(Nova Roma – Gate Room – 9 November 2016, 1559)
Vale was in the Gate Room. Or some place that looked like the Gate Room. He looked around the room and spotted a clock that shouldn’t be there. It was mounted on one of the panels in the control room. The time appeared to be frozen at 1559.
“You left us behind.” A male voice said.
He turned to see Pavel Guskov standing there. The doctor was bleeding from a nasty cut on his forehead – but he did not notice - which was odd. Because he had died of a broken neck. The man was also way to pale. ~Like the dead man he is.~
“There was no way to take the bodies along, doctor.”
“That’s a lie !” Guskov snapped. “You simply didn’t care ! Take a couple sips of wine and move on !”
More of the dead entered the room They were all wounded and bleeding. (He spotted Mehra and Leyton amongst them.) The crowd yelled at him, blaming him of their deaths. He backed away from them, until he bumped into something. He turned and saw his father.
“You disappointed me.”
His heart sank. He tried to say something, anything. But his body refused to cooperate. His father turned to mist and sank away through the floor. The crowd kept yelling at him. He put his hands over his ears and screamed…
(Planet 7 – Warehouse – 16 November 2016, 0417)
…before waking up on a bunk. They had come out of the wormhole on Planet 7 as planned. The Stargate on this planet was on a plaza in the middle of the capital city. It had taken the local security force virtually no time to respond to their arrival. They had quickly surrounded the Expedition. Fortunately, Gerhard had also responded quickly. He had ordered all of the them locked up in a warehouse at the edge of town. In the days since, they had managed to turn the place into a makeshift home.
Vale sat up and sighed. The nightmares had begun the night after they had arrived. And there was more one. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed. There was a knock at the door. He got up and opened it. Doctor Porter was standing there. Her room was next to his.
“Are you okay, Colonel ?”
“Yeah, I’m….”
“Having nightmares ?” She smiled at him. “Look, I understand if you don’t want to talk about it…”
“Come on in.” He stepped aside and she walked into the room. Vale closed the door behind her. “Look, I would be lying if I said I totally fine. The ambush….” He sighed. “I should have seen it coming.”
“How ? There was no way to know that some of the New Asuran tech had survived.” She paused. “I….euhm…..I overheard what General O’Neill said to you before I came in. And he was right. The only people responsible for that happened are the Nakai.”
“My mind knows that. But my heart….” He shook his head. “I lost seventy people.”
“WE lost seventy people.” Porter said. “We all knew what we were signing up for when we joined this mission. And that’s true for both the military personnel and the civilians.” She paused. “And, like General O’Neill said, the IOA authorized the jump. It was THEIR call to move the mission forward.”
Vale was about to say something, but he realized that she was right. He gestured towards a small table with two chairs. His room had been a supply closet when they had gotten here. The New Asurans had apparently forgotten about this warehouse and the stuff inside. So they had made good use of those supplies as well. And those had included several bunks, some chairs and a couple of tables. Porter sat down, while Vale sat across her.
“You know, it’s at moments like this that I miss my old job.”
“What exactly did you do in the legions ?”
“Actually, I had just made Centurion when I was frozen.” Vale leaned back. “But to answer your question, I took troops that were fresh out of training and kept them alive long enough to gather experience. One, two…sometimes, three years. Then they would transfer to other units. If I had not been….you know….I would have been busy whipping seventy-two soldiers into veterans.”
“What was it like ? I mean, I know about the Empire from history books. But you actually lived it in.”
“Advanced and brutal at the same time.” Vale paused. “I’m not going to pretend it was perfect. I did some pretty nasty stuff in the legions. And no, you don’t want to know the details. We had very different laws, there were social classes and slaves. It was…a world as alien as anything you can find by means of the Gate.”
“I see.” She paused. “So, what happens now ? To the Expedition, I mean ?”
“The New Asuran Senate is holding a vote today. Apparently, they are considering sending us back to Earth.” They both knew what that meant. If the New Asurans made that call, it was all over. “Which is not making sleeping any easier.”
“Well, I’m going to give it another shot. Good night, Colonel.”
“Yeah, good idea. See you later.” The two of them got up and headed for the door. “The vote is at 0800, so we should know at 0805. I’ll make an announcement after they tell me.”
Porter gave him a nod and left. Vale closed the door behind her, then went back to his bunk. This was going to a long, long night.
(Planet One – New Asuran Senate – 16 November 2016, 0800)
The Senate building was located in the middle of the capital city of Planet One. It was one of the oldest buildings in the whole Empire. And that meant it was not exactly the roomiest of places. The Senate Chamber had a horseshoe table with eighteen chairs – each planet had one Senator – and a small stand for the public. The stand had filled in record time. And now the Senators were filing in. They took their seats and the Chairman of the Senate entered. His name was Victor. He looked like a sixty-year old Human with grey hair and brown eyes. Victor took a seat inside the horseshoe.
“We are here today to vote on returning the Tau’ri to their homeworld, Earth.” He began. “So, let us vote.”
Each senator had three buttons in front of him or her. A red one to present no, an orange one to abstain and a green one for yes. They were connected to lights in front of them. Because he was the Chairman, Victor did not get to vote. So he simply watched as all the green lights lit up. After the last vote was in, he stood up and looked at the stands.
“The Senate has voted. And it has been decided…”
“….that today is the day we prove Oberoth right.” Another voice said.
There were hushed comments and exchanged glances. The source of the voice came walked into the room. The voice belonged to a male Asuran who appeared like he was in his thirties, with brown hair that was cut short and brown eyes. He had causcasian skin and a stubble like he had not shaved for three days. His name was Yorick and he was the first New Asuran ever. Yorick had led the original rebellion back on the Asuran Homeworld. He had been the Chairman of the Senate until a hundred years ago. Then he had vanished for the public eye. Since then, there had been stories and rumors. The fact that he was here, meant that he was taking this vote extremely serious.
“During the Rebellion, I had a conversation with Oberoth. He said we were fools and that we would never equal them or the Ancients.” Yorick began. “And he was right. I have heard about the people from Earth and how their political leaders – the IOA – are narrow-minded, bureaucratic and xenophobic. And, as we have learned today, so are we. We came here to build a new, better civilization….” He walked into the middle of the chamber and looked at the crowd.
“And we have failed. We like to judge the humans. We like to judge the Ancients and the Asurans. But the truth is that we are just as selfish and arrogant. Oh yes, we can pat ourselves on the back for not killing the Humans here. Bravo.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Who cares that we are condemning the people aboard Destiny !? Let’s play it safe. After all, that’s how we got here. That how we got off Asuras. That’s how we build this civilization !” He looked at the Senators, his eyes spitting contempt and fire.
“No, we have not stagnated as a race ! We are colonizing planet after planet !” The New Asurans had not settled a new planet in three hundred years. “We are making new, grand discoveries and figuring out more and more about the universe…about existence itself…every day ! Congratulations, well done !”
And with that said, he marched out of the room. The second he was gone, the room erupted into chaotic shouting and discussion.
(Planet 7 – Warehouse – 16 November 2016, 1018)
The whole Expedition team was gathered in the biggest room in the warehouse. There was no news from the Senate yet. They had received a paper copy of Yorick’s speech, along with a note that said the Senate was locked in a heated debate. And that the original vote had been declared invalid. There were also large crowds of protestors on the street. But nobody knew if these were people who in favor of sending them to Earth, or against. So there was nothing for them to do, except sit and wait.
“This is ridiculous.” Hailey said. “They could be in debate for days.”
“That’s politics for you.” Aranov said. “The leaders waste time and the people suffer.”
“That’s very Russian of you, Nikita.”
“I prefer to call it realistic, Jennifer.” He smiled at her. “Now, does anybody have….” That was as far as he got before the sound of a door opening stopped him. “Never mind.”
A male Asuran walked into the room. He was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt.
“Greetings, I am Yorick.” He said. “And yes, I am that Yorick. I need to talk to Lieutenant-Colonel Vale. The senate has made a decision, but the situation is….complicated.”
“That would be me.” Vale said.
“Can we talk somewhere in private ?”
“Of course.” Vale said. “Please, follow me.”
Vale led Yorick to his room. He had to admit that the founder of the New Asurans was not what he had expected. In his mind, Yorick had been an elderly fat man with a beard. They reached his room and he sat down at the table. Yorick sat across from him. Then he took a folder from under his arm – Vale had not even noticed he had it – and opened it. Inside of it was what appeared to be a map of a part of Destiny’s course. The map began at the Nakai Home Galaxy and ended at a galaxy marked Destiny Galaxy Two.
“Did they tell you that I have not been out in public for a hundred years ?”
“Yes, but nobody told me why. So….”
“Well, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. And why this situation is complicated…” He paused. “You know that we tried to reach Destiny. And that our ships had to make stops along the way. You also know that the Nakai have been chasing that ship through galaxy after galaxy. Now, our stops do not have any buildings. They were just places where we paused. The Nakai, however, need food, water and air…”
“…and to guard and cultivate those resources. So the Nakai stops would have to be manned. Because without these….” He paused. “...small colonies it would be impossible to replace any ships lost during the chase. Which means there would have to colonies all over this map.” He pointed to the map. “So ?”
“That’s what these blue dots are.” There was a chain of blue dots on the map. “Now, these colonies are old and far removed from Nakai Home Space and thus the central authority of their race. And this had made the Nakai living on these worlds…different. They call Destiny the Destroyer.”
“The Destroyer ? Really ?”
“Before that ship passed through their galaxy, the Nakai had a culture. But then they became obsessed with capturing that ship, its secrets and its technology. They lost…so such. And the Nakai on these colonies began to realize that. They feel that there is more to life than just…chasing a billion year old Ancient rust bucket. So they began exploring the galaxies they were in, running experiments and developing technology that had nothing to do with reaching Destiny, and creating things like poetry and paintings. And so much more. But the folks in Home Space….”
“….they did not appreciate this, did they ?”
“No, they did not. But the Nakai already knew about us. So they asked us for help.” Yorick paused. “You see, there are forty-two planets in this galaxy that are suitable for permanent inhabitation. After our terraforming program, that is. But only eighteen of those had neutronium.” Vale nodded in understanding. Neutronium was an element needed to make Asurans. “They wanted to relocate to the other planets. And we, in our selfishness, said no. I was so furious that I stood done as Chairman of the Senate and went into exile. The people demanded that the senate stand down, which they did. But over time, the new Senators became just as narrow minded as the old.”
“And how do the Ursini fit into this story ? How did they know to ride to our rescue ?” He paused. “And where did the Nakai motherships that backed up the upgraded one come from ?”
“Well, officially, we did not have any relations with the Nakai Colonists. Off the record, however, I kept some backchannels open between them and me. And I also kept some connections to our political leadership. But the key thing I did, was arrange the building of an off-the-grid DSI-network facility.”
“You have a DSI Facility ?”
“Yes. But the Senate does not know.” He learned forward. “The official one was dismantled after we gave up on trying to dial the ninth chevron. Anyway, I used the telemetry as an early warning system. Because, like you said, the Nakai in Home Space where not happy with the colonists and their philosophy. They have tried three times to wipe them out. The first time, I send the colonists coordinates to worlds where they could relocate. When the fleet arrived, they found only the original outposts. And they couldn’t destroy those, because they needed them for the chase. The second time, the Home Space Fleet came in large numbers and tried to find the relocated colonists. But we provided them with cloaking technology.” He paused.
“Attempt three is where the Ursini enter the picture. We had just discovered them and their war with the berserker drones was not going well. I managed to negotiate an alliance between the colonists and the Ursini. The Ursini needed a place to life that was out of range of the drones, while the Nakai needed reinforcements against the Home Space Fleet.”
“So the Ursini did not go extinct, they just left ?”
“Yes, they resettled on the Nakai worlds.” Yorick began. “Their ships were enough to make the Home Space Fleet cancel their plans. The things is, we made the Home Space Nakai think that the Ursini had ten times more ships then they actually have. And now they have caught on….”
“So…they are going to try again ?”
“Yes, and soon. We’re talking weeks here.” Yorick scratched his face. “That’s what I meant when I said it was complicated. It’s not just about Colonel Young’s crew, Colonel Telford’s team or even your crew anymore. We’re talking about twenty-five million Nakai and thirteen million Ursini spread over 82 planets here. And they are going to get massacred unless we come up with a plan.”
“Okay, no pressure.”
But they both knew that this was no going to be an easy task.
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