SG Nova Roma, Chapter 3.13

13 – Aftermath

(Slave Dump – Doorway Base, Gate Room – Day 176, 1635)

Colonel Everett Young was standing on a ramp and overlooking organized chaos. After his stasis chamber had opened, he had been surprised to see David Telford standing outside. Telford had told him that they needed to evacuate Destiny. The ship’s Artificial Intelligence had apparently suffered some kind of psychotic break, turning the Ancient vessel into a death trap. At the same time, Destiny was facing an invasion by a hostile force and her FTL drive was not working. The depth of their trouble had become clear when several soldiers had attacked the area with the Stasis Chambers.

While Young had believed Telford, Doctor Nicholas Rush had not. Rush and Telford had history. The two of them had gotten into an argument, which had ended when Rush had been shot with a tranquilizer dart. After that, the military personnel had engaged the hostiles, while the civilians were evacuated through the Stargate. Now, both Destiny’s crew and Telford’s group were in a Gate Room. The only exception was Rush, who was still out cold and being carried away by two soldiers.

In the middle of the room, somebody was giving instructions and keeping things going. Young made his way down the ramp and recognized the officer as Laura Cadman. The collar of her uniform indicated that she was a Captain.

“Captain.”

“Colonel,” She said with a nod.

“So, where the hell are we ?”

“Slave Dump,” Cadman began. “It’s an friendly alien world.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe that ?”

“No,” A female voice said. It belonged to one of the aliens that had kidnapped Chloe Armstrong. Young readied his weapon, but did not fire. ~ How can I understand her ?~ “It’s my job to convince you. Especially after what the Central Authority did to Miss Armstrong,” She paused. “So, you’re going to shoot me or what ?”

“Okay.” He lowered his weapon. “But this had better be good.”

The alien nodded and led him out of the Gate Room.

(Spera – Bridge – Day 176, 1650)

Spera was parked at the very edge of the capital city, so it had taken Cinara a while to get there. She had entered the ship through the hatch that was normally used to deploy the communications relay and made her way up. ~It’s odd seeing her like this.~ The ship was largely powered down. She was also nearly empty, because the bulk of the crew was enjoying some down time on D-7. Nevertheless, there was an argument taking place on the bridge. Jennifer Hailey was standing at one of the Engineering consoles, while Major Levine was berating Colonel Vale.

“You lost Destiny !” Levine was saying.

“Did I miss something ?” Cinara said to Hailey.

“This is General O’Neill,” Hailey whispered. “He’s our commanding officer.”

“Ah, he’s using the Ancient body switch-a-roo thingies,” She paused. “What ? Nikita told me about them.” ~And he probably didn’t ask permission either.~ Levine-slash-O’Neill hadn’t noticed their little conversation and was still berating Colonel Vale.

“And you decided to tell me this little detail AFTER the assault !?”

“Well, I figured that you might not approve the mission if I told you,” Vale began. “And I’m kind of allergic to getting shot.”

“Oh, really ?” O’Neill said, while making a face.

“Are all your generals like this ?” Cinara asked.

“No, General O’Neill is one of a kind.” Hailey said.

“Glad to hear that, otherwise Earth wouldn’t have any armed forces left.” ~If he goes around shooting his own people.~

“And what exactly are you going to do now ?” O’Neill was saying. “Considering that you lost Destiny and stranded her crew on an alien planet ! Not to mention the little hiccup of Spera being pinned down on D-7.”

“Actually,” Cinara said as she stepped forward. ~Time to rescue the Colonel.~ He had, after all, rescued her from the Senate by allowing her to stay aboard. “the Colonel asked me to come here so that we discuss that.”

“And you are ?”

“Princess Cinara, heir to the throne of the Xivolo Empire. So, I know a thing or two about local space,” She paused. “The Royal Family and the Senate don’t really like one another. It’s a long story.”

“Ah,” O’Neill began. “So, what have you got ?”

Cinara was afraid that her rescue was about to blow up in her face. But then a fact popped into her head. So she nodded and began explaining about the Police Impound Lot and how it was filled with illegal goods from all over the cluster. Including, if they got lucky, a confiscated cloaking device or two…

(Slave Dump – Corridor – Day 176, 1830)

Gy’Has had finished bringing Colonel Young up to speed on as much as she could. And the Colonel was not very happy about their current situation. ~I can’t say I blame him.~ Had things been the other way around, she would have been furious with Telford. ~And there’s the issue of Destiny’s mission.~ A message carved into the fabric of the universe itself, who knows what that could mean ? For security reason, that piece of information was only known to the Slave Dump Senate. So she had not discussed that with him yet.

“So, you’re saying that we’re stranded on a world that will become uninhabitable in three years ?” Young said.

“Yes,” Gy’Has said. “But now that the Door….I mean, Stargate is working, we have options we did not have before.”

“Any other good news ?”

“We shot Rush. Speaking of which….” They reached City’s main clinic. “…I think should be awake by now.”

They entered the main clinic and found that Rush was indeed awake. And he was even more unhappy then Young. ~It’s a good thing that Major Hailey briefed me on some of the people before the raid.~

“You had no right to take us off that ship !”

“We had every right to take you off that ship,” Gy’Has said. “General O’Neill authorized the mission. And even if he had not, we still would have taken you. Our first priority was the safety of the people on that ship.” The last bit of her statement made Young smile for some reason.

“You have no idea what that ships means !”

“Yes, we do. Colonel Telford briefed us on the message in the Cosmic Background Radiation,” Gy’Has said. “And it still wasn’t worth it. Staying on Destiny would have been a death sentence. Where would your precious mission have been then ? If you were all dead ? Well…”

Rush gave her a frustrated look, but said nothing. Before the conversation could continue, there was an announcement over the city’s Public Announcement system. It said that she and Colonel Young were needed at the Doorway Base. So they headed out. Rush hopped off his bed and followed them.

(Slave Dump – Doorway Base, Gate Room – Day 176, 1845)

The Gate Room was nearly empty. Destiny’s former crew was settling into quarters in the capital. They were basic, but there were enough of them for everybody. And when Colonel Young and Gy’Has entered the Gate Room, there were only two people there….Captain Cadman and Lieutenant Matthew Scott.

“Sir,” Scott began. “there’s been a development.”

“We intercepted a distress call from Destiny.” Cadman said.

Cadman led the way into the Computer Room and activated the computer. She hit several keys and one of the screen came to life. It showed a human in a uniform that looked like it was from the forties. Based on what he could see in the behind the man, Young figured that the distress call was coming from the Control Interface Room. It was hard to make out what the man was saying, because there was gunfire in the background. 

=/\=This is Lieutenant Patterson of the Vicerant…=/\= The signal was interrupted, causing the image to go to static. =/\=….Destiny has entered obsessed mode. All the controls are dead, the bridge is off…=/\= The picture went to static again. =/\= We have tried dialing the Stargate, to no avail…=/\= Loud gunfire swallowed some of what the man was saying. =/\= The troops have begun turning on one another. We don’t have enough supplies. And the stasis chambers…=/\= The transmission ended.

“Well, that settles that then.” Rush said.

The room lapsed into silence. They had lost Destiny and they all knew it.