28 – Galaxy Destiny Five
(Destiny – Mess Hall – 01.02.2021, 1208)
Destiny was now in Galaxy Destiny Five. The archeological team was still hammering away at the mystery of the Zovaris. Alas, they had been making very little progress. And the planet builders themselves had remained out of view. Chloe Armstrong, Cinara and Nikita Aranov were the archeologists, with Alec Colson being the team’s Engineering expert. Also on the team were Jennifer Hailey and Nicholas Rush, who served as science advisors. Finally, T’Zalo was the team pilot and Ronald Greer was in charge of team security. All eight of them were gathered in the Mess Hall as they planned their next set of missions.
“How are things going on the translation program ?” Chloe asked.
“We don’t have enough information to work with,” Hailey began. “If we had ever heard anybody speak this language, we could pull a page from Star Trek’s book and go universal translator.”
“Problem is, the Zovaris have been ignoring our signals,” Rush said.
During their passage through Destiny Four, they had attempted to contact the Zovaris eight times. And each time, they had not gotten a reply from the mysteriously planet builders. Before the conversation could continue, Rush’s radio came to life and Volker made a report. When they were done talking, Rush turned to the others.
“We have to go to the lab,” He said. “There’s been a…..development.”
The team made their way to the Research Lab, which was the Archeological team’s base. Rush made his way to one of the consoles and hit several buttons. The data stream appeared, but it was different than it had been before. ~It’s not really a stream anymore.~ Instead, it was a series of data blocks. The cosmic microwave background radiation signal appeared on a section of the screen.
“Destiny is putting the pieces together,” Hailey said.
“Already ?” Chloe asked. “No offense, but it’s only been a couple of years since we came aboard. And the universe is huge.”
“She’s got a point,” Cinara added. “Even if you take into consideration all the years before the Battle of Icarus Base, Destiny has only covered a tiny fraction of the universe. Is it me, or as we missing something ?”
“They’re not wrong, Doctor,” Hailey said, while looking at Rush.
“You’re right about that,” Rush said, after which there was a pause. “What if we are looking at one mystery, instead of two ?”
“You think that the Zovaris are somehow connected to the CMBR-signal ?” Aranov asked.
“It’s a possibility,” Rush said.
“Then let’s go over what we already have,” Cinara said.
Eli and Cinara manned two other consoles and the team got to work. Greer and T’Zalo exchanged looks and walked out of the room. Since they were not scientists, their wasn’t much for them to add. And it was pretty clear that the team was not going off-world for the foreseeable future. Greer went to the Garden to spend some time with Lisa Park, while T’Zalo headed for the bridge to report.
When he got there, he found Colonel Vale in the command chair. Much to his surprise, Colonel Young was behind the flight controls. Doctor Dale Volker was the scientist on duty and Sergeant Barnes was at the middle console. The aft consoles were empty.
“Doing some driving, sir ?”
“Yes,” Young began. “So, what are our resident eggheads up to ?”
“They’re going over their notes so far,” T’Zalo said. “The latest theory is that CMBR signal and the Zovaris are somehow connected. But the details are vague, so it will probably be a while before we get a report.”
“Okay, in the meantime, we’re sending a team to collect supplies on J2X-107,” Young said. “I want you to be on it.”
“Yes, sir.”
T’Zalo gave the Colonel a nod and headed for the Gate Room.
(Destiny – Observation Lounge – 01.21.2021, 1328)
It had been several weeks since work had begun on what Destiny’s crew were now calling Project Z-Two. Alas, this new approach had not broken open the mysteries she was supposed to solve yet. Nicholas Rush was in observation lounge, taking a break from the research. As he leaned on the railing, Colonel Vale came in.
“Colonel Vale,” Rush began. “I was expecting Colonel Young.”
“Colonel Young has his hands full helping Mister Woolsey, General O’Neill and Colonel Mitchell,” Vale said as he joined Rush at the railing. “President Quinn was inaugurated yesterday, as is tradition. So now he’s getting this briefing on the program. And he’s kind of freaking out,” He paused. “One of the perks of being second-in-command and not the big cheese, is that I don’t have attend said briefing.”
“Not a fan of politicians ?”
“I was born in the Roman Empire, what do you think ?”
“Good point,” Rush said.
“So, how are things going with Project Z-Two ?”
“We are still stuck,” Rush looked at him. “Unless you have some kind of magic solution.”
“Don’t look at me, I’m just a soldier from another time,” He paused. “I’ve read the briefing on the signal, but it’s all Chinese to me.”
“The saying is Greek.”
“You’re forgetting that I can read Greek,” Rush smiled at that. ~Of course he can, probably the ancient and current day version.~ The Scottish doctor thought. “And Latin.” It was at this point that Vale could see that there was some kind of idea forming in Rush’s head. “Doctor, why does it look like you have an idea ?”
“Because I have an idea. And I need your help,” Rush said.
“Okay, let’s hear it.”
Rush nodded and explained what he was thinking. As the Scottish doctor spoke, Vale got the impression that not only was the doctor thinking outside the box….~We have clearly reached the desperate state.~ But since he didn’t have any better ideas, he didn’t object and set to helping Rush with his plan.
(Destiny – Mess Hall – 01.22.2021, 0930)
The Mess Hall was full. So far, the scientists had been working on the CMBR signal. But they had not been making much progress. So Rush had decided to have the military personnel and aliens take a crack at it. ~Because maybe they can see something that the scientists have been missing.~ Vale thought as he entered the Mess Hall. ~And humans have their own ways of seeing the universe. But if this is truly a universal puzzle, it might require views from more than one place in the universe.~ So maybe Rush’s idea was not as desperate as Vale had thought it was at first.
“So, any ideas, Corporal Barnes ?”
“No, sir,” Barnes said.
Vale was sitting between Barnes and Varro, who was looking at the representation of the CMBR signal. It was still just static, despite Destiny’s attempt to fill in more of the pieces. The look on his face made it clear that he was not having any ideas either. Vale had read the briefing on the signal before coming here. Across from him, G’Yal was also looking at the readings.
“Okay, somebody sends out a signal at the start of the universe,” He began. “But it’s spread all over these frequencies and carved into the CMBR. And ever frequency had a certain range. Basically, a sphere in space.”
“Right, the higher the frequency, the bigger the sphere,” Vale said. “And only the highest frequencies made it to Ancient space to be detected. Which is why the Ancients couldn’t figure it out. And they build Destiny to gather more of the frequencies and figure it out. So now we have the basic premise.”
“The thing is...,” Varro began. “…Chloe and Cinara made a good point. Relatively speaking, we’ve only covered a fraction of the universe.” He paused. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
“You’ve been hanging around with Eli too long,” Barnes said, which got her a chuckle from everybody at the table. “But, seriously, what is our next move ?”
“Well….” Vale said. At first, he was about to say that he didn’t know. But then he had an idea. “No…could it be that simple ?”
“Colonel ?” Barnes said.
“We’ve been presuming that the signal source, whatever it is, has been stationary,” Vale said. “What if while Destiny has been moving to the signal source, the source has been moving towards Destiny ? How would that affect the math ?”
“A lot,” G’Yal began. “You don’t have to be a math genius to figure that out. It’s going to change the math a lot. And if the source is still transmitting, then Destiny would receive a lot of pieces of the puzzle at once. Which is exactly what has been happening. That is why the data stream began, that is why it has been changing.”
“Okay,” Vale said. “We have a theory, so what can we do to prove it ?”
“Let’s start by having Eli and Rush take a close look at the math,” Varro said.
“And then take it from there,” Vale said. “Varro, shall we ?” Varro nodded yes. “G’Yal, keep things going here while we’re out. The more ideas we can generate, the better.” ~Just in case it’s not that easy.~ “And remember, there are no stupid ideas in this whole situation. We need all the options we can get. Even the ones that don’t pan out.”
“Yes, sir,” G’Yal said.
Varro and Vale got up headed out, just as Camille Wray and Matthew Scott came in. They had been on the bridge – helping Adam Brody with a diagnostic on the shuttles - which was why they were late. The other tables were full, with the crewmembers busy discussing ideas, drawing out schematics and doing calculations. So Wray and Scott sat down where Vale and Varro had been.
“I thought you two weren’t coming,” G’Yal said.
“I wasn’t planning to,” Scott said.
“The colonel made it an order,” Wray added. “So, have you brewed up any ideas yet ?”
“Well…” Barnes began, before explaining Vale and Varro’s theory. “So, that’s what we have so far.”
“Sounds good to me,” Scott said. ~But it can’t be that simple, can it ?~ But – then again – wasn’t that the whole point of this Hail Mary of a meeting ? As they others continued talking, he noticed that Wray was working on something in her head. ~Only one way to find out.~ He leaned closer to him. “Camille ?”
“Sorry…I was thinking about something,” Wray said.
“Which was ?” G’Yal said.
“I’ve been reading Stargate Command and Atlantis mission reports to pass the time during the crossings,” Wray said. “And there’s something ticking in the back of my brain. I just can’t remember which exact report.”
“Hang on,” G’Yal reached under the table and grabbed a backpack, from which he took a laptop. He opened the laptop and turned it to face Wray. “Maybe the logs will jog your memory.”
“It’s worth a try,” Scott said.
Wray logged in and found the file access logs. Once a week, Stargate Command and Atlantis transmitted their latest report to Destiny, Spera, Chaser and the Epsilon Site. Most of the files Scott had read were new ones, but there were several older files. So they stood out. Then she spotted a small collection of files that rang a bell.
“I think I’ve found it,” Wray hit several keys and the reports appeared on the screen. “I was reading up on phase technology.” She turned the laptop so that the others could read the screen. “Of course, I’m no expert. This stuff makes my head hurt.”
The others browsed the files. The first file was about Daniel Jackson and a crystal skull. It also mentioned Jackson’s grandfather Nicholas Ballard and Lepton radiation. File number two told the tale of when Colonel Mitchell and Colonel Carter had ended up out of phase because of a device Merlin had used to make notes. It had recovered from a cave underneath Glastonbury Tor. Finally, there was the third file. This one was from the year that Jonas Quinn had been on SG-1. It was Scott who noticed that this one was different.
“The third one mentions lifeforms,” Scott said.
SG-1 had found a device that zapped people with a particle charge that created what then-Major Samantha Carter had called a bleed-through effect. It allowed them to see creatures from an alternate dimension. There had been a bit of an incident on Earth after that, but that was not what mattered now. Instead, he asked the question on his mind.
“So, how come the other two don’t ?”
“I don’t know,” G’Yal said.
“But nobody went there,” Barnes said.
“She’s right,” Scott said. “And the device from the SG-1 report was Ancient, just like the Glastonbury Tor device.”
“Hmmm…” G’Yal began. “Eli once told me that the universe is made out eleven dimensions. Like layers.” He paused. “So, let’s presume we’re in the outer layer. Which would be number eleven. And that these three dimensions are each one of the other ten.”
“Makes sense, because if Merlin knew about the Bleed-Through Device…” Barnes said.
“…Then he would have deliberately picked one of the empty dimensions.” Wray said.
“All of which is pretty funky,” Scott said. “But it doesn’t help us with the signal.”
“Maybe we’re asking the wrong question,” G’Yal said. “There’s life in this one dimension, so….how did it get there ?”
“Maybe that is the connection to the signal.” Wray said.
An idea formed in her head. She grabbed her radio and activated it to contact Rush and explain what she was thinking to him. ~It’s probably a long shot, but the worse that can happen, is that I’m wrong.~
(USS Prometheus – Science Lab - 02.15.2021, 0900)
Eli Wallace and Jennifer Hailey were using the Ancient Stones to visit Prometheus. There had been several useful suggestions after what was now nicknamed Operation Hail Mary. But it had taken several days to the math and research on them. In the end, however, they had found the breakthrough they had been hoping for. Which was why the two of them were using the stones to brief Bill Lee, Rodney McKay and Samantha Carter. ~Here we go.~ Eli thought as the three scientists came in.
“Colonel Carter,” Hailey said. “It’s good to see you
again, ma’am.”
“Colonel Hailey,” Carter said with a nod. “So, rumor has it that you and Eli have something for us.”
“Indeed we do,” Eli said. “Hi, Eli Wallace. So….euhm…..shall we ?”
“Well, this should at least be entertaining,” McKay said, his tone sarcastic.
The three of them sat down, while Eli picked a black marker and turned to a whiteboard he had set up earlier. Eli took a deep breath and then began explaining.
“Okay, so far, we’ve been presuming that the source of CMBR signal was, or still is, stationary. Colonel Vale suggested that maybe Destiny has been putting the pieces together so fast so recently is because the source has been moving towards the ship.”
“Really ?” McKay said. “The Roman living fossil figured this out ? I’m surprised he…”
“McKay !” Carter said, her tone was really annoyed. “Go ahead, Eli…”
“We started doing the math, which wasn’t lining up….” McKay gave Eli a look, but said nothing. “…Until we combined it with a suggestion from Camille. We believe that the source has ‘sunk’ for lack of a better word,” Eli grabbed a folder from a nearby table. “This is a mission report from SG-1.”
He handed the folder to Carter, who opened it and skimmed the file. “I remember this mission, it was while Jonas Quinn was on the team.”
“We believe that the lifeforms you saw during that incident, evolved from microscopic life that hitched a ride on the signal source,” Hailey said. “That’s why the other two dimensions we know about don’t have any.”
“That’s an awfully big leap, don’t you think ?” McKay said.
“Maybe not,” Lee said. “We don’t all that much about the dimension, but if the source settled into some kind of orbit…”
“Which is exactly what we are thinking,” Eli said as he drew two dots on the whiteboard. “So, the source is in its original position, doing its thing. Then it sinks. But the waves it transmitted before doing so are still out there,” Eli drew several waves between the two dots. “Those are the ones the Ancients detected and the pieces of the puzzle Destiny has been putting together.”
“Meanwhile, our source is seeding the dimension that is now its home,” Hailey said, while using a red marker to draw an ellipse with the two dots at the ends. “And the settling into its orbit. Now, if it is still transmitting, that signal now has to punch through several dimensional barriers.”
“That would dimmish the transmission range a lot,” Lee said. “But if Colonel Vale is right…”
“Which the math is saying he is, now that we’ve compensated for the dimensional issue…” Eli said.
“Then all we have to do, is compute an interception course,” Carter said.
“Easier said than done,” McKay said.
Eli grabbed a wiping block and cleared the board. Then he handed McKay, Lee and Carter one folder each. These contained copies of the math they had done so far. That done, they got to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment