SG Nova Roma, Chapter 4.08

8 – H2Z-118

(H2Z-118 – Hill - Year 3, Day 12, 0930)

Scott looked through his electronic binoculars and studied the view. Ever since they had moved from Destiny to Chaser, they had gotten access to better equipment. The binoculars were one piece of gear on that list. They had found a river and several interesting plants, so their official mission had been a success. But then they had spotted what looked an awful lot like a settlement of some kind. So now they were taking a closer look at that from the top of a hill next to the river.

“Doesn’t look very big,” Scott said. “Fifteen, maybe twenty houses. No obvious defenses, so its probably not a military installation.”

He handed the binoculars to Rush, who studied the settlement as well. Because it was daytime, there was no easy to tell if the settlement had electricity. And there were no powerlines either, nor any obvious power sources. ~No windmills, no solar panels, and no reactors.~ He turned to Rush.

“So, what do you think ?”

“I think we are looking at a backwater town in the middle nowhere,” Rush said.

“Think we can go down there and talk to the natives ?”

“I don’t see any signs of movement,” Rush began. “And even if there were people there, we don’t have the translation matrix necessary to do so.”

“So we might end up facing torches and pitchforks,” James said. “Great, just great.”

Scott realized that Rush was right. But they also needed more information about the locals and their species. So he lead the team towards the town. What Scott and the rest of the team didn’t know was that they themselves were also being watched. Low Commander Dr-28-A had been peering through his own powered binoculars from a nearby hill.

So far, the aliens had gathered several plants and send a considerable amount of water through the Alien Ring. The brass would not be happy when he submitted his report. They had tried to downplay the Alien Rings, but once word got out that these devices were some kind of portal, they would have a riot on their hands. As for the aliens, they were now headed towards the farming town of Gamox. He gestured for his troops to follow them. They needed to know more about these aliens.

(Chaser – Youngs Quarters – Year 3, Day 12, 0935)

Young was sitting in his quarters, reading reports. One of the perks of the transfer from Chaser to Destiny, was that his quarters on the new ship had several improvements. To begin with, the pillows on Destiny had been terrible. His current bed came with much better pillow. Another improvement was the office section of his quarters.

The Primians had made an L-shaped wooden desk for him by hands. It came with six drawers and looked like it had been made on Earth in the seventeenth century. There was a special place for him to put his laptop – another gift from the Primians – that kept it from sliding and three chairs. Two were simple chairs for visitors and one was a luxurious chair for the colonel. Young had just finished a report when there was a knock at his door.

“Enter.”

The door opened and Ginn came in.

“We finished the decontamination on the water we brought back from the planet,” She said. “Greer said that the water tank is maxed out.” She handed him a folder. “And TJ reported that they found some very interesting plants. The botanical team should have plenty of work to do once they bring them back.”

“Once they bring them back ? They’re still off-world ?”

“They found a settlement.”

Young put the folder down and grabbed his radio from one of the drawers. He and Ginn headed for the Gate Room, where Volker and Barnes were still manning the two stations. Young told Barnes to dial the Gate, which she did. As soon as the wormhole finished forming, the Colonel called Scott.

=/\=Scott here.=/\=

“Lieutenant, what are you doing ?”

=/\=We found a settlement, sir. No signs of military presence, so far.=/\=

“Lieutenant, that is not the mission,” Young said. “Return to….”

That was as far as Young got before gunshots erupted over the radio. Then the channel went dead.

(H2Z-118 – Dirt Road - Year 3, Day 12, 0942)

Matthew Scott was on the ground as bullets whizzed over his head. It turned out that they had walked into a farming town. The kind where the locals carried sewn-off shotguns and hunting rifles. And they were not fond of outsiders, which was why they were now shooting. But they were – ironically – not shooting at Scott and his people. Instead, they were in a skirmish with an alien military patrol that had apparently been following the team.

So now Scott and his team were on the ground, while the two sides fought it out. Scott and James could join in, but they had no idea which side to support. Not to mention, they could end up starting a war between the Alliance and this new species. Suddenly, the shooting began to die down. The patrol had retreated from the engagement. Scott looked around and slowly got to his feet. The aliens appeared to be reptilian and – more importantly – were not hostile towards Scott and his people.

The largest off the aliens appeared to be the leader. He seemed to give instructions to the other, who went back into their houses. Next, he gestured towards a square in the middle of the village. Scott knew that Young had told them to return, but he didn’t want to ruin the goodwill he had with these people. Not to mention the fact that there was still a military patrol out there. So Scott led the way deeper into the village. The square was a circle with a well in the middle. It was at this point that his radio came to life.

=/\=Young to Scott.=/\=

“Scott here.”

=/\=Where the hell are you ? I gave you an order to return to the ship, Lieutenant.=/\=

“Yes, sir. But we just made contact with the natives, sir,” Scott said.

=/\=Contact ? It sounded more like a firefight to me.=/\=

=/\=That was my fault, Commander.=/\= An unknown voice said. =/\=We got into a little scrap with the military boys.=/\= Scott looked around to see the alien leader speaking to some kind of communications device. Apparently, it included a translation circuit of some kind. The voice was surprisingly soft and didn’t fit with the alien’s appearance. =/\=They needed to be reminded of the rules.=/\=

=/\=Who is this ?=/\=

=/\=This is Ga-25-H. I am the leader of the village of Pal.=/\= The leader said. =/\=I promise your people are safe in this village. If you do not believe me, feel free to send more of your people.=/\=

There was a moment of silence, then Young spoke up. =/\=Scott, be careful. I’ll be there as soon as possible.=/\=

“Yes, sir.”

Scott led his team into the village. He got the feeling that they were walking into a powder keg. ~There is something going on here.~ And that they were about to learn a lot about this species. He just hoped that they would be able to return to Chaser to tell the rest of the crew all about it.

(H2Z-118 – Dry Creek Bed - Year 3, Day 12, 0947)

Dr-28-A and his patrol were a dry creek bed. His patrol had chased off by the people of the village, which he had realized was the village of Pal and not Gamox. It turned out that Gamox was farther to the north. Dr-28-A had botched the identification, which was why he was now cursing himself. On the bright side, while three of his soldiers had been wounded, none of them had been killed. He stopped cursing and took out his wireless communicator. It did not take long to ask for a medical team.

That done, he reached into his pocket and took out a small book. The book was the sector atlas. It had maps of the region and notes about key features. He looked up the entry for Pal and read it. ~Well, that explains why they opened fire on us.~ It also suggested that the aliens visit to Pal might get rather interesting. So he would wait for the medical team and then hold this position. ~Maybe I can still salvage this mission.~ For now, however, it was simply a waiting game.

(H2Z-118 –Hill- Year 3, Day 12, 0955)

Young had gathered a second team and taken it through the Gate. Besides himself, the team consisted of Greer, Varro and Airman Dunning. Now the team was laying on the same hill where Scott had spotted the village to begin with. Young was looking through a pair of electronic binoculars. He studied the village, before spotting a dry creek bed between them and it. Then he had seen the aliens inside said creek bed. They had been well hidden. And it was clear that these aliens were some kind of military unit.

~Even if I didn’t know about the firefight.~ Young thought. This was because the aliens were wearing some kind of uniform. He also saw that they were carrying some kind of firearms. ~The game is afoot.~ They would have to steer clear of the unit in the dry creek bed and try to approaching the town from the other side. The question that kept playing in his mind was…do they know that we are watching them ? And where the aliens watching back ? Either way, it was a waiting game for now.

SG Nova Roma, Chapter 4.07

 7 – Moon One

(Moon One – Grassy Field – Year 3, Day 50, 1215)

T’Zalo and G’Yal stood at the foot at the obelisk and looked up. ~Whoa.~ G’Yal thought as he studied the alien structure. It was 500 feet high, with writing on all four sides. Porter and Colson were already setting up instruments to study it. It was at time like this that G’Yal wished that he had better science skills. To him, it was simply a big stone structure. But it was crystal clear that there was more to this construction.

“Me too,” T’Zalo said.

“Make that three,” Vale said.

“For the record,” G’Yal began. “What are we talking about here ?”

“The look on your face, it was pretty clear that you were wishing you had better science skills,” Vale said. “And yes, I know how to read Nakai facial expressions. And Ursini ones too,” It had taken Vale some time, but he had figured out how to read the faces of his alien crewmembers a while ago. ~Not that I care about the alien part anymore.~ He had stopped doing so a long time ago.

“That’s why you get paid the big bucks, boss,” T’Zalo said.

“Wait, we get paid ?” G’Yal said with a smile.

Vale snickered and left them the two team members to discuss things amongst themselves. He decided not remind them that the IOA and Stargate Command paid everybody at the Delta Site, Epsilon Site and both starships in the program. For the Human crewmembers, the money either went to family members or people designated by the person whose name was on the check.

Both G’Yal and T’Zalo knew that the alien crewmembers got paid as well. But because they couldn’t spend the money – since they were millions of lightyears away from Earth – they had authorized Stargate Command to create a charity called Hope and Freedom. Hope and Freedom helped refugees and homeless people. Vale approached Porter and Colson, who were trying to get more information on the obelisk and its inner workings.

“So, what are the instruments saying ?”

“So far, nothing much,” Colson said. “This is one stubborn piece of alien technology.”

“Yeah, we were expecting as much,” Vale said. ~This things is not going to reveal its secrets easily.~

Vale looked at the screen that came with the instrument that Colson had just set up. As Colson had said, it was not telling them that much. But Vale had read enough SGC reports to know that alien technology tended to block scans. And that circuits were usually well hidden. Leaving Hailey and Colson to do their thing, he walked around the obelisk.

But this did not tell him much either. So he looked around to see if there were any other structures. That was when he noticed two cabins that flanked a pier. These were clearly not build by the Zovaris. So, Vale decided to take a closer look. And he was not alone, because Laura Cadman had the same idea. She had told her team to stay at the obelisk to guard the rest of NR-1.

“Colonel ?”

“Let’s take a closer look at these.”

Vale opened the door and they stepped into the cabin. To begin with, all the furniture was covered by plastic sheets. These sheets had a thick layer of dust on them, making it clear that the place had not been used in ages. There was table with four chairs, fours beds and a kitchen. The kitchen did not have a refrigerator, nor did the cabins seems to have electricity.

There was, however, a wood stove for heating the place. And one of the drawers in the kitchen was loaded with candles. Next, Vale opened some of the cabinets. He found some canned foods and what appeared to be an alien version of Meals Ready to Eat – or MRE’s as they were called on Earth – along with plenty bottles of water.

“MRE’s ?” Cadman asked. “This looks like some kind of emergency stash.”

“Yes, all this stuff is meant to keep for a long time,” Vale began. “So, who do you think put it here ?”

“I don’t know,” Cadman pulled a sheet off one of the chairs. “But this looks like a normal chair to me, so they are probably not that different from us.” There was another door into a second room, Cadman opened it to reveal a small windowless bathroom. It had a toilet, a sink and a toilet. “And they have to use the bathroom. So there’s that.”

“Let’s take a look at the other cabin.”

They inspected the other cabin, which was identical to the first. That done, they made their way down the pier. It became wider after passing between the cabins. There were four two-person canoes tied to the pier on one side, while the other side was home to a large steam powered boat that was clearly designed to hold eight people.

“Everything is designed for eight,” Cadman asked. “Why ?”

“I have no…” And then he realized something. “This sector has been scouted by Order of the Other, right ? What do you want to bet that the crew complement of an Order scout ship is eight,” Vale paused. “These cabins are safe-houses.”

“But how does that help them survive in the long term ? They would need some way to signal for help and the cabins are not outfitted to do that. So how do they get off the planet ?”

“Well, they are right next to the obelisk.”

Vale looked back at the cabins and then the obelisk. Maybe the Order knew more about this alien structure then they did. ~Perhaps even how to use it.~ But if they did, the cabins did hold any clues on the details. He wondered if these were the only cabins on the planet. ~There’s only one way to find out.~ So he gestured towards the Puddle Jumper.

(Moon One – Grassy Field – Year 3, Day 50, 1235)

Vale and Cadman had left in the Puddle Jumper to look for more cabins, while Colson and Porter had continued their attempts to probe the obelisk. Alas, their instruments had not been able to penetrate the structure. Colson had taken one of the chairs from the cabins and was sitting on it, looking up at the obelisk.

“There has to be something we’re missing,” Colson said.

“We’ve tried every instrument we have,” Porter said. “And still….nothing.”

“Hmmm,” G’Yal began. “T’Zalo, can we come with something unscientific that might actually be useful in this situation ?”

“I can think of one thing,” T’Zalo said.

T’Zalo began knocking on the obelisk. ~I thought he was going to shoot it.~ Colson thought. ~But that could always be Plan C.~ T’Zalo and G’Yal knocked on one panel at a time. Suddenly, T’Zalo stopped and gestured towards them. As Colson and Porter walked up to the obelisk, he knocked again. The panel sounded hollow. Colson studied the panel and noticed two small circles in the lower corners. Going on a hunch, Colson pressed one of the circles. It moved.

“Stand back,” He said. “Just in case.”

He pushed both circles, which were actually buttons. There was a grinding noise and then the panel slid aside. Behind it was a nook with a control panel of some kind. But the writing on the buttons were not in the same language as the markings on the outside. Instead, they were a mix of Nakai, Ursini and Jynacko letters.

“Well, I think that we just found the Order’s emergency transmitter,” Colson said.

“Which raises the question, how did they install it ?” Porter asked.

“And why such a complicated set up ? If I was designing this, I would simply limit it to a big red button,” T’Zalo said. “I mean, all you would need is a single frequency distress call. This…” He gestured towards the controls. “…allows you to change the frequency, the destination and the message send. Why go through all this trouble for a distress beacon ?”

“Good questions,” Colson said. “Let’s see what answers we can find.”

“I’ll break out the translation notes,” Porter said. “If we can figure out how to work this thing, it should be able to give us those answers.”

Porter went to get the notes, while Colson grabbed one of their instruments. ~I hope the Colonel comes back soon, because maybe knowing more about those cabins will help us solve this.~ He also had a feeling that they would either get some answers, or end up with an even bigger puzzle.

(Spera  – Bridge – Year 3, Day 50, 1235)

While NR-1 and NR-3 were down on the moon, Hailey and Levine were using the sensors to take a closer look at the rest of the solar system. Hailey suspected that there might be more to this Zovaris training ground than what they map had told them. So they were running all the scans that they could. They had just finished a scan when there was a series of beeps.

“Cinara, what do we have ?” Hailey asked.

“I calibrated the sensors look for the metals the obelisk is made from. And we have a whole series of signatures in the asteroid belt.” The moon orbited a gas giant, which was the third planet in its solar system. Between the third planet and the second one was an asteroid belt. And there was a row of blue dots in that belt. “So, do you think we should take a closer look ?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hailey turned to Levine. “Set a course at full sub-light.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Levine said. “We should be there in three minutes.”

“So, are you thinking that the Zovaris started with asteroids and worked their way up to moons ?” Cinara asked.

“That’s the theory. And there is only one way to figure out if it is true.”

Cinara nodded. If they had gotten into this situation before reaching Freedom Prime, they would have had a major hiccup to overcome. Before, they had not had any spacesuits. But they had gotten no less then six suits from the Primians. They were not exactly the most advanced technology. ~But they are airtight and they should get the job done.~ Besides, why should Colonel Vale get all the fun ?

SG Nova Roma, Chapter 4.06

 6 – Bits and Pieces

(Epsilon Site – Science Lab 1 – Year 3, Day 10, 1605)

Spera had left on schedule. After receiving a report from Chaser, she had set course for Sector 3325. As soon as they had jumped to FTL, Telford had been asked to come to Science Lab One. The New Asurans had been building a piece of technology there. And it had just been completed.

“What do we have here ?”

“A time machine,” Frank – the only New Asurans still on the base – said, “Sort of.”

“What do you mean ?”

“This machine will create a temporal passage, but it will be tiny,” Frank paused to press some buttons. “We will use it to send several nanites back in time, to Destiny.” He pressed more buttons. “Colonel Vale already gave us a message to program into them.” Frank handed Telford a note. “So, what do you think ?”

“Fixed it. You’d be surprised what you can do with alien nanites and a time machine. And yeah, it’s cheating. But who cares ? Lieutenant-Colonel Marc Vale.”

“You know that Vale is a full bird Colonel now ?”

“He is now, but if everything goes according to plan….”

“Right,” Telford nodded. “Fire it up.”

Frank engaged the machine. Telford already knew how this would end, because these were the nanites that would rescue Eli. They would then help Ginn and Amanda Perry survived, before becoming Ben. ~The weirdness that comes with the Stargate Program.~ But that was part of why he had joined in the first place. Telford smiled and watched Frank do his thing.

(Spera – Science Lab 2 – Year 3, Day 10, 1610)

Vale walked into Science Lab Two. Before this lab had been installed, Science Lab One had mainly been Nikita Aranov, Alison Porter and Jennifer Hailey’s digs. It had also been used a lot by Alec Colson, Cinara and Xander Henderson. The new lab had an archeological work station and an engineering one. There were also two general work stations that could be used by everybody.

Aranov and Cinara were working at the archeological station, while Colson and Henderson were at the Engineering station. The two other stations were being used other members of the Science staff.

“How are the new digs, Nikita ?”

“Waiting for stuff to analyze,” Aranov began. “We left all our samples and puzzle pieces behind at the Epsilon Site.”

“Well, we’re on our way to Sector 3325. If Varro and Eli’s hunch is right and the Zovaris did use that area to practice, we’ll have plenty of research to do.”

“I hope so,” Cinara began. “In the meantime, we have been testing the equipment. And everything is ready to go.”

“Good,” Vale nodded. “It will take us forty days to get there.”

“Is that with our without any stops along the way ?”

“The new and improved hydroponics bay will provide us with plenty of food. And the water tanks are loaded to capacity, so we should have enough supplies for a couple of weeks.”

Cinara nodded and then Vale left the Science Lab. As he did, he pondered the rest of Young’s report. Besides the theory, the colonel had also reported that Chaser was approaching inhabited space. And that these ships did not belong to any species they had seen before. Young had estimated that they were mere hours away from entering alien space. ~So there’s a good chance all Hell is about to break loose.~ So Vale headed for the bridge to see if these new aliens were friend of foe.

(Chaser – Bridge – Year 3, Day 10, 1805)

Chaser was approaching the alien ships. The rear section was a cylinder containing five sub-light engines, which were arranged in the same formation as they were found on a dice. It was connected to a sphere that served as the forward section. Two pylons – one to starboard and one to port – jutted out from the sphere and ended at a cigar shaped engine. The pylons went down at a forty-five degree angle and were long enough so that the engines were the lowest part of the vessel.

“FTL-Drives ?” Lieutenant Matthew Scott asked.

“Probably,” Dale Volker began. “Positioning them like that would keep any radiation leaks away from the crew.”

“Okay.”

Scott nodded and added that to his notes. They knew where the engines were, what was the front was and where the inhabited section probably was located. But, so far, they had no signs of weapons or defenses. Nor had they seen the ships move. ~They’re just sitting in orbit.~ Which meant that they had no idea just how fast these ships were.

“Here we go, people,” Young said. “Varro, how are we looking on weapons ?”

“On standby,” Varro said.

They sailed past the first alien ships. Scott and Varro both kept watching their new company. But the ships didn’t move as they headed deeper into their space. Then the sensors began to feed back readings from the planets they were passing. Between Varro and Scott, Lisa Park was studying these readings.

“Colonel, these planets have cities,” She said. “We’re detecting power signatures and life-signs.”

“Thank you,” Young said, before turning to Scott. “Are those ships moving ?”

“No, sir,” Scott said.

Young looked at the displays, but the alien ships weren’t giving them any clues about their owners. Chaser kept heading deeper into their space. As they did so, the ships did not move. But – hidden behind an advanced cloak – a scout ship was launched from the surface of one of the planets. A smaller version of the vessels that Scott and Varro had scanned, it was home to only two crewmembers.

The aliens had seen Destiny pass weeks before. But because it was empty, it had not been labeled a threat. The arrival of this second vessel, however, had rattled the planetary officials. So the scout had orders to follow the second alien vessel. Which was exactly what it did.

(Spera – Jumper Bay – Year 3, Day 50, 1207)

NR-1 was sitting in the front of the Jumper, while NR-3 was in the back. Vale was behind the controls. Because none of the moons had Stargates, the Jumper was the only way to get down to them. Sitting behind Vale, T’Zalo was slightly jealous. But the Ancient vessel refused to take orders from people who were not Ancient or Human.

“Here we go, people.”

“I wish I could fly one of these.” T’Zalo said.

“The New Asurans are working on it,” Porter began. “So you might be able to do so soon. And we all know you have the skills to fly this beauty.”

T’Zalo smiled at her. The Jumper flew out of the bay and headed for the moon. It was a small moon, which appeared to be two large ice caps that was separated by an equatorial zone. This zone appeared to more friendly to flora and fauna. Porter was sitting next to Vale and used the controls there and a her laptop to start gathering more detailed information. There was a beep and a map appeared of the temperate zone. A blue dot indicated there was something there.

“Is that an obelisk like the one on Eden ?” G’Yal asked.

“It looks like an obelisk, but much smaller than the one on Eden,” Porter said. “I recommend we land as close as we can, boss. Because if I’m reading this right, it’s on an island in a swamp. There’s a good chance it’s surrounded by quicksand.”

“Okay,” Vale said. “I’ll park her right next to the obelisk.”

The Jumper dove into the atmosphere. T’Zalo got a feeling that this would be a very interesting mission.

(Chaser – Mess Hall – Year 3, Day 12, 0754)

It had been more then a day since they had entered alien space. But they had not learned anything about this new species. All the alien ships they had encountered had been near planets. Rush and Eli believed that they were guarding the alien colonies. Young was sitting in the mess hall, eating breakfast. Which was when he realized that they were about to enter the next stage of this little dance. Because they needed to send a team through the Gate to restock on water. ~How will our alien friends react to that ?~ There was only one way to find out.

Which was why Lieutenant Scott had gathered a team two tables over. Besides him, the team had three other members. Doctor Nicholas Rush wanted to go on the mission, in case they found any alien technology. Lieutenant Vanessa James was the security for the mission and Tamara Johansson wanted to see if there any medicinal plants. The upgraded search filters had been doing well so far, so Young figured that the chances of them finding something useful were pretty good.

They finished breakfast and headed for the Gate Room. Corporal Barnes was behind the dialing computer, while Dale Volker was behind the Kino telemetry console. Volker had a Kino at the ready.

“Dial her up, Corporal,” Young said.

“Yes, sir.”

Barnes selected the address and the Gate began dialing. As soon as the wormhole opened, Volker send the Kino through. It showed them a grassland under an orange sky. The readings also showed that the atmosphere was the same as on Earth. Young gave Scott a look and the team stepped through the Gate. Then the Stargate deactivated.

“Stay here, in case this goes wrong,” Young said.

“Yes, sir,” Barnes said.

“We’ll hold down the fort,” Volker added.

As Young headed for the bridge, he wondered how long it would be before they would get some answers. What he didn’t know, was that behind Chaser, the alien scout ship had just decloaked. It had detected the wormhole and traced its course. The vessel had shut down the cloak to divert the power to its hyperdrive. It appeared on Chaser’s sensors for a moment, but then jumped into subspace and headed for the planet.

(Prime Hive – Fleet Headquarters – Year 3, Day 12, 0805)

Supreme Commander Ha-55-Z was reading the report on the second alien vessel. Ha-55-Z was the leader of the Fourth Space Fleet, which Scout Ship 417 – the vessel that had been following the alien ship – had been part of. But then the alien vessel had projected a major subspace distortion, which had baffled the crew of the scout. Ha-55-Z, however, had access to classified information that they did not. ~Rank has its privileges.~

His race called themselves the Hal’Iry. While they were a reptilian species – which procreated by laying eggs – their society was organized more like a beehive. The males were common, while females were rare and pulled the strings. Had a human seen them, they would have described them as an upright Komodo dragon. However, there were two major differences. The first was their eyes, which were feline. And they lacked the long tongue that species had. Instead, they had a normal human tongue.

Ha-55-Z put away the report and took out another folder. Throughout Hal’Iry space, they had found large alien rings of unknown origin and purpose. But there were plenty of theories on what they were for. And one of these theories was that they were some kind of advanced transportation system. ~Time to put that theory to the test.~ Scout ship 417 had already set course to follow the distortion, but he thought that was not enough. Officially, ground forces were not under the command of the Fourth Space Fleet. But he had been in command of the Fleet long enough to have built up friends in the right places.

He checked the coordinates, then opened a channel to Rk-19-B. 19-B was a Middle Commander in the ground forces of the planet where the subspace distortion had been headed. He would be able to send a group of soldiers to the area where the planet’s ring was located. ~And take it from there.~ Ha-55-Z activated the communications unit build into his desk and opened a channel.