered that it can only be dialed from Earth or another planet in its galaxy. We also tried to get there by ship, but there was a major hiccup…” She looked at Gerhard, who nodded with approval. Parron took out a disk and put it on the table. “….called the Nakari.” She hit a key and a blue alien with glowing eyes appeared. “They are obsessed with Destiny and destroyed all three ships we send to claim it.”
“Yeah, we learned that the hard way…” Hailey said. “….they kidnapped two of Colonel Young’s crew and experimented on one of them.”
Vale studied the image. The neck was thin and held up an oval skull that was slightly slanted. The crewmember they had experimented on was Chloe Armstrong. She and her father – who had sacrificed himself during an emergency aboard Destiny – had been touring the base when it had been attacked by an enemy called the Lucian Alliance. The attack had made everything go pear-shaped and was the reason the crew had ended up on the ship in the first place.
“So, their home galaxy is between us and the ship ?”
“Yes.” Gerhard said. “Our ships travelled three galaxies further down the path, then we hit theirs. They’ve been chasing that ship for a very long time. Some of us estimate that they were at it when we arrived in this galaxy. And that was thousands of years ago.”
“If I may…” Parron began. “….what will you report to your superiors ? About us ?”
“Well, if you were hostile, you could have teleported over a bomb. Or boarding parties to take the tower for yourself, so that you could use it to reach Destiny.” Vale said. “And you could have blown us to pieces the old-fashioned way. So, you have several things going for you in the friendly department.”
“Thank you, Colonel.” Gerhard said. “We’d like to teleport back to the Defender now.”
“Major, lead our guests back to the Control Room and then let them teleport home.” Vale began. “I’ll be reporting this situation to the folks back home.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hailey and their New Asuran guests left, while Vale headed for the Communications Room. He would have to report to General O’Neill again. And this time, he was pretty sure that the General would not be very happy with his report. It dawned on him that this was another advantage of being a zillion lightyears away from Earth. It made it impossible for O’Neill to shoot him.
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