(Galaxy Destiny Five – Between Destiny and the Blue Light - 06.28.2021, 2130)
Twenty-one flashes broke the black of space. The first nineteen flashes faded to reveal an Ancient seed ship. But the twentieth flash was different, leaving Chaser behind. And when the final flash was over, Spera – for the first time in her existence – was together with the ship she had been build to serve as a back-up for. Then another Zovaris ship dropped out of subspace. This ship, however, was different from the first Zovaris vessel to arrive.
The first vessel had its marking written in blue and was about six-hundred meters long. Rush had also figured out that it had twenty-two decks. Ship number two, had the same shape as the first arrival. But the deck count didn’t make it past fifteen. The vessel was also only one-hundred and fifty meters long. And the markings were written in green. On Rush’s panel, however, the computer was saying that this was not where the differences ended.
While Rush and Perry were taking a closer look at the new arrivals, the sphere of blue light became brighter. Red bolts of energy danced across its surface. And then the sphere expanded. It swallowed Destiny, the Zovaris vessels and all the other ships.
(Pegasus, Atlantis – Deep Space Internet Facility – 06.28.2021, 2133)
All the telemetry screens went dark. ~Frak !~ Mackenzie thought, as he heard Doctor Zelenka gasp. He ignored the fact that the Commander-in-chief was in the room and sat down behind one of the consoles. ~Let’s see if I still have it.~ He had learned how to operate the consoles during his presidency. He rewound the telemetry and began taking a closer look at the last couple second.
“Doctor Zelenka, is this saying what I think it’s saying ?”
“Yes,” Zelenka began. “Chaser, Spera and nineteen Mark-One seed ships.”
“Only nineteen ?” Quinn asked. “I thought the Ancients build twenty-four.”
“They did, sir. But over the years, five vessels were destroyed.” Zelenka said. “And that includes the vessel where Colonel Telford made first contact with the Ursini.” Zelenka checked something. “The bad news is that I cannot tell if it was the Zovaris or the blue light that relocated the vessels. The good news is that I got a life-signs count from both manned vessels.”
“And ?” Quinn asked.
“Both counts came back as twelve. We didn’t lose anybody. But we are blind and deaf.”
“I have an idea about that,” Mackenzie said.
He explained what he had in mind and they got to work.
(Destiny – Bridge - 06.28.2021, 2132)
The ride had been far from smooth, but Destiny had made it to….well, wherever they were now…in one piece. Rush was looking at the sensors, but the range was limited by their new locale. He could see the two Zovaris vessels, which both holding position next to Destiny. The rest, however, was lost because of high energy particles that were blinding the sensors. Speaking of blinding, using their eyes to get a closer look was not an option either. The light from the bubble they were in, was so bright that Destiny had retracted the bridge to protect the crew.
“Tell me something, Rush,” Young said.
“I’ve finished my analysis of the second Zovaris vessel,” Rush began as he turned his chair to face Young. “You should see this,” He put the scan of the smaller vessel on one of the screens. “Besides the obvious differences, there is something wrong with it. The quantum signature doesn’t match.”
“The quantum what ?” Samuel Wallace said.
“Signature,” Eli began. “It’s a sort of fingerprint. Everything in a universe has the same signature and there is no way to change it.”
“So if you know how to detect it, it’s a quick and easy way to find something that is NOT from this universe,” Samuel paused. “Which means that we’re not looking at one version of the Zovaris, we’re looking at two. And just as we’re reaching the end of the journey. No way that is a coincidence.”
“He’s right,” Perry said.
“What about the signal ?” Scott said. “How does it fit in ?”
Rush turned back to his console and checked on the CMBR-signal. Destiny’s AI was putting the pieces together, but was still refusing to show the content of the message. As for the Zovaris, both versions were silent. He reported both to the rest of the crew, which made Young unhappy. But he knew that yelling wouldn’t get him anything.
“Is there any way we can get the sensors….” That was as far as Young got before the Wallaces’ console beeped. “What ?”
“We’ve got an incoming signal,” Eli said. “It’s Spera.”
“Let’s hear it,” Eli opened the channel. “Major Levine, report.”
=/\=We’re all still here, sir. Bit shaken, bit rattled, but no major injuries.=/\= Levine paused. =/\=One moment we were being swallowed the distortion and the next we were here. The range on our sensors is severely limited, but Doctor Peters and her team are working on a plan to get you some more data.=/\=
“What about your Stargate ? Is it working ?”
=/\=Yes, sir. But there is some weird stuff going on there.=/\=
“Let me guess, you have an impossible nine-chevron address in range ?”
=/\=Yes, we do. And both Destiny and Chaser’s Gate are on the display as well.=/\=
“Good. Standby for further orders, Young out.”
The channel closed, but soon afterwards the console beeped again. On Rush’s console, sections of their new location appeared. Spera’s crew had networked all the other friendly ships and placed them in a pattern around Destiny, where they served as boosters for the ship’s sensors. Although the network only covered a section of the place they were in, there was enough information for Rush to figure some things out.
“We’re in a bubble of some kind. And whatever it is, the barrier is blocking all communications with the outside universe. The signal source is still outside sensor range, but I know what direction it is in. We should be able to move closer using the sub-light drives.”
“Scott, set the course. Greer, ready the weapons, just in case. Eli, signal the fleet to follow.”
“Yes, sir,” Scott and Greer said in unison.
“One signal coming right up,” Eli said.
Young sat down in the command chair and soon Destiny and her fleet headed out.
(Pegasus, Atlantis – Deep Space Internet Facility – 06.28.2021, 2145)
Some of the displays were working again. While all the readings from the ships were still dead, they had managed to connect to the four Stargates that had been in range when Destiny and company had vanished. The Gates couldn’t tell them much, but they were still on-line. ~That’s a start.~ Mackenzie thought. It gave them a maximum diameter for whatever had just swallowed Destiny and the other vessels. The Gates were also still in the same place they had been when before the telemetry had been lost.
“Those Stargates are outside the area of effect,” Mackenzie said.
“And whatever is happening, it is not distorting the local gravity to a significant. If it was, the Gates would be moving,” Zelenka said. “Which would cause them to register as off-line.”
“What about that diagnostic Doctor Volker was running ?” Quinn asked.
“Yes, yes,” Zelenka said. “I can bring that up and see where Colonel Vale and his team went.”
Zelenka hit the proper keys and the diagnostic came up. The wormhole had only travelled a few million kilometers and the other end had been smack in the middle of the original anomaly. ~And something tells me that Colonel Young has already figured that out.~ Which probably meant that they were working on something already. Alas, there was nothing they could do about it. So they were back to watching and waiting.
(Destiny – Bridge - 06.28.2021, 2140)
Destiny and company had come to a halt. Their forward progress was blocked by a wall of purple lightning flashes. But instead of going from top to bottom, these bolts were moving from left to right and vice versa. The Zovaris vessels had followed behind the fleet. But that was not what was on Young’s mind. He was looking at the diagnostic Volker had run on the wormhole. Which had confirmed his hunch.
“So, Colonel Vale’s team is on the other side of that ?” Perry asked.
“Yes,” Young began. “And there is only way to get there.”
As if on cue, down in the Gate Room, the Stargate lit up and began rotating. Because her console was still tied into the Gate Room telemetry, Amanda Perry saw this. And so did Young. He waited until the Stargate finished connecting, then grabbed his radio and tried to contact Vale and his team.
=/\=We’re still here,=/\= Vale said. =/\=And you won’t believe where we are.=/\= There was a pause. =/\=We’re transmitting you a little something.=/\=
“Colonel, we have TWO incoming transmissions,” Eli said. “One through the Gate and one from the big alien ship.”
The three screens facing the command chair changed. ~No way.~ Eli thought. The screen showed the CMBR-signal. But the classic screen full of static they had gotten used to was changing. ~The message is decoding.~ After all this years, Destiny was about to give up her secret. And Eli got the feeling that this was only the beginning.
(Destiny – Gate Room – 06.28.2021, 2110)
Vale looked at his hastily assembled team. Carl Grogan, Lisa Park, Barnes and V’Lazo would go with him through the Gate. Meanwhile, Laura Cadman was gathering a team to secure the Gate Room. Just in case they encountered any nasty surprises on the other end of the wormhole. The Stargate finished dialing. ~Here we go.~
“Grogan, you have the rear,” Vale said.
“Yes, sir,” Grogan said.
With his MP-5 at the ready, Vale stepped through the puddle….into another Gate Room. ~Sons of Dis.~ The room was empty, with the lighting being low. He turned on the spot to study the room. The design was nothing like the Gate Room aboard Destiny. Instead, it was round with the Gate in the middle. There were two control consoles. Vale realized that one was the dialing computer, while the other was some version of the Kino console. Then the rest of his team came through.
“It’s another Destiny,” Park said. “How is that possible ?”
“I have no idea,” Vale said. “But let’s go see if we can find the Control Interface Room. It might have some of the answers.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Grogan said.
The team headed out. Unfortunately, it took them just under twenty minutes to find the Control Interface Room. This new, strange Destiny was about the same size as the ship they were familiar with. But the Control Interface Room was not located anywhere near the Gate Room. Instead, it was located at the very front of one of the higher decks. Which was why it took them a while to find it. Park had begun working on one of the consoles, but it took her a while to find the answers they needed.
“Colonel ?”
“What do you have ?”
“If this ship has a master code like our Destiny, it’s apparently been entered,” Park paused. “I can dial the Stargate from here.”
“What about the CMBR-signal ? Please, tell me that all this was not for nothing.” ~The Ancients going through all the fuss of building a whole fleet of ships, our two Expeditions and building two off-worlds bases.~ Not to mention all the hostiles they had dodged and fought the last couple of years. “There has to be something on it.”
“There is, it looks like some kind of password to unlock the message once it’s been assembled.”
“Dial the Gate.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
The ship – which Vale had nicknamed Destiny 1.0 in his head – dialed back to Destiny. As soon as the wormhole finished connecting, he and Young began a conversation.
“We’re still here. And you won’t believe where we are.” Vale gave Park a look and she transmitted the password to Destiny. “We’re transmitting you a little something.”
He did not get a reply, instead there was only silence. Young joined Park at her console and realized why. ~Lisa was right, the message is decoding.~ It was a safe bet that the crew on Destiny was watching the same thing that they were. ~Hence, the silence.~ Then the message finished decoding. Park hit several keys so that the message would appear on all the screens in the room. ~So that the entire team can see, good thinking there.~
“Here we go,” Vale said. “Time to see what the message is.”
Park pressed the play button and the message began….
(Destiny – Bridge - 06.28.2021, 2142)
Eli couldn’t believe what he was looking at. On the screen was a documentary….HIS documentary. Sort of, the details were different. The person making the recording was Human. He was talking about a problem with the life-support. Somebody called him Elhi. It was making his head spin.
~And somewhere, Ronald D. Moore and the rest of the Battlestar gang are shaking their fists at the air.~ Eli thought. He looked at the other people in the room. All of them were silent, trying to process this revelation. ~It’s a cycle.~ But how had it come about ? What was its goal ? And how had this other, older Destiny ended up that the very beginning of the universe ? Instead of answering questions, the message had created a laundry list of new ones. And then Eli remembered the hail from the Zovaris.
“Colonel, we’re still being hailed by the Zovaris.”
“Pause the message and open a channel.” Perry paused the message, while Eli opened the channel. “This Colonel Young, Commander of Destiny. We have no hostiles intentions towards you, please reply.”
There was tense silence as they waited for an answer. Then came what they had been hoping for. The voice that came over the channel sounded very human. But because it did not come with a picture, Young had no idea what a Zovaris looked like. ~Still the mysterious lot.~
=/\=This is Commander Ayaro of the science vessel Matumaini.=/\= The voice began. =/\=We come in peace, Colonel Young.=/\=
Young looked at Rush’s console. The Scottish scientist had translated the markings on the two Zovaris vessels. Both ships were called the Matumaini. It was the larger version – the one native to this universe – that was the source of the transmission. Before Young could reply, the sensors indicated that the barrier ahead of them was fading away. They could now see the other Destiny.
It was a blue cylinder with a bright light at the far end. On top of the cylinder was a pyramid not unlike the one they were inside right now. But the computer was able to locate some of the features their own Destiny had. ~The garden, the bridge, the Gate Room. It’s all there.~ That, however, was not his top priority. He turned his attention back to the conversation with Commander Ayaro.
“Commander Ayaro, do you know why that ship is out there ?”
=/\=Yes,=/\= The Commander of the Matumaini began. =/\= Yes, I do.=/\=
And with that, he began telling the story of the Zovaris.
(The Zovaris and the Ancients – A Tale of Two Civilizations)
Thousands of years ago, a race that would known as the Zovaris needed more habitable worlds. The reason why had not been included in story as it had been passed down over the years. To deal with their problems, the Zovaris travelled to a distant reach of space. And there, they began constructing things. First came the asteroids, which were followed by the moons.
Then they made several planets in solar systems that already existed. Some of this tale had been entered into Tau’ri history books by Colonel Vale and his crew. Finally, two thousand years ago, the Zovaris felt they were ready for their greatest creation. And thus, a star and the world that would one day be known as Eden was born.
But dozens of universes and millions of years away, there was another version of the race known as Zovaris. Existing before their brethren, this version were not as wise or patient as their counterparts. And when they were faced with the same problem as the others, they took another approach. Instead of practicing and doing their homework, they went straight to attempting to construct Eden and her star. And it had gone wrong. Horribly wrong…
Instead of creating a stable star and planet, their creation exploded in a burst of dimensional energy. Most people thought of the multi-verse as a deck of cards. But the Zovaris were told that they were actually planes of glass. And the explosion had been like a bullet shot through those planes. Each plane was left with a hole, with cracks radiating outward. This damage threatened the very existence of these damaged universes and the multi-verse itself. For if these universe had been lost, they would have created a void that would have consumed everything.
Fortunately for the multi-verse, the universe were the foolish Zovaris lived was also home to a version of the Ancients. They had detected the damage and build the first Destiny ever to repair the damage. But when it reached the hole, something happened. The bulk of the crew was send back the Ancient Homeworld using the Stargate, while a skeleton crew took the vessel through the hole and sealed it. But that event was so violent that it threw the ship back in time to the very beginning of the universe.
There, the skeleton crew carved the first signal out in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. Then, they learned to ascend and set about manipulating history to create the next Destiny. As for the Zovaris who had caused the disaster, they learned how to travel between the universes and spread far and wide. They told their brethren that took them in the tale, hoping to prevent history from repeating itself. And with the cycle having been begun, the tale ended.
(Destiny – Bridge - 06.28.2021, 2150)
Commander Ayaro had finished his story and then closed the channel. Young was sitting in the command chair, pondering if he could believe the Zovaris commander. He looked at Rush, who had turned his chair to face the command chair.
“I believe him,” Rush began. “There’s another Destiny out there, another Matumaini…I translated the markings on the smaller Zovaris ship…it’s the same ship. And there’s the message.”
“You mean my documentary,” Eli said, while frowning. “Well, sort of.”
“You know what this means,” Young said. “To continue the cycle, we’re going to have to send this ship through that hole.”
“With a crew,” Rush said. “A crew that is not coming back.”
“How big a crew are we talking about here ?” Scott asked.
“Three, maybe four.” Perry said. “Of course, that’s presuming we send the rest of the crew back at the last moment. The question is…who is going to stay behind and how are we going to select them ?”
Instead of answering, Young took out his radio. He ordered Cadman to dial the other Destiny and tell Vale to get his team back to the ship. Young knew that Perry was right. They would need to select a crew to finish the mission… ~And stay behind.~ …while the others would go home. As for the number of crewmembers, he figured that Perry’s estimate was right on the money. ~A pilot, somebody with medical training and somebody who can man the weapons console.~ He sat down in the command chair.
“I’ll ask for volunteers, then we’ll hold a lottery,” Young said.
“Colonel,” Scott said. “You should see this.”
The sensors showed that the bubble they were inside of, was now slowly dissolving. It was only now that Young realized something they had been missing. ~The universe is billions of years old. So how come this Destiny hasn’t literally aged into dust ?~ So, he asked exactly that question. It was Samuel Wallace who realized the answer.
“The other dimension,” He began. “We’ve been presuming that the other Destiny sank into that dimension. But what if it dove into other dimension like a submarine. And then used its FTL-Drive to somehow slow down time.”
“That is an excellent theory,” Perry said. “I might be able to prove it by taking a closer look at that other ship.”
“He has his moments,” Eli said with a smile.
“I’ll consider sending another team to that ship later,” Young said.
“There’s something more important,” Rush said. “At least, for now. The Zovaris’ story mentioned a hole, which I’m presuming is some kind of rift, that needs to be sealed. We need to find it.”
As if in on cue, there was a transmission from the Matumaini. It contained a set of coordinates. Rush calculated that it would take them about a week to reach the location. He reported this and they got to work on coming up with a plan.
(Destiny – Observation Lounge – 07.05.2021, 0900)
Eli leaned on the railing and looked ahead. They were in the vastness between two solar systems, yet Destiny was being touched a gently green light. The source of which was a rift about the size of the moon. It was glowing with green energy. ~So, this it, we’ve reached the end.~ They had spent the last week preparing for this moment. As Colonel Young had planned, they had asked for volunteers. There had been sixty-seven names on the list.
Corporal Tom Weber would be the pilot, Doctor Alexander Bennett was the medic and Private First Class John White would man the weapons console. Everybody else would go to Old Destiny, which would dial Earth. During the trip here, a skeleton crew including Amanda Perry had manned and examined the alternate Ancient vessel. They had learned two things.
The first thing was that Samuel Wallace’s theory had been right. She had also figured out how Destiny could recreate the dive and the time dilation effect. Normally, this kind of research would have taken decades to complete. But Old Destiny’s crew had left behind all their research. All she had needed, was to tweak the protocol for Destiny’s FTL-Drive. And she had not done the work alone. Brody, Volker, Park, Rush, Colson and both Wallaces had been there to help her.
The second thing they had discovered was that dialing Earth was not going to be as easy as they had hoped. Old Destiny was in rough shape. This meant that they would not use it to close the rift. They needed Destiny for that. Which meant that they couldn’t risk using the newer vessel for dialing Earth. But if they dialed Earth using Old Destiny, it was a safe bet that the vessel would be destroyed in the process. As for the other ships, Old Destiny’s condition made it impossible to connect it to any of them.
“Eli,” Ginn said as she came in. “It’s time to go.”
“Yeah,” Eli said.
The bulk of the crew had already relocated to Old Destiny. Besides the three crewmembers who would stay behind, there were only six people aboard the ship. Rush, the two Wallaces, Ginn, Matthew Scott and Young. Eli took Ginn’s hand and the two of them headed for the Gate Room. Samuel Wallace had refused to leave the ship without his son. ~Talk about irony.~ As they arrived, Rush was stepping through the puddle.
“Ready to go, Eli ?” He asked.
“Yes.”
They made their way to the Stargate. After all this time, they were finally heading back to Earth. And although he would never admit it, part of him would miss this ship and the people whom had called her home. ~Goodbye, beautiful.~ Then he and Ginn stepped through the puddle, leaving only Scott and Young aboard. The colonel turned to the lieutenant.
“Time to go, Lieutenant.”
“With all due respect, sir,” Scott said. “I was the first person to set foot on this ship. I’d like to be the last one to leave it.”
“Okay, Mel Gibson.”
Young stepped through the puddle. Scott made sure that his gear was secured and his weapon was ready. Then he gave the Gate Room one last look. He had noticed the look on Eli’s face before he had stepped through the Gate. And he knew Eli well enough to know what he had been thinking. ~Yeah, I’m going to miss her too.~
“Thank you,” He said, before stepping through the puddle.
The wormhole disengaged and seconds later, Destiny jumped into FTL. It was this jolt that woke Doctor Morrison. Despite Young’s strict orders not to, he had gotten drunk the night before. So he had overslept. Realizing what was about to happen, he ran for the Gate Room. But it was already too late. Destiny flew into the rift…
(Space – The Final Frontier - 07.05.2021, 0905)
Destiny flew into the rift. The tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum closed. And like all the times before, it send the vessel back to the beginning of the universe that was now its home. The event was far from subtle, sending radiation and light in all directions. Finally, the light faded and all that was left was an empty stretch of space.
Then the two versions of the Matumaini – which had been with the fleet for the entire thing – activated their hyperdrives and left. After that, flashes began to lit up space as the seed ships vanished. The last seed ship flashed out of sight and then Chaser was taken. Spera was the last ship to vanish, leaving Old Destiny all alone.
(Earth – Stargate Command, Control Room - 07.05.2021, 0910)
General Hank Landry and watched as the Fleet appeared in orbit of Earth. After the last flash, the Stargate lit up. General O’Neill, Richard Woolsey and whole bundle of IOA representatives were upstairs in the Briefing Room. President Quinn was the only Head of State present. O’Neill had not come along, having brought along Sergeant Walter Harriman. It was Harriman who was behind the controls.
“Incoming wormhole.”
“Open the iris.”
Harriman opened the iris. Landry made his way to the Gate Room, as the first Expedition members began arriving through the event horizon. He heard Harriman call for a medical team over the PA, just in case. Seconds later, Doctor Carolyn Lam and a team of medical personnel arrived. ~She was probably already preparing before Harriman made the call.~ Finally, Colonel Young and Colonel stepped through the Gate.
“Colonels, excellent work.”
“Yes, sir,” The two of them said in unison, which made Landry chuckle.
“So, now what ?” Young asked.
“Well…” O’Neill began as he walked in. “…First you’ll have to shake hands with a cranky old general and some blow-heart politicians. Then we’ll see about a schedule of debriefs and reassignments.”
“Who knows ?” Landry said. “Maybe we’ll even be able to sneak in a promotion or two.”
“There’s that. And we need to deal with all that information you send back.”
During the week it had taken to travel to the rift, Rush and Perry had set up a data stream that had send all of Old Destiny’s logs back to Earth and Atlantis over the DSI network. It had included the logs of the forty incarnations that had come before Old Destiny. The data would take decades, if not centuries to unravel and study. The Colonels followed the Generals out of the Gate Room. Their mission was over.
THE END
