SG Nova Roma, Chapter 3.18

18 – Going Back to Spera

(New Xivolo Prime – Alpha One Complex – Day 189,0010)

They were back at the entrance. And G’Yal was glad to see that everybody was still alive. Cinara and Samuel had been talking on the way back up, hatching a plan. Samuel had given them the codes to the acid machinery on FR-2. FR-1 was much more Earth-like, so the colony that was there didn’t have life-support. But Samuel had given them all the codes on record for FR-1, just in case. He had also given them a data drive with all the information the Empire had on the Builders, the race that had created the command ships and berserker drones. Finally, he had given them a key.

“What does that open ?” G’Yal asked.

“The rumor is that it opens a room in the basement of the palace,” Samuel began. “I have no idea if it exist, or what would be in there. Only the Emperor was allowed in there, not even the Inner Senate themselves could override that rule.”

“You think there is something valuable in there ?”

“Grandfather was one sharp cookie,” Cinara began. “He didn’t lock things away for no good reason.”

G’Yal nodded. ~Makes sense to me.~ Whatever was down there, it might be helpful for them. Samuel had been planning to go see what was in the room after Alpha One had been secured. But now, that would that place a lot sooner. He stepped into alien ship that Cinara had called a Puddle Jumper. He sat down next to Colonel Vale, who would be flying the vessel.

“This is impressive.”

“Yes, it is,” G’Yal said. “These Ancient fellows were a pretty bright bunch. They had to be, to build the Doorways.”

“They also made plenty of mistakes,” Vale said as he sat down in the pilot’s seat. “But that is another conversation for another time.”

Two seconds later, the Puddle Jumper took off and cloaked. Samuel saw that the guards at the outer fence did not appear to notice them as they passed over it. The trip to the Royal Palace was a short hop. Vale landed the Puddle Jumper and decloaked it. And the second jumper followed seconds later. The Palace Guard immediately surrounded both the Jumpers with their weapons at the ready. Samuel got up and walked out of the Jumper.

“Your highness ?” The ranking guard asked.

“You can stand down, Lieutenant,” Samuel said. “It’s a long story, but they are with me.” The guards slowly lowered their weapons. “And we’re here to get something from the basement.”

“Of course, sir.”

Colonel Vale and his people exiting from their ships. The guards went back to their posts, while Samuel lead the way to the main living room. He opened a heavy, wooden door and made his way down an ancient flight of stairs that was beyond it. At the bottom, they found the palace wine cellar. There was no wine in said cellar.

“Grandfather was not really into what you call wine,” Cinara began. “He was more a beer man. Anyway, grandmother decided to give all the wine away to the poor. Which is why the place is empty now.”

“Sounds like I would have liked your grandmother,” Vale said.

“She was a force of nature,” Samuel said.

Looking around the basement, Samuel spotted another flight of stairs that went down further. Vale told the others to stay in the wine cellar, just in case. So it was just Samuel, Vale and Cinara that headed down the second flight of stairs. This one led to a much larger room. The wine cellar had been lit by two electric bulbs suspended from the ceiling. But there was no electrical light down here. There were, however, several oil lamps and candles in holders attached to the walls. While Samuel set to lighting those, Vale turned on the light that came with his P-90 and Cinara took out a flashlight. The combined light revealed that they were in the catacombs.

Most of the tombs were the dusty. But there was one that was clean and clearly very new. Samuel sighed and put his hand on the tomb. ~Goodbye, father.~ Then he took a deep breath and stepped away. He looked around and spotted a third staircase, which was behind a fence door. ~I’ve never seen that before.~ Cinara took out the key and tried it on the door. There was a loud click and then some horrible creaking as the door opened.

“Shall we ?” She asked.

“Lead the way, dear niece.”

Cinara led the way down the staircase. It ended at another heavy wooden door. Cinara handed her flashlight to Samuel, who lit her as she unlocked the door. She opened it to find a large chamber. Looking around, Samuel found a light switch. ~There’s power down here ?~ He flicked it. For several seconds, nothing happening. But then he heard a soft humming as a generator engaged. And then lights began to come on, revealing the room.

“Wow,” Vale began. “This is amazing.”

The chamber was massive. There were bookshelves, shelves with samples in preservation liquid, pieces of alien technology – including what were clearly remains of berserker drones – and all sorts of objects. Samuel gasped as he looked around the room. Then he noticed a pair of glass doors. He opened them and found a balcony.

“Whoa !” He said. “This is the old palace.”

“The old palace ?” Vale said as he joined Samuel on the balcony. “Oh….”

The room where they had entered, was on the top floor of a three floor structure. From the balcony, they had a view of what had once been a garden. It was also crystal clear that the building had once been damaged and had been rebuild over an extended period of time. The reason it was crystal clear, was that the stonework was a patchwork of colors. With each color representing a different era of repair.

“Uncle !? Colonel !?” Cinara yelled. “You should see this.”

“What is it ?” Samuel asked as the two of them walked back into the room.

“Every single book in this room is a forbidden title,” Cinara said. “Unedited histories, biographies of people who opposed the Senate, science texts about alien flora and fauna. You name it, it’s here. And this cache, it’s huge.”

“Yes,” Samuel said. “It’s a chunk of the old palace.”

“I thought that was destroyed in a quake four-hundred years ago.”

“It looks like Yalock the First spun a story,” Samuel began. “A part of the old palace apparently sank in the quake, while the rest probably became part of the current palace. And if he had the area repaired and then began the collection….”

“….It would explain how he was able to foil the Senate’s plan,” Vale said. “If there is four hundred years of research on the berserker drones and time travel in here, I mean. But now that we’ve found it, what do we do with it ?”

The room lapsed into silence as the three of them thought about the answer to that question.

(Spera – Bridge – Day 210, 1701)

It had been three weeks – well, three Earth weeks – since they had returned from New Xivolo Prime. Thanks to the smugglers map and the New Asurans’ upgrades on Spera’s FTL-drive, they were approaching Beacon Alpha on schedule. And Lord Samuel had friends throughout the Empire, so getting all the supplies they needed had not been an issue either. In fact, Samuel’s friends had been giddy at a chance to stick i to the Senate. But now things were getting from complicated.

On Day 165, Nikita Aranov had figured that it would take them 47 days to cross Xivolo space. Which meant that they would leave Xivolo space on Day 212. But the math said that they would reach Beacon Alpha on Day 211. It would take Spera one Earth year to cross the galaxy she was in. Which was three-hundred and sixty-five days. And the chunk beyond Beacon Alpha was responsible for twenty-two times seven of those days. Or hundred-and forty four days. And three-hundred-and sixty-five minus hundred-and forty-four was two-hundred and eleven.

All of this meant that Beacon Alpha was just inside of Imperial Space. Cinara had been reading up on Destiny and her missions for the past three weeks. She was sitting at the science console, checking the readings on the local planets and Stargates. Feeling the need to stretch her legs, she got up and walked around the bridge.

“What are you thinking about ?” Sergeant T’Zalo said from Flight Control One.

“Doctor Palmer and Sergeant Curtis,” She began. “And Destiny’s AI. What if Destiny realized that it was in hostile space ? Based on the reports, they were locked out all the other planets in range. I checked and three of the planets in range had the lime needed for the air scrubbers. But only one did not have an Imperial presence.”

“Beacon Alpha,” T’Zalo said. “So when Curtis and Palmer went to another planet…”

“….They probably walked right into the Empire’s arms,” Grogan said from the weapons console. “Which explains why they didn’t reply when Eli tried to radio them through the Stargate.”

“I don’t even want to think what happened to them,” Cinara said. “They either became specimens to be studied or prisoners, and neither fate is pretty.”

“We don’t leave our people behind. And if they are still alive…,” Grogan paused. “Well, there is one way to find out. We’re going to have to go that planet. So…,” He hit several keys. “….what is the address ?”

“Based on the reports, my guess is Colony World R-6. It’s the nearest planet to Beacon Alpha and the only one that matches the description we have. Which means….” She checked Grogan’s display, which showed the map of Stargates. “…we have drop out FTL in about eight hours. And the window will probably be short.”

“I think we should have a conversation with Colonel Vale,” Cinara said.

“Yes, we should.”

Grogan activated his radio and contacted Vale.

(Spera – Gate Room – Day 211, 0255)

Cinara checked her weapon and looked at the dialing Stargate. The last time they had gone into Xivolo territory, having alien members on the team had helped. So Vale had ordered her to put together a composite team. The team consisted of Cinara, T’Zalo, G’Yal, Colonel Vale and Jennifer Hailey.

“So, what were you thinking when you picked the team ?” Hailey asked as she checked her own gear.

“Well, the Colonel told me to put aliens on the team. And G’Yal and T’Zalo are good guys,” Cinara began. “Added to that, you are the ranking scientist and the colonel is the ranking soldier. Now, I’m no expert on militaries, but I figure that the people with highest ranks are the best. Or, at least, that is how it’s supposed to work, right ?”

“Right,” Hailey said. “And that’s some good plotting there, Cinara.” It was at this point that the Gate finished dialing and the wormhole formed. “And here we go. Do you want to go first ?”

“If it’s okay with Colonel Vale,” Cinara said.

“Lead the way,” Vale said.

Cinara took a deep breath and then stepped through the Gate. To her surprise, it was morning on the planet. The planet was covered in a thick jungle, which she studied as she made her way down the ramp that came with the Stargate. By the time she reached the bottom, the rest of the team had come through the Gate. She looked around, but there were no signs of civilization. ~Okay, now what ?~ Before she could ask that question, there was a blinding light as they were teleported. When the light faded, they were in a round room. And surrounded by Xivolo soldiers.

“Not again,” Cinara said. “This is such a cliché !”

The soldiers prepared to fire their weapons.