SG Nova Roma, Chapter 4.07

 7 – Moon One

(Moon One – Grassy Field – Year 3, Day 50, 1215)

T’Zalo and G’Yal stood at the foot at the obelisk and looked up. ~Whoa.~ G’Yal thought as he studied the alien structure. It was 500 feet high, with writing on all four sides. Porter and Colson were already setting up instruments to study it. It was at time like this that G’Yal wished that he had better science skills. To him, it was simply a big stone structure. But it was crystal clear that there was more to this construction.

“Me too,” T’Zalo said.

“Make that three,” Vale said.

“For the record,” G’Yal began. “What are we talking about here ?”

“The look on your face, it was pretty clear that you were wishing you had better science skills,” Vale said. “And yes, I know how to read Nakai facial expressions. And Ursini ones too,” It had taken Vale some time, but he had figured out how to read the faces of his alien crewmembers a while ago. ~Not that I care about the alien part anymore.~ He had stopped doing so a long time ago.

“That’s why you get paid the big bucks, boss,” T’Zalo said.

“Wait, we get paid ?” G’Yal said with a smile.

Vale snickered and left them the two team members to discuss things amongst themselves. He decided not remind them that the IOA and Stargate Command paid everybody at the Delta Site, Epsilon Site and both starships in the program. For the Human crewmembers, the money either went to family members or people designated by the person whose name was on the check.

Both G’Yal and T’Zalo knew that the alien crewmembers got paid as well. But because they couldn’t spend the money – since they were millions of lightyears away from Earth – they had authorized Stargate Command to create a charity called Hope and Freedom. Hope and Freedom helped refugees and homeless people. Vale approached Porter and Colson, who were trying to get more information on the obelisk and its inner workings.

“So, what are the instruments saying ?”

“So far, nothing much,” Colson said. “This is one stubborn piece of alien technology.”

“Yeah, we were expecting as much,” Vale said. ~This things is not going to reveal its secrets easily.~

Vale looked at the screen that came with the instrument that Colson had just set up. As Colson had said, it was not telling them that much. But Vale had read enough SGC reports to know that alien technology tended to block scans. And that circuits were usually well hidden. Leaving Hailey and Colson to do their thing, he walked around the obelisk.

But this did not tell him much either. So he looked around to see if there were any other structures. That was when he noticed two cabins that flanked a pier. These were clearly not build by the Zovaris. So, Vale decided to take a closer look. And he was not alone, because Laura Cadman had the same idea. She had told her team to stay at the obelisk to guard the rest of NR-1.

“Colonel ?”

“Let’s take a closer look at these.”

Vale opened the door and they stepped into the cabin. To begin with, all the furniture was covered by plastic sheets. These sheets had a thick layer of dust on them, making it clear that the place had not been used in ages. There was table with four chairs, fours beds and a kitchen. The kitchen did not have a refrigerator, nor did the cabins seems to have electricity.

There was, however, a wood stove for heating the place. And one of the drawers in the kitchen was loaded with candles. Next, Vale opened some of the cabinets. He found some canned foods and what appeared to be an alien version of Meals Ready to Eat – or MRE’s as they were called on Earth – along with plenty bottles of water.

“MRE’s ?” Cadman asked. “This looks like some kind of emergency stash.”

“Yes, all this stuff is meant to keep for a long time,” Vale began. “So, who do you think put it here ?”

“I don’t know,” Cadman pulled a sheet off one of the chairs. “But this looks like a normal chair to me, so they are probably not that different from us.” There was another door into a second room, Cadman opened it to reveal a small windowless bathroom. It had a toilet, a sink and a toilet. “And they have to use the bathroom. So there’s that.”

“Let’s take a look at the other cabin.”

They inspected the other cabin, which was identical to the first. That done, they made their way down the pier. It became wider after passing between the cabins. There were four two-person canoes tied to the pier on one side, while the other side was home to a large steam powered boat that was clearly designed to hold eight people.

“Everything is designed for eight,” Cadman asked. “Why ?”

“I have no…” And then he realized something. “This sector has been scouted by Order of the Other, right ? What do you want to bet that the crew complement of an Order scout ship is eight,” Vale paused. “These cabins are safe-houses.”

“But how does that help them survive in the long term ? They would need some way to signal for help and the cabins are not outfitted to do that. So how do they get off the planet ?”

“Well, they are right next to the obelisk.”

Vale looked back at the cabins and then the obelisk. Maybe the Order knew more about this alien structure then they did. ~Perhaps even how to use it.~ But if they did, the cabins did hold any clues on the details. He wondered if these were the only cabins on the planet. ~There’s only one way to find out.~ So he gestured towards the Puddle Jumper.

(Moon One – Grassy Field – Year 3, Day 50, 1235)

Vale and Cadman had left in the Puddle Jumper to look for more cabins, while Colson and Porter had continued their attempts to probe the obelisk. Alas, their instruments had not been able to penetrate the structure. Colson had taken one of the chairs from the cabins and was sitting on it, looking up at the obelisk.

“There has to be something we’re missing,” Colson said.

“We’ve tried every instrument we have,” Porter said. “And still….nothing.”

“Hmmm,” G’Yal began. “T’Zalo, can we come with something unscientific that might actually be useful in this situation ?”

“I can think of one thing,” T’Zalo said.

T’Zalo began knocking on the obelisk. ~I thought he was going to shoot it.~ Colson thought. ~But that could always be Plan C.~ T’Zalo and G’Yal knocked on one panel at a time. Suddenly, T’Zalo stopped and gestured towards them. As Colson and Porter walked up to the obelisk, he knocked again. The panel sounded hollow. Colson studied the panel and noticed two small circles in the lower corners. Going on a hunch, Colson pressed one of the circles. It moved.

“Stand back,” He said. “Just in case.”

He pushed both circles, which were actually buttons. There was a grinding noise and then the panel slid aside. Behind it was a nook with a control panel of some kind. But the writing on the buttons were not in the same language as the markings on the outside. Instead, they were a mix of Nakai, Ursini and Jynacko letters.

“Well, I think that we just found the Order’s emergency transmitter,” Colson said.

“Which raises the question, how did they install it ?” Porter asked.

“And why such a complicated set up ? If I was designing this, I would simply limit it to a big red button,” T’Zalo said. “I mean, all you would need is a single frequency distress call. This…” He gestured towards the controls. “…allows you to change the frequency, the destination and the message send. Why go through all this trouble for a distress beacon ?”

“Good questions,” Colson said. “Let’s see what answers we can find.”

“I’ll break out the translation notes,” Porter said. “If we can figure out how to work this thing, it should be able to give us those answers.”

Porter went to get the notes, while Colson grabbed one of their instruments. ~I hope the Colonel comes back soon, because maybe knowing more about those cabins will help us solve this.~ He also had a feeling that they would either get some answers, or end up with an even bigger puzzle.

(Spera  – Bridge – Year 3, Day 50, 1235)

While NR-1 and NR-3 were down on the moon, Hailey and Levine were using the sensors to take a closer look at the rest of the solar system. Hailey suspected that there might be more to this Zovaris training ground than what they map had told them. So they were running all the scans that they could. They had just finished a scan when there was a series of beeps.

“Cinara, what do we have ?” Hailey asked.

“I calibrated the sensors look for the metals the obelisk is made from. And we have a whole series of signatures in the asteroid belt.” The moon orbited a gas giant, which was the third planet in its solar system. Between the third planet and the second one was an asteroid belt. And there was a row of blue dots in that belt. “So, do you think we should take a closer look ?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hailey turned to Levine. “Set a course at full sub-light.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Levine said. “We should be there in three minutes.”

“So, are you thinking that the Zovaris started with asteroids and worked their way up to moons ?” Cinara asked.

“That’s the theory. And there is only one way to figure out if it is true.”

Cinara nodded. If they had gotten into this situation before reaching Freedom Prime, they would have had a major hiccup to overcome. Before, they had not had any spacesuits. But they had gotten no less then six suits from the Primians. They were not exactly the most advanced technology. ~But they are airtight and they should get the job done.~ Besides, why should Colonel Vale get all the fun ?