Part 3: Farscape The Lost Warrior

[NeilGartner]

Summary: At the SGC, John Crichton has wormhole on the brains. Major Carter is not all together stable. Daniel and Chiana are making out like two rabbits and Senator Kinsey drops by for a visit. Oh! And Commander Cain and Aeryn must stop a Cylon invasion…. (Farscape/Stargate/Battlestar Galactica crossover)


Chapter One: Earthbound

Through the transponder implanted on the back of his neck, Crais was always linked with Talyn, making both Sebacean and Leviathan gunship one. This allowed Crais to know Talyn’s complete status in any given moment and to give commands more quickly. By design, it was supposed to be very efficient. In reality, giving orders to a sometimes very aggressive warship was not always easy. Talyn had a mind and a will of his own and he did whatever he pleased, but thankfully the gunship could be persuaded, especially when he was in a good mood.

As Captain Crais approached the command area, he felt a sudden and unexpectedly new sensation from Talyn. Bewildered, Crais didn’t know what to make of it at first. Talyn was… the closest he could come to describe it was with, that the Leviathan was purring.

Curious, he hurried towards command to investigate when a sound emanating from the opened doors reached his ears. Crais smiled, realizing what was probably pleasing Talyn so much.

He heard Athena singing.

Crais stopped just at the door leading into command to watch the Colonial singing a gentle melody as she worked at a console station. Never before in his life would Crais imagine himself being so strongly attracted to a non-Sebacean. His time being around Crichton and the others opened his eyes. He was grateful that Athena decided to stay on and be his First Officer. The Leviathan almost took an instant liking to the Human and ever since, Talyn had become more agreeable to follow orders. The only other person here that was probably just as happy if not more so than Crais was Talyn himself.

Athena stopped singing when she turned her head and saw Crais watching her. She blushed, finally realizing that she had an audience. “I’m sorry, Captain. I didn’t mean to breakout into a song…”

“Do not apologize,” Crais said, stepping into command now. “Talyn enjoyed hearing you sing and in fact, so did I. Talyn asked me if you could do it more often.”

Athena now smiled sheepishly before, saying aloud so the Leviathan could hear her too.

“Nothing would please me more.”

“Athena,” Crais started slowly, choosing his words with care. “There has been something that I have been wishing to discuss with you but I have been waiting for the right time for you to feel comfortable. There’s…”

Crais eyes abruptly darted upward, as if he heard some distant alarm. “Talyn has detected a Peacekeeper coded signal.”

Immediately, Crais went to a nearby console, while Athena manned hers.

“Can Talyn get a fix?”

For the last several days, Talyn had been guarding the Colonial fleet’s rear flank, making sure nothing comes up from behind and to monitor transmission traffic in the Uncharted Territories of the war between the Peacekeepers and the nearly defeated Goa’uld.

“It originated in Scarran space,” Crais said. “Most likely from a Peacekeeper spy probe.”

“Can Talyn decode the transmission?”

Crais smiled at Athena. “Talyn was also designed to be a intelligence gathering vessel and he already has broken its encryption. Talyn, display the transmission on main monitor.”

Talyn's main monitor came to life and the Colonial and Sebacean Captain watched the screen in silence at first. Their curious expressions turned to utter dread and sheer panic at what they saw.

“Lords of Kobol,” Athena breathed in fright at the imagines playing before her eyes. “We’ve got to warn the fleet!”

A shocked Crais was quick to agree before ordering aloud. “Talyn, plot an immediate course to the Galactica! We need to show this to Adama in person.”

Sensing the urgency in their voices, the mighty Leviathan obeyed without hesitation.

***

“Will someone please tell me what the hell happened to my son and his sudden need to draw alien graffiti?!”

Jack Crichton paced angrily about Hammond’s office. Staring at General Hammond mostly, while looking to Colonel O’Neill, Major Carter, Doctor Frasier, Daniel and Chiana searching for any possible explanation to his son’s bewildering condition.

“He’s not in any danger,” Doc. Frasier explained, trying to reassure John’s father. “From my experience with what happened to Colonel O’Neill, I believe your son has alien information downloaded into his brain. Seeing those Ancient written texts in Daniel’s work area must have triggered a reaction.”

Jack Crichton looked confused and turned to O’Neill who simply shrugged his shoulders saying. “Apparently, John’s Ancients and our Ancients are one and the same who built the Stargates long ago. One world we visited, the Ancients left some alien device that zapped their version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in my head when I got too close to it. Afterwards, it caused me to do some weird things like reprogramming the entire Stargate computer and to build an alien power generator… You know, things I would love do in my spare time. For a while, I was a Super Carter.”

“But he will be okay?” Jack asked, still worried.

“This doesn’t look anywhere near the scale that Colonel O’Neill went through,” Doc. Frasier suggested. “The Colonel felt the urge to do all of those things like an itch that needed to be scratched. We have Teal’c and Lt. Hailey with John right now to keep an eye on him and perhaps once your son finishes whatever he’s doing, he should be fine.”

“Just in case, I’m sending SG-12 to contact the Asgard,” Hammond added. “They were able to help Colonel O’Neill and they should be able to help your son if needed…”

“No!” Jack Crichton suddenly snapped angrily. “Aliens did this to him and I don’t want any more near him!”

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence after the outburst when Major Carter stepped forward next to Jack Crichton, facing the General, saying with a detectable underlining of sarcasm.

“Sir, John’s father has made his feelings quite clear. I suggest that myself, Teal’c and Chiana and any other alien on base remain away from his son.”

Jack turned to her, surprised. He completely forgot who was standing in the room with him. “That’s not what I… I didn’t mean…”

“Mean what?” Jolinar now briskly spoke through Carter, interrupting him. “You said that you didn’t want any more aliens near him. It couldn’t be clearer.”

Silently, Jack stared at Jolinar before looking back to see Chiana behind him. The Nebari had her eyes cast down at the floor, looking very hurt. Daniel was by her side glaring at him with a supportive arm about the Nebari’s slender shoulders.

O’Neill also watched but took more note of Carter’s behaviour before Jolinar took over. Indeed, there was a profound change in her demeanour. Before, Carter always paid close attention to the new recruits on the base and helped them out from time to time, especially with the likes of Lt. Hailey. Since after her run in with Scorpius, Carter had been acting more like a mother hen, looking out for everyone. She had been keeping a close eye on John Crichton and even helping out with Chiana. In fact, Carter became a big sister of sorts to the Nebari, teaching her things about how women on Earth work and live. Daniel was more than appreciative with Carter’s assistance in looking after Chiana. Like it or not, the young curious Nebari was at times more than a handful for any one person to take.

This arrangement also proved a little scary at times too seeing how chummy the two women had become. O’Neill could swear that the ‘new’ Carter and Chiana were almost operating on the same wavelength. Like whenever they saw or heard something even remotely funny, they both laugh and smile exactly at the same time!

Jack Crichton looked back to Jolinar and became ashamed of himself, realizing that he’d crossed the line.

“I apologize for what I just said, I am sorry.” He looked back to Chiana and approached her the Nebari looked up with her tentative dark eyes.

“Forgive me, what I said was in anger,” Jack pleaded softly.

Chiana shrugged her shoulders. “It’s okay, you are his dad and have a right to be concerned.”

“No, it is a poor excuse for what I said,” Jack said. “It was thoughtless and cruel. I am truly sorry.”

With that, Jack turned to face General Hammond. “If these Asgards can help my son, then please General, call them.”

***

“This is most confusing, Crichton,” Teal’c said as he struggled to grasp the rules of this strange game. “How can paper beat rock?”

Leaning against the table, John Crichton smiled at the Jaffa warrior. It felt a lot like when he taught D’Argo the game the first time years before. He finally had his fill of writing down those wormhole equations and decided to chat with Teal’c and Hailey. Much to Crichton’s surprise, Teal’c knew nothing about Rock, Paper, Scissors, so Crichton took it upon himself to do something about it.

“Trust me on this, paper wraps rock, so it wins.”

“I still do not understand,” Teal’c, said, still unconvinced. “If scissors can cut paper, then why is rock unable to smash paper?”

Hailey laughed as she watched Crichton nearly throw his hands up in frustration.

“Just work with me Teal’c and have a little faith.” It ‘was’ almost like teaching D’Argo all over again, Crichton thought.

“John!”

Jack Crichton walked into the room to check on his son with Doc. Frasier, General Hammond, O’Neill, Daniel, Chiana and Carter close behind. John looked up at his father and the group smiling.

“Hey, dad.”

“How are you feeling?” Jack said cautiously but grateful that his son was looking a bit more cheerful and not scribbling madly some alien text on a pad of paper or on a wall for that matter.

“Beyond a hand cramp in my writing marathon, I feel like I’ve got part of the weight of the world off my shoulders.” John said in relief.

Doc. Frasier stepped next to Jack to check his son. “You have no headaches or blurry vision?”

John pulled back a little but with the table behind him, he couldn’t move far to escape the SGC doctor. He had been poked and prodded enough times in the Uncharted Territories to not come back to Earth and get more of the same.

“I’m fine, honest, okay?” He turned to O’Neill and General Hammond. “Is she always like this?”

“Yeah,” O’Neil replied with a smirk. “Around here, she’s everyone’s second mother and unless you want to get into trouble, it would be best to do as you’re told or risk being grounded for life.”

John couldn’t help but to burst out laughing while O’Neill’s comment quickly earned him a withering look from Doctor Frasier.

“Ah, Jolly Sam,” John said reaching behind and handed Carter a large writing pad covered with alien equations. “I have a gift for you. From me to the people of Earth.”

Sam’s eyes bulged out as she took the 100-page notebook, leafing through it eyeing nearly endless lines of strange alien mathematical numbers that nearly filled the entire pad.

“My, God…” She whispered. “Is this all of it?”

“No,” John said. “There is more but I’m tired and I’ll go at it tomorrow and see if I can get the rest of it in order.”

Carter was astonished. “In order? And there’s MORE?!”

John nodded, pointing to his head. “I’ve got the entire Wormhole for Dummies Guide right up here the pages are out of order but writing it down helps.”

Daniel moved closer to Carter, looking over the alien figures. “Anyway, it’s going to take us a while to decipher this into something… Well, more understandable.”

“Can I help?” Chiana asked, moving next to Daniel and Carter.

“In fact you can,” Daniel smiled to her. “If you can learn to speak and read English in just a few days, I’m sure your talent can help us to translate it.”

The Nebari grinned happily, grateful to contribute something and show she could earn her keep here.

“That’s nice folks,” John said, “but I could use a bite to eat, not to mention that I’m still trying to get my coffee intake back up to normal after a four year dry spell in the UT.”

Carter handed the wormhole equation off to Daniel and said to John, “Sure, and the first round is on me.”

All together, they started to leave and move out into the corridor. Just leading ahead of the group, John Crichton felt much better, despite all that happened to him over the last few days. The loss of Aeryn still weighed heavily on his mind but the pain was becoming bearable day by day. On the upside, he was home with his dad, also amongst good friends. He also finally unlocked the secrets of wormholes and the Colonials were due to show up tomorrow morning and he was looking forward to seeing Adama and the others again.

Nothing could ruin this day.

Rounding a corner they came face to face with a group of men dressed in dress suits, not military uniforms. Alarm bells went off in Crichton’s head… This can’t be good.

They looked too much like lawyers….

One of the men in suits said aloud, “Ah, General Hammond, I was told you could be found here.”

Perhaps they were IRS agents here looking to collect back taxes…

Hammond was surprised to see him, saying aloud, “Senator Kinsey? I wasn’t told you would be arriving here?”

Crichton quietly groaned. It was worse! They were politicians!

“A slight change in plans, General,” Senator Kinsey said. “I decided to help oversee the delegation from Washington when these Colonials arrive tomorrow to make sure nothing goes wrong.” He then turned his attention to John Crichton and extended his hand towards him. “And here’s the hero of the hour, welcome back son. I managed to read some of SG-1’s reports; I bet you have a lot of interesting stories to tell us.”

“Thank you, sir but I’m not really in the mood for story telling.” John politely shook his hand, although he felt like taking a shower afterwards. He’d had enough experience with slimy characters out in the Uncharted Territories to sniff them out easily here on Earth.

“Of course, maybe later,” Kinsey said as he looked over to Chiana who was standing close to Daniel, holding his hand tightly. The Nebari also didn’t like the Senator much either, when he smiled just a little too friendly toward her, saying, “And you must be Chiana, welcome to Earth.”

The senator extended his hand but Chiana refused to shake it, not budging an inch from Daniel’s side. She could see through his fake politeness. Instead she only gave a quiet. “Thank you.”

Chiana liked Humans, especially the Colonials and SG-1 and many others in the SGC but something about Kinsey unsettled her.

“Sorry,” Senator Kinsey gave feigned smile. “Your people probably don’t understand handshakes, maybe someone could teach it to you.”

“She’s learning just fine, Senator,” Daniel said. He too didn’t like the way Kinsey was looking at Chiana either. Probably if the good senator had his way, Chiana would be strapped down on a surgical table to be cut wide open just to see how her insides worked. For the first time, Daniel was second-guessing his wisdom of bringing the young Nebari here.

O’Neill was becoming increasingly annoyed by Senator Kinsey, and he was about to open his mouth to fire off some of his more famous sarcastic remarks when Major Carter spoke first.

“Senator Kinsey, I thought we were going to handle the initial meeting, considering we made first contact with the Colonials?”

“That’s all the more reason for me to be here, considering something always happens when we try to secure alien technology, isn’t that right Colonel?”

Behind, O’Neill, Jack Crichton leaned closer whispering. “He doesn’t like you much, does he?”

“Actually, the Senator always has a special place for me in his heart of stone.” O’Neill whispered back.

“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Kinsey said, overhearing part of his remark. “did you say something?”

O’Neill tried to look perfectly innocent. “Nothing at all, Senator. It’s a pleasure to have you showing up… Unannounced, again.”

***

Later, in General Hammond’s office, Senator Kinsey was having a private meeting with Colonel O’Neill and General Hammond.

“So, Colonel,” Senator Kinsey said. “Isn’t this suppose to be the part when you should be telling me that we mustn’t do business with these Colonials like you usually do with other advanced civilizations we find? Why not now? Couldn’t find any dark secrets in their closets?”

“Actually, it was that impressed me the most,” O’Neill replied sharply. “Their closet technology is centuries ahead of ours, although I can’t say the same for their haircuts.”

“Oh, yes, you really do like these Colonials,” Kinsey replied. “In your reports you have nothing but praise for these people, especially their leader, Commander Adama and his son, Captain Apollo, and even a Sgt. Hathor amongst a list of others.”

“Because, Senator, they helped us rescue Major Carter and battled to protect Earth. I fought alongside of them and that tells me all I need to know, and they lost some of their own people doing it.”

“According to you,” Senator Kinsey said, and then smiled. “I’m glad that you succeeded in rescuing Major Carter except for that snake she has in her head. Now how did that happen?”

“We’re still figuring that one out. Even the Tok’ra are at a lost,” O’Neill said. “Jolinar should be dead by all accounts.”

“Are you sure it is Jolinar and not a Goa’uld impersonating it.”

“The Tok’ra thoroughly questioned her. It is Jolinar,” O’Neill glared at him. “And for you information, it’s a she!”

“Touché.” Kinsey smirked. “By the way, how long have you had a soft spot for Major Carter?”

“What?” O’Neill was taken back by the question. How did Kinsey know?

“It’s just an honest question, Colonel. I mean she is a bright, intelligent and good looking woman after all…”

“Is there a point to all of these questions, Senator?” General Hammond angrily interrupted.

“Yes. By order of the President, SG-1 will have no further part with our negotiations with the Colonials.”

“On what grounds?” O’Neill demanded, his patience coming to an abrupt end.

“For one Colonel, your track record in trying to gain technology from alien governments speaks for itself. Two, Carter is a security risk as far as I am concerned because we don’t know who or what is in her head. Three, Teal’c is not a proper representative of our planet or the United States government, and as for Daniel Jackson,” Senator Kinsey gave a short laugh. “All I have to do is take one look at that skinny grey thing he’s holding hands with to tell me he’s not thinking straight!”

O’Neill tried to keep his cool. If he blew his top now, he’d just play into his hands.

“You son of a bitch!”

Okay, so much for keeping his cool but Kinsey was looking too smug for O’Neill to tolerate any longer. Most of all, he wasn’t going to sit quiet and let his team or Chiana be insulted.

“That’ll be enough, Colonel!” Kinsey warned, as if he held all the cards and probably did. “You’d better think about your career and especially about the rest of your team. You are all heroes at the moment, don’t do anything foolish to risk it.”

General Hammond stood up from his desk, saying quietly, “Colonel, please leave us for a moment.”

O’Neill was still furious, but he calmed down enough to acknowledge General Hammond before gladly exiting his office. After the door closed, Hammond faced directly at Senator Kinsey, saying evenly.

“I don’t know how many strings you pulled to get your way with the President but so help me if you do anything to tarnish SG-1’s good names…”

“You can’t do a damn thing General,” Kinsey interrupted. “Right now, I’m in charge with our negotiations with the Colonials when they arrive, not you or Colonel O’Neill. I would suggest you start planning your retirement party, General. There are some changes coming and I’m going to make sure it happens.”

General Hammond was now beyond simply being enraged. “Colonel O’Neill had it all wrong. You are not a son of a bitch. You are an arrogant self-serving bastard that’ll step on anyone to get what you want!”

“Keep on talking, General! You’ll be leaving that much sooner!”

General Hammond and Senator Kinsey glowered at each other in a stare down. Before another word could be uttered, the entire SGC went on alert and a voice sounded over the base intercom.

“Unauthorized off world activation!”

TBC...

[Boron]

That's good, that's real good. I've been thinking for a long time what if the Moyans met SG1 out there sometime, what would happen?? I had never thought of the Battlestar Galactica angle, though. That's good.........


:aok: :beer: :jedi:

[FL_Redleg]

The new part is here! Great! Thanks so much. It's off to the printer for reading later.

[NeilGartner]

I like to thank my Beta Readers: SabaceanBabe and Grippy.


Chapter Two: House Guests

Chiana was a very exceptional person, who kept surprising Daniel Jackson. Yes, she was beautiful and full of adventure, but she was also very intelligent and possessed of a sharp wit. When he was teaching her English, he was amazed at the amount of information she could absorb in a relatively short period of time, when she really put her mind to it.

In Daniel’s work area, he had Chiana using her gift to memorize the entire written language of the Ancients. It was a highly complex language that was difficult even for Daniel to translate without plenty of reference material to help guide him. If Chiana could get a fair comprehension of the Ancients’ language on her own, then she could help them to understand Crichton’s wormhole equations much faster. Crichton himself admitted that he couldn’t understand much of what he had written down, but that he had a ‘gut feeling’ about how everything worked.

Right now, Carter was off with Crichton getting him something to eat in the base mess hall, but they both should return soon. Teal’c was in his quarters performing Kel’no’reem, Lt. Hailey was with her team, SG-4, about to head off on an assigned mission. Meanwhile, General Hammond and O’Neill were in a private meeting with Senator Kinsey. This alone gave Daniel a bad feeling of what might be going on behind those closed doors. Whenever Senator Kinsey showed up, nothing good ever came of it.

Unable to do much about that problem for the moment, Daniel focused on translating the first few pages of Crichton’s wormhole equations but it was slow going. He was seated at his desk with books and notes scattered to the left and right of him. Alien math equations weren’t Daniel’s thing, it was more Sam’s department, but, then again, decrypting alien languages wasn’t really her specialty either. Daniel sighed as he struggled on.

“Daniel?”

He glanced over to Chiana, who was working at another table just a few feet away. The Nebari looked bored. “I was wondering if we could take a break?”

“We’ve only been going at this for an hour, Chiana.”

“Can we relax for just five minutes?” She pouted at little, giving him the sad puppy dog eyes.

Geez! She always looks cute when she does that, Daniel observed as he rubbed his tired eyes, then pushed his chair away from his desk. Yeah, a little breather wouldn’t hurt, he thought.

“Sure, I could use a break too,” he agreed.

Without another word, Chiana walked over to Daniel, straddled his chair and sat down on his lap facing him, making herself comfortable.

Daniel at first cast a nervous glance towards the door, hoping that no one showed up at this very awkward moment. Although he was not military, there were certain levels of conduct that he had to follow while on base.

“Is this you idea of relaxing?” He asked the Nebari seated on his lap.

“Why?” Chiana asked as she gently ran her fingers through his hair. “Are you uncomfortable?”

“Uh, uncomfortable or relaxed isn’t exactly the words I was thinking of. Chiana, I hate to be the one to break this to you but we both could get into trouble if the wrong person should walk in on us.”

Chiana smiled deviously. “That makes it all the more fun and since when do you worry about getting into trouble? I don’t hear you complaining when I sneak into your room every night.”

“The situation is a little different… and could you please stop wiggling you hips…” he struggled to say when Chiana wrapped her arms around his neck and covered his mouth with hers.

At first, he tried (well, kind of half-heartedly) to push her away when Chiana slid her tongue into his mouth, and started playing intricate games with his. This broke whatever resistance Daniel had and he passionately responded, encircling his arms about her sleek form, pulling her closer. After several moments, Chiana broke their lip lock and stared at Daniel. He seemed stunned by the pleasurable experience, his eyes still closed and his mouth partially open.

Seeing that she had Daniel under her spell the Nebari smiled speaking in a low husky voice, “Hmmmm, you were saying something about how we shouldn’t do this?”

Daniel’s eyes slowly opened and he met her gaze, looking momentarily confused. “Did I actually say that?”

Chiana nodded and turned her attention over to the roll of bookshelves in the corner of his work area, which looked nice and private. She stood up and pulled Daniel to his feet, tugging him toward her selected hiding spot.

“This way, lover boy,” she purred.

Daniel saw the gleam in her eyes that was promising nothing but mischief. As much as he enjoyed Chiana’s idea of ‘mischief’, he had to put a stop to this before it went any further. It was bad enough that he and Chiana were playing bedroom commandoes at night in the SGC, but to do it here and now was being plain reckless.

“Chiana!” Daniel pleaded. “Do you realize how much trouble we could get into? Crichton and Carter will be coming back any time.”

“Well, that makes it all the more fun,” Chiana cooed sweetly, as she tried to keep pulling him along. “Doing it while not getting caught.”

Daniel held his ground. “Chiana, no!”

The Nebari refused to give up and she gave him her best ‘come hither’ smile.

“Daniel, yes!”

***

For Doctor Janet Frasier, there was never an end to the mountain of paper work that came across her desk. Not surprisingly, most of it was currently on their newest resident, Chiana. With Crichton and Daniel’s help, the Nebari finally, but reluctantly, gave up some blood samples during the course of her physical examination.

Janet discovered that Chiana’s blood had some very curious properties, including a hyper immune system, which could make her very resilient to all sorts of infection and diseases. Janet decided to send a few samples of the unique blue blood to a top genetic lab with high level security clearance for further testing, but was careful not to mention from whom or where it came.

Now, all she could think of was finding a way to sweet talk Chiana into giving another sample of her blood. She remembered how Chiana first reacted when she saw the needle that Janet was going to use on her and Janet had to admit that it might be far easier just to try and draw some blood from a cornered mountain lion.

“Excuse me, Doctor?”

Janet looked up to see Jack Crichton standing at her open office door.

“Colonel,” Janet smiled from behind her desk. “What can I do for you?”

“I just need to ask you a question,” Jack Crichton said as he slowly stepped in, closed the door behind him, and sat down in the chair in front of her desk. “What really happened to my son while he was out there?”

Janet hesitated. “Honestly, that is something your son should tell you.”

“I tried, but he wouldn’t say anything. You examined him, can’t you tell me if you found anything?” Jack asked.

“I did examine him thoroughly and physically he’s very fit.”

“But?”

“As his doctor, I’m not allowed to provide...”

“He’s my son, damn it!” Jack exclaimed. “I need to know! Please! Is he okay?”

After a hard moment of soul searching, Janet gave in. Slowly, she opened her top right side desk drawer and presented a file to Jack.

“I found something during a CAT scan of his brain. His brain was operated on and from the pattern, it appears someone literally drilled a hole into it.”

Stunned, Jack opened the file and saw the photos. It clearly showed a hollow cylinder pattern extending nearly an inch in his son’s brain. “My, God! Who or what the hell did this to him?!”

“Your son initially didn’t want to say anything about it, but he finally broke down and admitted that a being by the name of Scorpius forcibly placed a neural chip in his brain to retrieve the wormhole knowledge he has. Your son eventually found an alien surgeon that was able to remove it and repaired the damage, but the chip almost drove your son mad.”

Jack’s blood boiled with rage as he looked over the CAT scan photos. “Where is this Scorpius now?”

“Major Carter killed him.”

That bit of information made Jack feel somewhat better, knowing his son’s apparent tormentor was dead. He had to make sure to thank Major Carter later.

“He didn’t mention any of this to me.”

“Maybe in time he will, but right now all he wants is a sense of normalcy and we can’t force him to confront his fears or demons,” Janet explained. “It’s better if he does it when he feels ready.”

“I just need to feel like I’m doing something to help him.”

“That’s what you’re doing right now,” Janet smiled. “Just being his father.”

***

In an elevator up five levels, John Crichton and Samantha Carter were riding back down to rejoin Chiana and Daniel in his work area.

“Coffee,” Crichton half smiled to the blond Major. “That’s what I missed the most while I was away… That and beer.”

Behind him, Carter was leaning against the back wall of the elevator, smiling as she listened to Crichton. “When I’m away on long missions, the first thing I always miss is a hot shower.”

Crichton nodded in agreement. “And having a toothbrush… Oh, God! Toilet paper, did I ever miss having toilet paper around.”

Intrigued, Carter inquired cautiously. “What did you use on Moya to…you know?”

Crichton chuckled. “I’m not sure if you want to know.”

Still grinning, Carter leaned her head against the elevator wall and closed her tired eyes. “Well, you are home, now, Crichton, and we’ve got all the toilet paper you’ll ever need. More importantly, you are safe. That’s what matters the most.”

“Yeah, safe and sound,” Crichton whispered under his breath.

It was good being home, but then again, it wasn’t. He had changed and his father was beginning to take notice of it. It was strange being in the SGC over the last few days with no Peacekeepers, or hostile alien or some disaster threatening to destroy them. It was too quiet and probably most of all, she wasn’t here.

“Then why is Chiana happier being on Earth than I am?” he wondered quietly.

“Crichton.” Concerned, Carter opened her eyes. “Did you say something?”

Before Crichton could reply, the base went on alert.

“Unauthorized off world activation!”

***

By the time John and Carter reached the Gate Control Room, General Hammond, Colonel O’Neill and Senator Kinsey were already there. In the Gate Room below, the Iris was closed over the Stargate and being covered by several firing teams. A few seconds later, Doc Frasier and Jack Crichton arrived.

“No GDO signal,” a technician reported, watching his monitor closely when new data suddenly flashed across it. “Wait. I am receiving a transmission now. It’s an audio signal.”

“Can you pipe it through the intercom?” Carter asked.

“One moment,” the tech replied.

From behind, Carter heard Chiana and Daniel racing into the room. She turned her attention to them. “Where were you two?”

“We were busy… With things….” Chiana muttered and Daniel nodded in agreement.

Carter smiled at the two, noting how their clothing was slightly dishevelled. She focused on Daniel, who was sporting a rather guilty expression, before she lowered her eyes.

“Ah, you should know that your fly is down,” Carter whispered

Red faced, Daniel turned around to fix the problem while Chiana and Carter shared a glance with one another before chuckling at the same moment. It was then that a frustrated voice filtered through the base intercom system.

“… Hello? Can anyone hear me? Anyone? … Yotz! Are you sure this thing is working right?”

Reaching for the microphone on the main console, Hammond replied. “This is General Hammond of the SGC, to whom am I speaking?”

“That’s better!” the voice said before announcing proudly. “I am Dominar Rygel the XVI of the Hynerian Empire. Is this the planet Erp?”

Chiana giggled, clapping her hands. John Crichton nearly shouted for joy as he leaned closer to Hammond to speak into the microphone. “Rygel! You old space dog! It’s damn good to hear your voice!”

“Crichton? Is that you? Is Chiana there as well?” Rygel asked.

“Yeah! She’s here,” Crichton said. “Where have you been the last two weekens?”

“I have been busy regaining my throne from my idiot and traitorous cousin.”

Crichton’s jaw dropped. “You got your big chair back?”

“Of course, considering I had popular support for my return and the means in which to do it, but we have plenty of time to talk about that later. I have some friends here. We’d like to step through the stargate for a visit to discuss business and offer some gifts to the people of Erp.”

All eyes turned to General Hammond. John and Chiana were especially excited to see their olds friends. After a moment of careful consideration, Hammond spoke into the microphone. “How many people are you planning to bring over, Dominar Rygel?”

“Just myself, two escorts and two Luxans,” Rygel reported. “An ambassador Bu G’Ranto and another Luxan some of you should all know, Ka D’Argo.”

“You may proceed through,” General Hammond said, and then nodded to the Gate Technician. “Open the Iris.”

As the Iris opened over the mouth of the Stargate, Hammond alerted the dozen soldiers in the Gate room. “Standby to receive incoming travellers!”

The soldiers readied themselves and levelled their weapons at the Stargate as a precaution. They couldn’t afford to let their guard down when receiving unexpected guests, no matter who they claimed to be.

After several moments, five figures emerged through the Gate’s shivering event horizon. Two Luxans and one Hynerian on a throne sled being flanked by what looked like two golden armored knights on either side of him.

Both smiling, Chiana and John Crichton left the Gate Control Room in a race to see who could reach their friends first. At the same time, General Hammond ordered the Iris closed and the soldiers to stand down.

In the Gate Room, Ka D’Argo slowly adjusted to the stomach turning trip through the Stargate. It was unlike almost anything he had ever experienced before with the exception of enduring the dizzying distortion ride on a Leviathan during a starburst. The effects were soon forgotten when D’Argo saw the group of armed Humans waiting for them at the end of the ramp.

They were all in green battle dress and helmets, the same type of uniforms the Human soldiers had worn on the fake Earth. D’Argo stared at them suspiciously, prepared for anything. His first thought was to wonder if this could be a trap. He looked around, searching for any familiar faces in this chamber room, but he saw none. D’Argo instantly felt the urge to start reaching for his Qualta Blade.

A large steel door on the far left side of the room slid open a moment later and Chiana and John Crichton came racing through to greet them. John was grateful that O’Neill had supplied them both with the address to Earth should they ever locate a Stargate and want to make contact.

“Big D! Rygel!” The Human laughed. “How the hell are you guys!”

“John! Chiana!” The big Luxan shouted in joy. It was a major relief to see them both and especially Chiana. The young Nebari looked genuinely happy and very well treated. This observation permitted D’Argo to relax as Chiana reached him first and leapt into his waiting arms.

Chiana laughed, hugging him tightly and showered his face with kisses. “I never thought I’d see you again after you returned to your home world!”

Just a few steps behind them, General Hammond, Jack Crichton and SG-1 filed in, but kept a polite distance to allow John and Chiana time to reunite with their friends. Jack Crichton just stared in pure wonderment at the new group of aliens who had arrived through this amazing device called the Stargate after witnessing it in operation for the first time.

Up in the Gate Control Room, Senator Kinsey watched the same scene unfold but with a different reaction. He scowled in deep disgust at the sight of more aliens.

“It’s starting to look more like a bad Star Trek convention around here,” he muttered under his breath

Back down in the Gate Room, Chiana turned to Rygel happily. “Frog face! Or, should I say, Dominar Rygel!” She bowed playfully down to him.

“Dominar will do nicely,” Rygel chuckled before Chiana hugged and kissed him. He wrapped his little arms about her and whispered in her ear. “Are these Humans looking after you? They are not mistreating you, are they?”

“No, they are not,” Chiana quickly replied with a smile. “Daniel has been nothing but very sweet and living with Humans has been an eye opening experience. It’s literally a planet full of Crichtons!” She giggled again before stopping to eye the two tall golden mechanical men with a single eye slit. A red light was slowly traversing from left to right in the slit.

“What are those guys?”

“A gift from the Colonials,” Rygel informed her. “You like them? They’re Cylon centurions reprogrammed to obey my every command. They used to be personal pilots and escorts to a criminal called Baltar who was placed into exile by the Colonials. Since he no longer needed them, Adama gave them to me to help regain my throne. Ha! You should have seen these two in action! Their armor is invulnerable to pulse blasts and my cousins Royal Guards literally dropped their rifles and ran when they saw their weapon fire bounce cleanly off their armor. With the element of surprise and these two leading the way, my supporters and I quickly retook the palace and my throne. Now, it’s my cousin’s turn to spend the next 80 cycles on a prison ship! Revenge is always sweet, especially when I’m the one giving it!”

“Cylons, huh?” Chiana took another moment to study the golden armored machines that stood silently on either side of Rygel like foreboding statues warding off evil spirits. “They sure don’t talk much. Do they have names?”

Rygel smirked proudly, “I call them, Sparky and Fluffy.”

John was talking to D’Argo with the Luxan Ambassador, G’Ranto nearby. “What have you been doing since the last time I saw you?”

“I spent most of it convincing my leaders about the Stargates and what they can do,” D’Argo said gesturing to the towering device behind him. “We have dozens of them scattered across our territory, but we always considered them little more than ancient relics.”

“Unfortunately,” G’Ranto added reluctantly. “We refused to believe him until he actually activated one of the devices and made contact with the Hynerian home world. We are hoping to learn more about the Stargates from the people of the planet Erp.”

“Well, you came to the right place,” John answered, then leaned in and whispered under his breath. “And it’s Earth, not Erp.”

Moments later, introductions were given all around between SGC’s newest visitors and General Hammond and SG-1. John and Chiana had to act as translators for the Luxans and Rygel because the SGC didn’t have any technology to bridge the language gap. It was then that D’Argo produced a metal tube.

“This is an injection device filled with translator microbes,” D’Argo said as John continued to translate for him to General Hammond and the others. “I decided it might come in handy and your scientists might wish to study them.” The Luxan handed the tube to General Hammond.

“We gratefully accept your gift,” Hammond answered before handing it over to Major Carter who examined it closely. “We’ll have it analysed before using it.”

“How does it work?” she asked.

John continued to translate for D’Argo. “Just hold the one end against any part of you flesh and press the red button on the other to inject yourself with the microbes.”

O’Neill was watching Major Carter scrutinize the alien device when she casually held it against her left arm and injected herself with the microbes.

“Sam!!” he shouted, grabbing the device away from her, but it was already too late.

“Major Carter!” Hammond joined in berating her. “What have you done? You just disregarded every procedure concerning the handling of alien technology!”

Carter couldn’t see what the big fuss was all about. “Before we left, the Colonials own scientists determined the microbes to be safe for general use. They are harmless.”

“Are they harmless to people who still have traces of Naquadah in their blood?” O’Neill countered, staring straight at her. “Or to those who are Tok’ra now?”

O’Neill’s argument caused Major Carter to pause momentarily and she suddenly began to doubt her assertions about the microbes.

“No, sir. I…I never considered that.” They had procedures to follow for everyone’s safety in handing alien technology and she disregarded it all without the blinking of an eye. Now she felt ashamed of how recklessly she had behaved.

O’Neill still couldn’t believe it! had gotten into her lately? She used to be smarter than this. Carter had not been herself since being captured and interrogated by Scorpius. He watched Carter cast her eyes to the floor, despondently. Now, O’Neill’s shock and anger was replaced with concern. Something was definitely not right with Carter and he was growing increasingly concerned for her.

Finally, a sympathetic D’Argo spoke directly to the blond Major. “Is he always this protective of you?”

“Yeah, but it’s his job...” Carter started to answer absentmindedly before her head snapped up staring back at D’Argo, grinning ear to ear. “Hey! I understood you!”

***

Sometime later, General Hammond arranged a small tour to be given to Dominar Rygel and the Luxans, although Sparky and Fluffy had to remain within the gate room. They just made everyone in the SGC too nervous to let them stomp freely about the base.

In the meantime, up in the main Conference room, General Hammond, SG-1 and Senator Kinsey sat down to discuss the purposed deal between Earth and the Hynerian and Luxan governments.

“First off, the few Stargates located within the Luxan and Hynerian territories make them very valuable for trading,” Daniel explained. “Dominar Rygel said the Stargates would greatly benefit trade between worlds within and outside of his empire. While the Luxans viewed them more as a chance to explore the galaxy like we do.”

“So they want gate addresses,” the senator said, cutting to the chase. “What exactly are they offering in return?”

“Well, nearly anything we need,” Daniel, said. “Technology, weapons, ships and Rygel and the Luxans are even offering a defence treaty to Earth if we should ever come under attack.”

“Are they prepared to give us some samples of those wondrous technologies they possess?” Senator Kinsey asked, not interested in defence treaties.

“Yes,” Major Carter said. “Both the Hynerians and Luxans have formidable technology and ships. D’Argo even mentioned they have small assault vessels that could fit through the gate for delivery. These ships, although the size of a large fighter, have the punch of ships four times their size.”

Senator Kinsey gave a rare and honest smile. “I will see about getting the negotiations with these Hynerians and Luxans on the way immediately and try to get a look at the assault ships that these Luxans have.”

“Don’t you think we are moving too fast, Senator?” General Hammond suggested. “For one, we have the Colonials arriving tomorrow. Perhaps we might want to hold meetings with all three at once.”

“If we can get what we need from the aliens, then we won’t need the Colonials,” Kinsey said.

“Excuse me?” O’Neill leaned forward to stare down the table towards the senator.

“You heard me, Colonel. If we can get what we want from them, then why bother cutting the same deal with the Colonials?”

“Well, the Colonials also need our help, and they want to settle on Earth for one,” O’Neill said. “What about that?”

“He knows, Jack,” Daniel said as he stared at the senator, realizing the truth in his motives. “You have no problem in taking technology from aliens or Humans from other worlds, just as long as you don’t have to accept the people themselves.”

“And why not?” Kinsey said firmly. “The best allies are the ones who know enough to leave and go back home at the end of the day.”

Carter was dumbfounded and nearly shouted at him. “You can’t be serious! The Colonials helped to save my life! I would be dead if it wasn’t for them!”

“Contain yourself, Major,” Senator Kinsey warned sternly before turning his attention on Daniel. “I read your report, Doctor Jackson, and in it, you state that Earth is their thirteenth colony and we are all descendants from a mother world called Kobol?”

Daniel nodded. “Yes. The Colonials firmly believe that and I found evidence that supports it.”

Senator Kinsey chuckled as if he’d just heard a bad joke. “Doctor Jackson, life began here, on God’s green Earth. Not from some mythical planet those Colonials prate on about. You actually believe what they told you?”

“You are about to slam the door in their faces just because they believe something you disagree with?” Daniel cried in protest. “Their belief system is unique, yes, but it’s no different than anything else we have here on Earth.”

“General,” O’Neill said. “You can’t allow him to do this!”

“Need I remind you that I’m in charge of the negotiations now?” Senator Kinsey informed O’Neill.

“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Hammond said dejectedly. “My hands are tied.”

Suddenly, Carter stood up at attention and asked politely. “General, I’m not feeling well, may I be excused since we’re all been rendered redundant here?”

Hammond and the rest of SG-1 looked surprised at Carter’s request, but the General nodded his approval and the blond Major immediately left, closing the conference room door behind her.

After watching Carter leave, O’Neill glowered at the senator. “You can’t get away with this. May I remind you, if you haven’t read all of our reports, Rygel and D’Argo are friends with the Colonials? They won’t stand for you using them to try and screw Adama and the others over!”

Senator Kinsey looked very confident. “Well, they won’t find out if no one tells them.”

“They will because I will tell them,” O’Neill said evenly.

“You can kiss your career and the rest of your team’s futures good-bye if one of you opens your mouth…” Senator Kinsey froze, his eyes darting to the door through which Carter had gone a minute ago. With a panicked look, he turned to General Hammond, demanding aloud, “Find Major Carter and get her back here!”

“It’s a big base, it’ll take time for my people to find her,” General Hammond nonchalantly picked up the base phone to order base security to locate Major Carter. He could barely conceal his amusement at Senator Kinsey’s sudden predicament as he deliberately took his time to make the call.

“You planned this!” Kinsey shouted at O’Neill as the senator rose from his chair and stormed out of the room to chase down Carter.

“Me?” O’Neill pointed innocently at himself before he looked to the others left in the room as they all got up to follow Senator Kinsey. “Why am I the one always getting the blame?” he muttered under his breath.

They had just exited the conference room when they saw Major Carter walking back up the stairs.

Kinsey looked relieved to see her.

“Major Carter…” he started to say, but stopped, becoming very pale when he saw Rygel, the two Luxans, Chiana, John and Jack Crichton also following her up the stairs. They didn’t look at all pleased as they stared coldly at the senator.

O’Neill watched them all lined up and standing shoulder to shoulder as they faced Senator Kinsey.

Now, that’s what I call a united front! O’Neill observed before singing quietly to himself. Someone is going to get it!

Rygel spoke angrily in his native language as John Crichton translated for him.

“It has come to our attention that you are planning to use our goodwill to Earth to hurt the Colonials?”

Senator Kinsey stared heatedly at Carter who stood between John and D’Argo before saying naively, “Gentleman, I don’t know what you have been told but I assure you…”

Rygel snapped aloud and John continued to translate for him. “Be silent! Being an aquatic race, I know a bottom feeder when I see one, Senator! This planet or your government will not get one piece of technology from us until you deal with the Colonials first! The truth is, you need us more than we need you!”

G’Ranto spoke and Carter translated for him. “The same applies with the Luxan government. We will not deal with a person with so little honour.”

“Well, I guess you all have spoken.” Humiliated, Senator Kinsey saw that he’d lost but he turned his attention and anger back to Samantha Carter. “Congratulations, Major and I hope you enjoy the rest of your career up in Alaska, on your knees, cleaning weather base floors and toilets!”

In that moment, their wasn’t one soul in the room who didn’t entertain the thought of either taking a swing, tongue stinging or just plain spitting up on Senator Kinsey, but Carter held herself proud and said in a calm and collected voice, “Mr. Senator, please tell me how one man who’s nothing but a big ass can at the same time be such a small prick?”

[FL_Redleg]

Neil,
Fantastic! A new chapter! Whoo Hoo!
Thanks so much.

Joe,
Florida Redleg :sun:

[Frag_You!]

I absolutely love this series. Witty, insane, and out there. Just like Farscape itself. Keep it up, mate. :)

[aias]

Only one word comes to mind.Superlative.This is the best read ive had in ages.Please keep it coming.

[aias]

Only one word comes to mind.Superlative.This is the best read ive had in ages.Please keep it coming.

[seattlescaper]

Please, we want more.

[NeilGartner]

Chapter Three: Grand Central Station

"Pedal to the metal, Aeryn!"

"I'm not going to make it Sheba, but you might."

"Shut up Aeryn! You are going to make it, too. Just fly that damn bird! Push it until it breaks!"

"I want you to know that I valued your friendship, Sheba..."

"Don't talk like that Aeryn, I promised Crichton that I would look after you..."

"This is not your fault... Please tell Crichton that I..."

"AERYN!!"

Commander Cain sat quietly in his cabin as he listened to the voice recording that was downloaded from Aeryn’s Viper. He still had his crew pouring over every wire and circuit in that fighter to find anything that backed Aeryn’s story. However, all of that seemed very unimportant in that moment when he finally heard his daughter’s voice for the first time in two yahrens.

He fought back tears as his heart sang. Sheba was still alive. Bless the Lords of Kobol! She was still alive!

He might have shown more emotion if his First Officer Dex hadn’t been present. Keeping his composure, Cain shut off the recording device to address him.

“Have you finished processing the rest of Aeryn’s sensor logs from her Viper?”

“It’s 90 percent complete and so far everything supports her story except for the ship of lights or whatever she called them. Between the time her Viper was hit by the explosion and when we picked her up, there was approximately fifteen centons of nothing but recorded static.”

“Well, I’m satisfied with what I have seen so far,” Cain said as he stood up from behind his desk. “I believe that she is telling us the truth. I’m going to the bridge, so please bring Lt. Sun there so I can talk to her.”

“Commander, do you think it’s wise to bring her to a sensitive area like the bridge?” His First Officer cautioned.

“Still having doubts, Dex?”

“Yes, sir. All of this just smells. It is too convenient that she should appear when we’re shadowing a Cylon taskforce.”

Cain studied his First Officer -- he knew him well enough to sense something else in the tone of his voice. “Is that all you have a problem with?”

“Honestly, sir,” Dex drew in a breath and admitted, “I don’t approve of a damn alien wearing our uniform.”

“Duly noted,” Cain answered, overlooking his First Officer’s racist remark before prodding him into action. “Now, I expect you to extend every respect to her as a guest onboard this ship when you bring her up to the bridge to meet with me. Dismissed.”

***

O’Neill stood in Carter’s quarters, facing the very determined looking blond Major. After confronting Senator Kinsey with her infamous big ass and small prick comment, she had stormed off to her quarters. He had followed her to make sure she was all right.

“Carter, will you just please listen to me!” he pleaded. “Don’t do anything rash! We can work through this.”

“Sir, you have three choices,” the blond Major threatened, her hands holding the bottom part of her black t-shirt. “Either you leave, turn away or watch me get undressed.”

“You are the most stubborn…”

With a sigh, Carter ripped her black t-shirt up over her head and O’Neill immediately spun about 180 degrees, but not before his eyes caught a momentary glimpse of her nicely toned stomach and grey athletic bra.

“…And I’m now looking away!”

Carter continued to undress as she teased him. “Don’t want to take another peek, sir?”

O’Neill couldn’t believe the awkward situation he had gotten himself into and his 2IC seemed to be enjoying it. He kept his eyes glued forward and tried to forget that Carter was undressing only ten feet behind him.

“Well, I’ve got to leave something to the imagination… But honestly, I have more respect for you than that.”

He heard the smile in her voice. “The feeling is mutual.”

“Then please, don’t leave us,” O’Neill said softly. “Senator Kinsey is a bag of sh… hot air. We can take him.”

“He has the power to destroy my career,” Carter countered. “I’m on his shit list now, sir. He’s humiliated and he will bury me alive in some frozen weather base and probably anyone else that stands in my corner.”

“I think that’s for me to decide. Don’t run away.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” Carter asked. “Just running away?”

“Are you?”

“No, but it’s better to know when to quit and move on,” Carter said quietly. “You can face me now.”

O’Neill turned and stared at her, shaking his head in disbelief. “And this isn’t running away?”

Carter was sitting on the edge of her bed, dressed in the familiar brown and tan garments of the Tok’ra. She was slipping her feet into a pair of worn but comfortable looking leather boots. When they first returned to the SGC with John Crichton, it hadn’t taken Carter long to turn around and leave with her dad and Freya, travelling back to the Tok’ra council to notify them of Jolinar’s return. They had welcomed her home and even thrown a celebration in her honour. One of the things they had given her was the Tok’ra outfit, but O’Neill felt the rest of the Tok’ra were trying to persuade Jolinar to stay. Unfortunately, and to Jolinar’s credit, when Carter finally decided it was time to return to the SGC, the symbiont didn’t try to stop her.

Carter shrugged her shoulders as she worked to fasten her other boot. “I think of it as new employment opportunities and besides, you will still be seeing me.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” O’Neill asked as he walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. “It just gives me the urge to go and knock Kinsey’s front teeth out.”

Carter smiled at O’Neill’s attempt to be her white knight. “Sir?”

“Okay, maybe a pop in the nose to make me feel better.”

She reached out and took one of his hands into hers. “Jack?”

Slowly, O’Neill looked over and stared into her waiting eyes as she whispered. “Also, I can finally do this.” And then she leaned over and gently kissed him before breathing sweetly, “Among other things.”

O’Neill stared into big, beautiful blue eyes and momentarily forgot that she was still technically a Major in the Air Force. He leaned over and returned the kiss.

Everything suddenly became surreal for O’Neill. Here he was in Carter’s quarters, on her bed, she was about to hand in her resignation papers, dressed in a Tok’ra uniform and with a little gal by the name of Jolinar living up in her head. Could this get any stranger?

Then an eerie thought occurred to O’Neill and he pulled away. “Uh, Sam?”

“Sir?” Carter said, wondering why he suddenly stopped.

“I need to know something,” he asked seriously, but didn’t know how to put it. “Jolinar is not planning to… I mean, I don’t like people changing personalities during mid-kiss.”

“Jolinar wouldn’t do that to you and besides, she’s too busy imagining that it’s John Crichton I’m kissing,” Carter snickered.

“Oh.” O’Neill wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear this bit of information. “Don’t you find it a little weird that Jolinar is having fantasies in your head that I’m someone else?”

“You want weird? Well, consider this.” Carter gave a rare, mischievous, Chiana type of smile. “Now that I am a Tok’ra, you are technically kissing two people.”

O’Neill’s eyes widened. “And that little fact just gave me a sudden case of performance anxiety.”

Laughing now, Carter rested her head on O’Neill’s shoulder and the two held each other in a comforting embrace.

“Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any stranger,” Carter whispered. “Reality thumbs its nose before pulling the rug out from under me.”

“Not to worry, Sam,” O’Neill assured her. “You always get back on your feet.”

“I know I will… Except my proverbial ass is getting awfully sore from all the tumbles.” She sighed.

Their quiet moment was rudely interrupted when the base alarms wailed and a voice over the intercom blared loudly. “Unauthorized off-world activation!”

O’Neill groaned as they both got up and headed for the door.

“Did the SGC become Grand Central station while we were away and no one told us?”

[NeilGartner]

Everyone was in the Gate Control room by the time O’Neill and Carter arrived. General Hammond, Teal’c and Daniel with Chiana by his side were up front with the duty technician manning the gate computer. Just a little farther behind them were John Crichton and his father, along with D’Argo, the Luxan ambassador and Dominar Rygel. Not surprising, even further back was Senator Kinsey who was keeping a respectful distance. Maybe it was because of the menacing scowl that D’Argo was giving him.

O’Neill moved to stand next to General Hammond. “Who’s knocking on our Iris door now?”

“We’re still trying to determine that,” Hammond replied, keeping his full attention on the stargate.

Carter now walked up alongside General Hammond, presenting him several pieces of paper. “Sir, this may not be the right time, but I’d like to get this over with.”

Hammond managed to tear his eyes off the stargate to look at the papers that Carter had just handed him, only then noticing her Tok’ra uniform.

“What is this, Major?”

“My resignation,” she informed him matter-of-factly. “I’m going to join the Tok’ra and be with my father.”

Shocked, Hammond tried to hand the papers back to her. “Now isn’t the time, Major. We’ll discuss this later.”

Carter shook her head, refusing to take them back. “There is nothing to discuss, sir. You and I both know that my career is finished.”

Hammond looked at her, and then to the papers he held in his hand, realizing she was unfortunately correct. Kinsey was out to get her now, and even he couldn’t protect her from his vengeance.

“You will be sorely missed,” he finally admitted sadly.

Just behind them, a shocked Daniel, Teal’c and Chiana listened to the exchange. The disciplined Jaffa showed little outward emotion, but his eyes betrayed a deepening sadness at the possible departure of a dear friend and comrade. Behind them, John Crichton and the others also overheard the sad news and all but one had a similar shocked reaction.

“Now, wait just a minute!” Senator Kinsey erupted as he pushed forward to confront General Hammond and Samantha Carter. “If you think you can just walk away that easily…”

“That’s exactly what I intend to do,” Carter warned him. “So, unless you want trouble with the Tok’ra, you just stay out of my way!”

Kinsey glared at Carter and her Tok’ra uniform. “Well, I may not be able to stop Hammond from accepting your resignation, but at least I will get some satisfaction from watching you leave through the stargate. I never had someone kicked off the planet before.”

“Kinsey,” O’Neill growled. “You are such an as...!”

“Excuse me!” The Gate Room technician’s voice rang out. “I have an incoming IDC… It’s the Tok’ra.”

Thank God! Hammond breathed silently in relief. Another minute of listening to this, and several people in the room might have tried to lynch Senator Kinsey. Hammond feared that he would have had the misfortune of having to step in to save the senator.

“Open the Iris,” he ordered before facing Carter again. “Would you like to greet them first?”

Carter continued to stare angrily at Kinsey before nodding to Hammond. “With pleasure, sir.”

As she left, seemingly in a quiet show of support, the rest of SG-1, General Hammond, John and Jack Crichton, Rygel, Chiana, D’Argo and the Luxan ambassador all filed out after her. Left behind was a furious Senator Kinsey and the few on duty Gate Control Room personnel, who wished they could leave and not be in the same room with the enraged politician from Washington.

By the time they reached the Gate Room, the incoming travellers were already exiting the stargate and were walking down the ramp towards them. Much to their surprise, it was Commander Adama, Captain Apollo and Captain Crais. There was a single Tok’ra in front, leading the group, who Carter instantly recognized.

“Dad!”

“Sam!” Jacob Carter smiled happily as his daughter raced up into his waiting arms.

“You weren’t supposed to be back for two days! What’s the special occasion?” Sam asked as she hugged her father tightly.

“Unfortunately we’re all here on business,” Jacob said as he pulled back to look at her. He couldn’t help but comment on her Tok’ra clothing. “Looks like you were planning to pay me a visit.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, Dad,” Carter said, unable to tell him the truth at that moment. She changed the subject. “What’s happening?”

Jacob looked briefly over his shoulder to Commander Adama before turning his attention to General Hammond again, saying gravely. “We have a problem, George.”

Hammond said only two words. “Conference room.”

***

To say that the main conference room was crowded would have been an understatement. Seating was at a premium with only eight chairs for sixteen people. Hammond would have brought in more, but Adama didn’t want to waste a moment longer.

SG-1 and Hammond would have given up their chairs to their visitors, except it was not necessary. Senator Kinsey was off in the corner, doing his impression of cancer man from the X-Files, but without the cigarettes. Rygel didn’t require a chair because of his throne sled, while D’Argo and the Luxan ambassador preferred to stand. Whatever the Colonials, Crais and Jacob had to tell them, they were too concerned to want to sit down.

Adama stood at the head of the table addressing the curious audience before him. “I was hoping for this to be a time of celebration, to be standing on the planet Earth with our brothers and sisters of the Tau’ri with friends and allies near. I’m sad to say that fate has other plans.” He gestured to Crais. “Captain, if you would show what you and my daughter have discovered.”

Crais nodded his head in acknowledgement before placing a black orb device on the conference room table. It shimmered as a glowing holographic projection formed above it.

“Hmmm… Cool TV,” a fascinated O’Neill commented as he studied the glowing projection taking form above them.

“I’m afraid what we’re about to show you is ‘Not-Cool’,” Crais said before focusing his attention on the holo projection. “We were patrolling the far rear flank of the fleet, scanning for any signs of pursuit and monitoring alien communication when we intercepted this. It was transmitted from a Peacekeeper spy probe. They launch them frequently into Scarran space to track their fleet movements and one caught this deep within their territory.”

Slowly, a bright star field materialized in the holo-projection. The picture circled to the left as the probe focused its attention on three huge approaching warships.

“Those are three Scarran Dreadnaughts, each about the size of a Command Carrier and the Galactica combined,” Crais explained. “Now watch.”

The three Scarran Dreadnaughts continued to move closer when a blue beam suddenly flashed from the right side of the picture. It struck one of the lead warships on its bow section and a powerful explosion erupted, tearing through a large portion of its hull. Seconds later, two beams struck the already damaged vessel, hammering its stern and back. Besieged from the assault, the ship tried to turn but two more beams struck it amidships, ripping the damaged hull open like a carved roast before it exploded with the brilliance of a newborn sun.

The two surviving ships continued onward, determined to avenge the death of their sister ship against the unseen attacker. Now in range, the cannons of the Scarran Dreadnaughts lashed out with searing red energy beams before the deadly blue beams answered back again in kind. Another Scarran ship was torn apart in seconds by concentrated fire.

Everyone watched in complete awe at the incredible destruction of the huge warships.

“Who the frell are they fighting?” Chiana whispered. Not even her people and all of their technology could destroy Scarran vessels so quickly.

Then from the left corner of the screen, their attacker finally appeared moving into the probe’s camera range. It looked saucer shaped… No, it was actually two saucers with one stacked on top of the other. It was massive and moved to challenge the remaining Scarran ship.

The battle was fierce, but inevitably short. The new vessel dispatched the last Scarran ship with incredible ease. For the Scarrans’ part, they scored numerous hits, but they didn’t even slow it down.

After the flames of its last fallen enemy burnt out, the victorious ship hung there, perhaps to savour its win. A split second later, the camera images momentarily went blue before going dark. The probe was destroyed.

“That was a Cylon baseship,” John Crichton said aloud, remembering Sheba describing them in detail months before. “A big one.”

“Correct,” Adama replied. “It is a D class, their largest baseship in the Cylon arsenal. A heavy strike vessel armed with four pulsar cannons and multiple turbo batteries. Battles like this are taking place inside Scarran space even as we speak.”

“This might sound like a dumb question,” Chiana asked, “but why should we care? I mean we are talking about Scarrans.”

“Because Cylons operate in a very predictable pattern,” Apollo explained. “When they move into a new region of space to conquer, they target the strongest power, wiping them out first. Then they move on to the next strongest until all possible opposition is gone.”

“My people will be next,” Crais said. “Then probably your race, Chiana.”

“They are not my people anymore, Crais,” Chiana spat.

“I don’t mean to be insensitive,” O’Neill stepped up next to the young Nebari. “But I’m with Zat girl on this. From what I gather from Crichton and you folks, Scarrans are the bad guys and the Peacekeepers are most likely gunning for us after the bloody nose we gave them. Why is this our problem?”

“Because the Cylons won’t stop expanding their empire after they deal with the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers,” Adama gravely informed everyone in the room. “And a lot of innocent worlds in the meantime will suffer and the Cylons shall continue conquering until there is nothing left to be taken in this galaxy. And in that time, they will find Earth and they will exterminate every Human in the process.”

“Is there a chance that the Scarrans might win?” Hammond asked.

“No,” Crais shook his head. “The Scarrans are losing every battle when their ships try to confront the Cylon baseships. In fact, Peacekeeper intelligence has detected them quietly trying to move several fleets along their border with Peacekeeper territory to reinforce units already battling the Cylons.”

“The Scarrans clearly don’t know how to combat the Cylons and they need our help,” Apollo said.

John Crichton stepped forward, holding his hand up. “Beep-Beep! Back the truck up! Are you suggesting that we actually help the Scarrans?”

“More than that,” Adama said. “We need to unite every space faring race capable of fighting to join in this battle, including the Peacekeepers and the Nebari if we have to. The Cylons have grown in strength since the fall of the Twelve Colonies and unchecked, they have greatly expanded their war machine in the last three yahrens.”

“Allying with the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers?” Rygel huffed in disbelief. “If one doesn’t backstab you, the other one surely will. This is madness! This is…”

“Our only hope to save ourselves,” Adama said solemnly before adding, “You saw what two Cylon centurions were capable of when you regained your throne Dominar, so imagine what a fleet of baseships could do to your empire?”

Rygel didn’t answer, not wishing to admit that Adama was right. His empire would easily fall to the Cylon forces without help. “Very well, I’ll listen to whatever you have to say, but trying to ally ourselves with them is STILL farbot!”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Daniel muttered aloud, then looked around meekly. “Sorry, I got a little too cliché there for a second.”

“You realize just a few weeks ago we attacked a Peacekeeper base and destroyed one of their ships,” O’Neill reminded them. “I don’t think they’ll be happy to see us.”

“Peacekeeper Command knows that the Scarrans are being attacked by an unknown force and they are planning to take advantage of the situation by threatening military action in hopes of forcing the Scarrans into surrendering most of their claims to parts of the Uncharted Territories,” Crais informed them. “The Peacekeepers suspect that they can’t fight a war on two fronts and they are right.”

“What do you want from us?” General Hammond asked the Colonials.

“You have powerful allies, like the Asgard,” Adama said. “Can they help?”

O’Neill glanced at General Hammond, but they both knew that the Asgard couldn’t help even if they wanted to while they had their hands full in dealing with the Replicators in their galaxy.

“We’ll do what we can,” was Hammond’s only response before he looked over to Jacob Carter. “What is the Tok’ra position on this?”

“With the Goa’uld all but wiped out, we view the Cylons as the next big threat. We’re prepared to assist in any way we can,” Jacob promised.

The Luxan ambassador stepped forward. “I need to speak to the Ruling Council, but I am sure my government will wish to join this alliance against these Cylons.”

“This is history we are making,” D’Argo said. “Luxans, Hynerians, Humans and the Tok’ra coming together to face a common foe.”

“And we’re going to invite the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers to the party too,” Chiana laughed adding nervously. “You guys are not really going to contact the Nebari?”

“We might have to, Pip,” John answered. “Besides, they’ll want to join our Justice League, considering none of their mind bending technology will work on an army of mechanical red eyes.”

“Okay, the Avengers have assembled,” O’Neill spoke up. “What’s next?”

“We have been monitoring Peacekeeper transmissions and we have discovered that Commandant Grayza will be holding a meeting with the Scarrans at a secret base, Katratzi,” Crais replied. “No doubt she will be there to force the Scarrans to give up key territories to avoid a war with the Peacekeepers.”

“Uh, excuse me?” Carter moved next to O’Neill. “Are you suggesting that we crash the meeting? What if the Scarrans decide to…I don’t know, kill us?”

“Well, probably not right away or all at once,” Rygel suggested sarcastically.

Adama drew himself up and slowly walked amongst the people in the room, making eye contact with each and every one of them and ignoring the suspicious glare from Senator Kinsey. “I have discussed the risk at great length with Captain Crais, but considering the alternative, we have no choice. At the rate the Cylon Empire is expanding, they will conqueror this galaxy completely within the next 1000 yahrens. Only a united front can stop them. As it stands we already have the foundation of an alliance,” Adama gestured to Rygel, the Luxans and to Jacob. “But we need more help and that includes the likes of the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers, distasteful as it might be.”

“I can’t picture Scarrans and Peacekeepers willingly fighting side by side?” Chiana questioned Adama as he walked by her. “The only time they think about each other is to invent more efficient methods to slaughter one another.”

Adama turned to smile warmly at the young Nebari and to the young man, Daniel Jackson, who stood by her with his arm wrapped about her waist. Adama admired them for what they had together and he couldn’t help but think fondly of the days when he was their age and in love. He missed those simpler times.

He gently reached over and touched Chiana’s shoulder to reassure her. “They only have two choices, to fight together or face extinction at the hands of the Cylons.”

Chiana managed a smile in return. “I think you are incredibly brave or out of your mind to do this. Why?”

“I’m looking at one reason right now,” Adama beamed as he stared at her, and then directed his attention over to Daniel. “And he’s another.”

“We’re all fighting for you and everyone else’s future, and our very right to exist. We know what the Cylons are capable of and even if they permit us to live under their rule, it will be a very dark prospect indeed.” The Colonial Commander continued his walk around the room until he rejoined Apollo and Crais. “That is why I am asking for volunteers to accompany us to Katratzi.”

For a second, there was a long moment of silence until O’Neill turned to face Hammond.

“General, I can’t speak for the rest of my team but I request permission to join Commander Adama and give them a hand in saving the universe.”

Teal’c stepped forward. “As do I, General Hammond.”

“As do I, uh, too,” Daniel volunteered.

“And me, three!” Chiana chimed in, much to Daniel’s surprise.

“Considering I’m between jobs, why not?” a smiling Carter said with a half shrug.

After that, everyone else soon started to speak up to volunteer to help. They were all speaking at once, giving suggestions and hatching plans. The mood was hopeful that together they could accomplish the impossible. To save the galaxy without getting killed doing it, or by the hands of the undesirable allies from whom they’d be seeking assistance.

“Now stop right there!” It was a command, not a request. They all looked back and saw a fuming Senator Kinsey.

[Boron]

This is a great story. It would make a really good 8 to 12 hr miniseries. Give us more!!


:ewink: :aok: :cool:

[NeilGartner]

Chapter Four: Old and Painful Wounds…

Carter glowered at Senator Kinsey while mentally gnashing her teeth. Now what?

“This is precisely why I have been against this program from the start,” Kinsey angrily exclaimed. “You are jeopardizing this world by choosing sides in a war that has nothing to do with us!”

“Have you been listening to a word that has been said?” O’Neill took a step forward to confront the senator. “The Cylons are spreading throughout our galaxy like the Replicators in the Asgard galaxy. If we don’t do something now, we won’t be able to stop them at all!”

“The Cylons are committed to eliminating all human life,” Apollo explained in a more calm and measured voice. “In their eyes, even if one human remains alive, we will be a constant threat to them.”

“From what I gather, these Cylons don’t know where Earth is,” Kinsey countered. “If SG-1 is permitted to go and be captured by these Cylons, they could gain Earth’s location.”

From across the room, Captain Crais regarded Senator Kinsey with a high degree of disdain.

“Who is this man again?” He questioned aloud.

“I’m Senator Kinsey and chairman of the Appropriation Committee,” the man from Washington declared.

Crais stared blankly at Kinsey for a moment. “Not a General or a military official?”

“No, just a politician who holds the purse stings to this place,” Carter informed the Sebacean Captain.

Crais couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. “How can such a man hold power over your military?”

“By lying, cheating, stealing and screwing his opponents over,” John Crichton answered before smiling innocently. “But that’s just my humble opinion.”

“Like my traitorous cousin,” Rygel observed turning to the senator. “You’re more of a wellnitz than I thought”

Kinsey had had just about enough of this madness. “General, if you agree to this so help me…”

“ ‘So help me’ what?” Hammond demanded, maintaining direct eye contact with the senator. “It seems that you have my retirement party already planned out. Lucky for us, I still have command authority here until then. Colonel O’Neill?”

“Sir?” O’Neill respectfully snapped to attention.

“You and SG-1 will assist Commander Adama on his mission.”

General Hammond’s eyes never left Senator Kinsey’s as he issued his orders, almost daring the senator to try and stop him.

***

The first thing Aeryn noticed about the crew of the Pegasus was that they were much more on edge than the crew of the Galactica, as if they were expecting an attack to come at any given moment. The second was that, according to Sheba, the Pegasus was running with a skeleton crew because, when Cain challenged and destroyed two of those three baseships, he had ordered all non-essential personnel off the ship before the attack. And third, nearly everyone here regarded the former Peacekeeper with a high degree of suspicion, especially Cain’s First Officer Dex. She tried to talk to him a few times but Dex only answered her questions – he spoke to her no more than he had to. He also behaved like he didn’t want to share the same air with her.

She was assigned basic quarters and had two armed guards positioned just outside her door. Aeryn couldn’t blame them for being cautious, but she had a new concern. What had happened when Zhaan had saved her? Did Crichton and the others believe that she had died in the explosion? What if they truly believed that she was dead? The possibility terrified her. What could Crichton be going through right now? She knew how hard she would take it if she lost him for a second time.

But she didn’t have much time to dwell on that before Dex came to her quarters asking her to accompany him to the bridge. With the two burly guards flanking her, she was led through the winding corridors of the Battlestar up to the cavernous bridge. It was almost identical to the Galactica in every detail, except it still showed some battle damage. Some of the repairs looked jury-rigged as a temporary fix. Supplies for the Pegasus must be running low.

“Lt Sun.” Aeryn turned to face Commander Cain as he approached her. “Welcome to the Pegasus.”

Standing before the Battlestar commander and from years of Peacekeeper military conditioning, Aeryn naturally snapped to attention.

“Commander!”

“At ease, Lieutenant,” Cain smiled at her. He could tell at first glance that she was a soldier to the core. “Would you please follow me?”

Cain turned his attention to his First Officer. “Thank you, Dex. That will be all.”

“Sir?” Dex stared questioningly at his superior.

“I said that will be all,” Cain repeated. “You and the guards are dismissed.”

Dex still hesitated for a second. “Yes, sir.” Then he turned to leave with the two guards.

Once they were gone, Commander Cain continued to guide Aeryn through the spacious bridge area. On-duty personnel barely gave them a second glance, continuing to man their stations. He led her to a quiet, deserted section of the bridge area before regarding her with a serious look.

“Now, Lieutenant, I need to ask you a question and please answer truthfully.”

Aeryn met his glaze and nodded.

“How’s my daughter?”

Aeryn was somewhat surprised by his question, thinking he was going to ask something more prudent, perhaps something about her Peacekeeper past.

“She is well,” Aeryn replied honestly.

“And what is my daughter to you?”

She had no problem in answering that question. “She’s my friend and we even saved each other’s life on a few occasions.”

Cain smiled at Aeryn’s response. “I listened to your voice data recorder from your Viper and someone would have to be a half deaf ‘Pretaca’ not to notice how close you two are. If there are two things I know about my daughter, she is instinctive about picking her friends and even more selective as to who she lets fly along side her wing.”

“Does this mean that you trust me?”

“As my daughter’s friend, I do. However, as a Commander, I reserve judgement for the time being. You’ll have to earn the run of the ship,” Cain said before gesturing to a nearby monitor. “Please, I want you to see this now.”

Cain activated the monitor and a green two-dimensional map formed, showing the position of the Pegasus and ahead of her the vast armada of multiple Cylon baseships and numerous smaller vessels.

“This is what we’re shadowing,” Cain explained. “Even during the height of the thousand yahren war between the Twelve Colonies and the Cylon Empire, never had such a large number of baseships been assembled in a single fleet before. You are looking at almost fifty baseships and one hundred smaller support ships. Combined, the fleet might be carrying over twenty thousand Raiders and fifty million Cylon Centurions.”

Aeryn stared at the monitor and the huge Cylon armada in dread. Never in her life had she seen so many massive ships in one place either. She knew the Cylons wouldn’t stop after they were done with the Scarrans. Her own people might be next.

Still staring at the monitor, Aeryn realized something. “How can you detect the Cylons and yet remain unseen to them?”

“A yahren ago, we ran into some traders who sold us advanced stealth technology. It took time, but we managed to adapt it to our own equipment and it nearly doubled the field strength of our camouflage screens. We are able to hang back using only our passive sensors to track them. The Pegasus has been following them for days now and they don’t have a single clue that we’re here.”

“And you are planning to stop them by yourselves?” The new Colonial warrior regarded Cain carefully. Sheba had told Aeryn that her father was a bold and daring tactician who worked miracles on the battlefield and that his incredible victories had made him into a legend. Unfortunately, Aeryn did not believe in miracles, and her thoughts were always grounded in reality. “Any direct confrontation with that fleet would be nothing but suicide.”

“That’s one persons opinion,” Cain declared confidently, apparently completely disregarding Aeryn’s assertion.

Aeryn almost shook her head in disbelief. Is this man overly confident or just plain foolish? Was Sheba’s admiration for her father coloured through the loving eyes of a loyal daughter?

“You are outnumbered fifty to one against those baseships alone. I wouldn’t dare attack that fleet unless I had perhaps two hundred fully loaded Command Carriers.”

“Well, we don’t have two hundred Command Carriers,” Cain answered. “Just one slightly battered Battlestar with no fighters.”

Slowly, Aeryn leaned closer to Cain, keeping her voice low so the rest of the bridge personnel wouldn’t hear.

“You will be killing your crew.”

“My people knew this could be a one way trip the moment I chose to attack the baseships at Gamoray two yahrens ago. They followed me not out of loyalty but because it was the right thing to do. Those baseships would have pursued Adama and the fleet to destroy them. Not only did we manage to destroy two of those three baseships, but we survived to keep up the fight as best as we could.” He sighed slowly and gestured at the monitor displaying the Cylon fleet.

“Now here we are, facing an even larger battle with much higher stakes. The Cylon Empire is growing every day and we are now fighting for the freedom of an entire galaxy.”

“But you can’t win.” Aeryn asserted softly.

“I was told the same thing before I attacked those three baseships with a single battlestar.”

“You are facing a lot more than three baseships.”

“I’ll find a way.”

“You have almost nothing to fight them with!”

“We will make do with what we have.”

Aeryn couldn’t believe his calm demeanour. She still wasn’t sure if he was just overconfident or crazy, but at least he didn’t appear to be arrogant. He was aware of the situation and was ready for an uphill fight - in fact, he seemed to relish it.

“Have you had anything to eat since you came on board?” Cain asked.

“No.” Again, Aeryn was taken aback by the sudden change in subject. “Not really.”

“Good.” Cain gave a tug at his uniform. “I’m about to have dinner served in my cabin and I would be honoured if you’d join me. I think better on a full stomach and could use the company.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Aeryn said gratefully.

“Also, I will see to it that you are provided a clean dress uniform. You will probably want to look your best.”

Aeryn eyes narrow in suspicion. This was an innocent dinner invitation… Wasn’t it? She knew the Colonial forces had no problem with recreating within their ranks, but before she could say another word, a Bridge Officer called Cain away, leaving Aeryn’s head spinning. Was she reading more into this than she should? Humans were so unpredictable and Crichton was a prime example of that, with Starbuck and O’Neill not far behind.

Not that she would object of course. Cain was a charming and handsome older gentleman with a strong physical presence that dominated everyone else in the room. Also, she liked his confidence in the face of overwhelming odds, but more importantly, something told her that he might be able to find a way to pull it off and win.

She shook her head. What is wrong with me!

Here she was far from home and Crichton could be going through hell thinking she was dead. To top it off, she was on another Battlestar with Sheba’s father who was about to take a Cylon fleet head on. And now she was beginning to feel an attraction for her best friend’s father?

Zhaan… What have you dropped me into?

[NeilGartner]

Daniel stopped at Chiana's quarters, as the Nebari was busy getting ready for their journey with Commander Adama. Her door was open, but he politely knocked before entering anyway.

Chiana turned and smiled before finishing packing some clothes into a green military duffle bag.

“I’m just about ready,” she said excitedly. “I can’t tell you how I’m looking forward to seeing Talyn again. I even heard that Athena helped to tame him a bit,” she giggled. “Figures! Leave it to a woman to do in two weekens what Crais couldn’t accomplish in two cycles.”

“Yeah.” Daniel closed the door behind him and slowly sat down in a chair positioned close to the wall. He said softly, “That’s what I want to talk to you about… I would like you to stay with Jacob and the Tok’ra.”

Chiana stopped packing and turned, her glowing smile fading. “You are joking, right? Of course I am coming with you… Right?”

“I just think you’ll be safer with the Tok’ra,” Daniel suggested softly. “I talked to Jacob and he agreed to look after you while we’re gone.”

At first, Chiana didn’t move or say a word. She just stared at him with those dark haunting eyes of hers. Her cold silence finally got to him.

“Chiana?”

Finally, she started moving again and turned back, picking up her duffle bag.

“I have an idea,” she said, before suddenly heaving it at Daniel, yelling. “Why don’t you finish packing my bag if you’re going to make all my decisions for me!”

Daniel just barely caught the military bag before it hit him. He was completely taken aback by her outburst, having never seen the Nebari truly angry before. “I’m just asking…”

“Well, I say no!”

“Will you please let me explain?” Daniel put the bag down and stood up to face her, keeping his voice low as he tried to calm her down.

“There’s no explaining,” Chiana exclaimed. “I’m going!”

“You can’t go.”

“WHY NOT!”

Daniel grabbed her by the shoulders. “Because I don’t want you to die!”

Hearing his genuine concern was like ice water being thrown in her face, cooling her anger and making her take a step back, realizing that she was overreacting. Chiana had immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion that Daniel was trying to control her, but instead he was only terrified of losing her.

She rolled her head slightly before reaching up to place a hand behind his neck, pulling him down to let their foreheads touch. She spoke now in a much calmer voice.

“And why do you think I want to come with you into the heart of Scarran space, just for my health? I’m just as scared something might happen to you,” she smiled, touching the rim of his glasses. “I need to be there to keep you out of trouble, ‘Specs’.”

“I feel just the same my ‘Wildflower’,” Daniel whispered back, moving his hands from her shoulder up to hold her face lovingly between them. “I won’t stop you from coming, but I won’t apologize for wanting to protect you from harm either. Could you at least promise me one thing?”

Chiana nodded.

“If anything should happen, if anything should go wrong, stay close to Sam.”

“So ‘Jolly Sam’ can protect me?”

“She is the one person I know who can get through this mission in one piece,” Daniel confessed. “You never saw what a Tok’ra is capable of when properly equipped. Can you do this for me? Please?”

Chiana could see in his eyes and hear in his voice that all he wanted was to keep her safe and wouldn’t feel at peace until she made that promise. With tears welling in her eyes, she relented.

“I will but… Who’s going to protect you?”

***

Carter knew she was in for an earful when she stepped outside her quarters. After gathering up a few personal items of her own, she found her dad waiting for her in the corridor. He was sporting that, ‘tell me it isn’t so,’ father look.

“You handed in your resignation?”

“Dad,” Carter sighed wearily before sidestepping him. “Please, I don’t have time to argue.”

When she kept going, a surprised Jacob Carter hurried after his daughter. “Sam, I only want to hear your side of the story.”

“I pissed off Senator Kinsey when I exposed his plan to double cross the Colonials,” Carter answered as she walked onward. “He was going to make my life a living hell in the military, so I quit. That’s all there is to it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not… I was growing sick of my job!”

“What?” Jacob moved faster, catching up to walk along beside her. “Sam, talk to me. What has gotten into you?”

She stopped and turned to her father. “I am glad that I’m no longer in the Air Force, if it means we have to answer to people like Senator Kinsey or his military lackeys.”

Jacob stared at her in disbelief. “It comes with the territory,” he tried to explain. “For better or worse, we have to put up with people like him and make the best of it.”

“And why is that? Can you please explain why good people continue to die when people like Kinsey just flourish? I’m tired of this constant bullshit!”

Facing her, Jacob could see the fury in his daughter’s eyes and hear it in the way she spoke now, shouting like an angry truck driver. It felt like he was looking at a complete stranger.

“Sam, what happened to you out there?”

“No one told you…” Carter breathed slowly. “You didn’t even read Janet’s report?”

He couldn’t lie to her. He placed a gentle hand her on the shoulder and said, “I’m almost afraid to.”

A far away look took hold in Carter’s eyes, her voice quivering. “I was interrogated, dad… I was placed in this machine that felt like it was frying my brain…” She closed her eyes as tears started to stream down her cheeks. “… And all the while he just leered over me as I screamed my throat raw…”

“Sam, stop. Don’t do this to yourself.” Jacob moved closer to try and comfort her, but Carter seemed to be collapsing into her own house of horrors.

He reached out to his daughter, pulling her towards him in a protective embrace, as if he could shield her against her traumatic memories. Her entire body was trembling and all he could do was hold her, while softly speaking in her ear. “You’re safe. I wasn’t there to help you, but I’m here now. You can tell me when you feel ready.”

Grateful, Carter nodded, quickly wiping away her tears as she tried to regain her tattered composure.

Still holding her, Jacob whispered gently, “I wish I could go with you, but the Tok’ra can’t afford to lose us both.”

“I understand,” Carter said looking down. “And I agree with them. Having two high level Tok’ra’s like Selmak and Jolinar going on the same mission is far too risky.”

“Sam?” Jacob placed a hand under her chin, lifting Carter’s face up to his. “Answer me truthfully, are you up to this? I can go in your place.”

“I’m fine, dad, honest. Besides, everyone needs me and I really need to be with them. Also, General Hammond could use your help here against Senator Kinsey.”

“I’ll do that and more if I have to,” Jacob promised and added. “Once this is all done and you get back, I’m going to take some time off to be with my daughter and the Tok’ra Council be damned,”

Carter choked out a laugh, shedding new tears, this time for joy. “I would love that, but isn’t Selmak a member on the council?”

Jacob eyes glowed as Selmak now spoke. “You are right! Perhaps it would sound better coming from me. A father should have the time to be with family and I, too, would like to spend some of it with my dear and newly returned friend Jolinar of Malkshur.”

With a sudden smile, Carter placed a hand over Selmak’s heart as her eyes glowed briefly before Jolinar answered. “As do I, my old comrade.”

Bowing his head, Selmak spoke wholeheartedly to his friend. “Then let me speak for Jacob also when I say please be safe, Jolinar and Samantha Carter.”

[NeilGartner]

They stood side-by-side in the middle of the street in some old European town. Just barely 20 yards away was a huge German Tiger Tank parked out in front of the bank. The tank’s turret was slowly revolving to level its massive cannon in their direction.

“And what’s the point to all of this, John?” Harvey asked, dressed in an American Sherman tanker’s uniform, eyeing the German tank wearily.

Next to him, John Crichton was dressed in a WWII GI’s uniform, holding a Thompson machine gun. He was smiling from ear to ear, doing his best take on Clinton Eastwood in the movie, “Kelly’s Heroes”.

“We’re about to walk up and have a chat with the nice Nazi tank commander, to see if he knows the bank he’s guarding is filled with gold and cut him in on the deal.”

Harvey snorted. “And what’s keeping him from simply shooting before we can tell him?”

“Because, Harvey,” Crichton said. “He’s currently wondering why are the crazy Americans walking right into my cannon barrel.”

“The only one here who is mad is you! This scheme to form an alliance between the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers is doomed from the start,” the neural clone spat, pointing to the huge German tank at the end of the street. “This isn’t a movie where you can just walk up to them and make a deal. In life, no one lives happily ever after! Something else will rear up or drop unexpectedly out of the sky and shoot the two lovers in mid kiss after they propose marriage. Scarrans and Peacekeepers are natural enemies and probably one or both will kill you the moment you show yourselves.”

“That’s the story of my life, Harvey. Expect the worse while hoping for the best. As it stands, the only alternative is to let the Cylons win.”

“For the time being, that could be acceptable,” Harvey suggested.

“Excuse me?”

“You forget space is vast. You can hide as the Cylons slowly exert control over the galaxy, and that day won’t come, at least not in your lifetime. Make the most of it in your short and semi-pathetic existence.”

Crichton couldn’t believe his ears. “And since when have you taken an interest in my life, besides making sure I don’t get killed and taking you with me?”

“Aeryn is gone, John, and it’s time to move on and find someone new.”

Crichton lifted his helmet away from his eyes to glare suspiciously at Harvey. “And again I have to say, why do you care about my life?”

“Come on, John!” Harvey sounded as if he was speaking to a child. “Every man needs the companionship of a tender female, even you! Of course, you always like the tough ones that pick you up and slam you to the floor.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need your advice.”

Crichton turned to walk away when Harvey called to him again.

“I was also talking about myself, John. Remember, I experience everything you do and I want female companionship, even if you don’t.”

With a dark scowl, Crichton spun about, cocking his Thompson machinegun before pointing the weapon at him.

“You are treading on dangerous ground, Harvey! The idea of you sharing my time… My experiences with Aeryn…”

“Only your memories, John,” Harvey declared innocently, unafraid of the weapon being aimed at him. “Think about the irony, the geeky archaeologist is probably getting more in one week with the young Nebari than what you had in the first three years when you arrived in the Uncharted Territories! Are you planning to become a hermit, too?”

Slowly advancing, Crichton pressed the muzzle of the machinegun against Harvey’s temple, wishing he could simply pull the trigger and be finally free of him. Unfortunately, the neural clone was a permanent passenger in his mind and couldn’t be dispelled so easily.

“I really do liked Samantha Carter,” Harvey smiled viciously. “I can see why Scorpius was so attracted to her. Beauty, intelligence and a true fighting spirit, a rare combination indeed.”

“I’m going to sorely disappoint you, Harvey! It’s never going to happen. She only has eyes for O’Neill, so you are shit out of luck!”

“But her symbiont Jolinar desires you, and since we can’t have her mind, at least we can experience her body. What do you say, John?”

Crichton pulled the trigger, firing the Thompson at point blank range. “Shut the hell up!”

Useless as it was in trying to kill Harvey, it felt really good as the weapon thundered off several rounds.

***

Down in the Gate Room, the co-ordinates for the Tok’ra base were being dialled into the stargate for the return trip, where Talyn was waiting for them in orbit. Everyone was assembled and ready to go except for one tardy individual.

“Chevron four encoded!” The Gate Technician’s voice sounded over the intercom.

Up in the Gate Control Room, John Crichton was hurrying as he moved down the stairs from the upper level dressed in his familiar leathers and trench coat. He was angry with himself for letting Harvey get the better of him and making him late. Just three steps behind him was his father, trying to keep up.

“John, I still fail to see why you need to go back out there?”

“Because, dad…” When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned and faced his father. “They’re my friends and my wormhole knowledge could make all the difference.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“Dad, this is dangerous. Far more dangerous than anything that you can possibly imagine.”

“Chevron five encoded!”

“All the more reason for me to go.”

“Dad…” John started to say.

“I don’t want to lose you again, son,” his father pleaded. “I can’t shake the feeling that you won’t be coming back.”

“I will be back and you can do more good here,” John said. “General Hammond could use someone like you in his corner to fight Senator Kinsey. Use every IOU, every favor and pull every string with every government official you have and if you have to, blow the lid off this place. I’d hate to see what Kinsey has in mind to replace Hammond with.”

“I will,” Jack Crichton promised, fighting his emotions. “Just come home.”

“Count on it,” John replied before hugging his dad. Father and son embraced tightly for several moments before hearing the Gate Operator announcing in the background again.

“Chevron six encoded!”

Pulling back a little, John half smiled with tearful eyes. “That’s my cue, dad.”

A quick good-bye later, John walked into the Gate Room and was met by several curious and welcoming stares from his friends: SG-1 with the now-Tok’ra Samantha Carter, Commander Adama, Captain Apollo, Rygel, Chiana, D’Argo, Captain Crais and the Luxan ambassador. Standing there, Crichton felt comfortable and at home amongst them, more than he had been on Earth. Had he changed that much?

“I thought you had second thoughts about going?” D’Argo said as John walked up next to him.

“Never and besides, you are not the only one who likes to make an entrance,” the Human joked to his Luxan friend.

“John,” D’Argo stared doubtfully at him. “Is there anything troubling you?”

“No, beyond the fact we’re about to pin a bull’s-eye on our asses again,” John answered, trying to forget his confrontation with Harvey when his eyes fell on Samantha Carter, standing next to O’Neill and the rest of SG-1. He shook his head to stop himself from staring hard at the blond Tok’ra, started looking around for a possible distraction and found the perfect one.

“Pip! What are you wearing?”

The Nebari ran up to them, all smiles. Gone was her familiar skintight leather suit that she filled so well, replaced by the standard SGC green combat fatigues, black leather boots and even their black carrying vests. Strapped to her hip was her ever-faithful Zat gun.

“You like it?” Chiana asked, excited.

D’Argo frowned in disapproval, but John took a more positive tone. “Well, you are still showing that you’re willing try anything at least once. Looks good on you.”

“Thanks, Old Man!”

Chiana immediately turned and hurried back to Daniel as D’Argo uttered quietly, “She seems to be trying too hard to fit in amongst your kind, Crichton.”

“Who can blame her, Big D,” John said. “Unlike us, Chiana doesn’t have a place to call her own and I, for one, am wishing her the best.”

“I know,” D’Argo stared over his shoulder up into the Control Room above them, to glare at the watching Senator Kinsey. “But I hope she doesn’t become too disappointed if someone ruins it.”

“Chevron Seven locked!”

The Stargate activated with an explosive ‘Ka-whoosh’.

“All right, campers!” O’Neill sounded off. “Forward march!”

In the Control Room, Senator Kinsey watched as the Colonials, the Luxans, the Hynerian and his two Cylon escorts filed through the stargate with SG-1 bringing up the rear, before speaking to General Hammond.

“I hope you are happy, General. You might have signed our planet’s death warrant for letting them all play heroes!”

Jack Crichton and Jacob Carter were also there to see their two kids going off to risk their lives. All they could do was just stand there and watch them leave. They both had had enough of the senator.

“Senator,” Jack Crichton said heatedly. “Do me a favor and…”

“Shut the hell up!” Jacob finished for Jack, staring angrily at Kinsey.

In the Gate Room, O’Neill, Carter, Daniel, Teal’c and Chiana were the last ones to go through the stargate. They were about to step through the portal when the young Nebari stopped.

“Wait! There’s one person I forgot to say good-bye to!” Then she ran out of the Gate Room.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” O’Neill sighed, gesturing to the stargate. “Daniel, our ride can’t wait.”

“I’ll get her.” Daniel quickly chased after Chiana.

“Teal’c, we’d better help him,” O’Neill suggested as he turned to Carter. “Hold the door open.”

The Tok’ra gave a nod, placing her hand into the glowing event horizon to prevent the stargate from automatically shutting off when not in use.

“I’ve got my foot or should I say my hand in the door, Jack.”

Jack? That’s going to take some time getting used to, having her calling me by my first name, O’Neill thought, but he enjoyed hearing it. It was also a sign of a serious change in their relationship and he was looking forward to exploring it.

Racing out of the Gate Room, Chiana rushed up into the Control Room. Everyone there watched the Nebari as she sauntered past Jack Crichton and Jacob Carter over to Senator Kinsey, who stared back impatiently. Not caring one iota about this grey skinned creature, he wondered what Daniel could possibly see in this thing that made him so attracted to ‘it’.

“Is there something you want?” He demanded.

“Yeah,” Chiana said in a honey sweet voice as she edged closer to him. “I just want you to know that Carter is a dear friend of mine and this is for her from me.”

Daniel, O’Neill and Teal’c arrived just in time to catch Chiana kneeing Kinsey right in the crotch. The three SG-1 males practically felt the impact across the room as the Senator shouted out in agony before doubling over and collapsing to the floor.

“Ow!” O’Neill winced before suppressing a smile at the senator who was sprawled out on the floor, holding himself. I wish I could have got that moment on camera!

A flabbergasted General Hammond managed to overcome the utter shock of the Nebari assaulting the senator and moved quickly. He grabbed Chiana by the arm and pushed her towards the leader of SG-1.

“Colonel, get her out of here, FAST!”

Jacob was also now ushering them out of the room, pointing to Chiana, warning them. “When Senator Kinsey regains his power of speech, he’ll have her dissected and spread across all 50 states and Canada for added measure! Move it!”

At the stargate, Carter was sporting a huge smile. From her vantage point, she managed to make out what had happened to Senator Kinsey through the windows in the Gate Control Room. She waited as a fast-moving O’Neill and Teal’c appeared in the Gate Room again, carrying Chiana between them, each holding an arm. A stunned Daniel was following closely behind.

“Come on!” Chiana protested, her feet not even touching the ground as the two men carried her. “Admit it, you guys secretly loved what I did! Don’t tell me Kinsey didn’t have it coming!”

“I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it could be used against me in my court-martial,” O’Neill replied under his breath, causing Chiana to giggle.

“Hey,” Carter asked coyly as they walked towards her and the stargate. “Where did Senator Kinsey go?”

“Zat girl kneed him just south of the belt buckle,” O’Neill answered. “Go figure.”

“Indeed she did,” Teal’c said in his ever-deadpan voice before he, O’Neill and a still-giggling Chiana disappeared through the stargate.

Carter focused her attention on Daniel. He looked mystified at what he had just witnessed. All he could do was shrug his shoulders as he walked through the stargate past Carter.

Now the last one on this side of the stargate, Carter looked back up to the Control Room. A couple of soldiers were now there helping Senator Kinsey to his feet and to a nearby chair. She turned her attention, making eye contact with General Hammond, Jack Crichton and her father.

Carter gave her dad a quick salute before stepping through the stargate herself.

[FL_Redleg]

Neil,
Fantastic! Thanks for a new Chapter. It's off to the printer (at work!).

Joe,
Florida Redleg

[seattlescaper]

This is the one of the few Farscape crossovers that I like. Have you thought of posting this up on the Kansas board? Thanks for the new chapter.

[SabaceanBabe]

Well, *that* was fast... :D

Something else will rear up or drop unexpectedly out of the sky and shoot the two lovers in mid kiss after they propose marriage.

I love your little nod to Bad Timing here. My favorite part of this chapter, though, is that last scene at the Stargate (although the John and Harvey scene is a close second).

And I have to second seattlescaper's suggestion, you should post this over on Kansas, if you haven't already.

[Bekka Horror]

fantastic chapter, love the BT nod, any chance of some of the later characers apearing eg sicosu, jonas, arkana (probibly spelt wrong)

you dont have to say if you think it will spoil things, i dont know how many eps you map out ahead of time.

[NeilGartner]

Originally posted by Bekka Horror
fantastic chapter, love the BT nod, any chance of some of the later characers apearing eg sicosu, jonas, arkana (probibly spelt wrong)

you dont have to say if you think it will spoil things, i dont know how many eps you map out ahead of time.


Well, I can tell you that Sikuzo will be making an appearance amongst a list of others. unfortuantely, Jonas won't be showing up and the name Arkana is not ringing a bell. It'll probably come to me when I log off tonight. ;)

Just keep reading and I always love hearing what you all have to say. :)

Thank you!

Neil

[Bekka Horror]

i ment the war minister played by fran, i almost certanly spelt it wrong

[NeilGartner]

War Minister 'Ahkna'? She will be there with all the other Scarrans, Charrids and Kalishs and even Commandant Gayza will be attending. Our heroes will be walking into the Lion's Den. :ewink:

Neil

[UTChick]

Wow, this is my first venture in to fan fic. Awesome story line. I've always enjoyed Stargate - just a fun story line, but what a great job you did merging the two. Very possible. Keep it coming!!

[NeilGartner]

Chapter Five: The Journey

Senator Kinsey tried to rest comfortably in the back of his limo, but even after two days, he was still suffering from the sting of Chiana’s well-placed knee. It was quite difficult for him to sit without feeling any discomfort and try as he might, when Kinsey walked, he moved like he was experiencing a bad case of constipation.



“Little bitch!” he muttered angrily. He vowed if Chiana ever made the mistake of returning to Earth, he’d be the one getting the last laugh.



“Trouble, my old friend?”



A man dressed in a long white and golden trimmed robe now sat across from him where there had been no one a moment before.



Surprised, Senator Kinsey sat up straight, making sure the dark privacy window was raised so his driver didn’t know what was happening just behind him.



“Nothing to concern yourself with,” Kinsey grumbled before adding, “You should be careful when you decide to appear.”



His unexpected visitor ignored his last statement and instead said, “Your performance at the SGC could have been better. Now Crichton and the others are allying with Adama to try and stop the Cylons.”



“What can they do against the Cylons besides offering themselves to be additional targets?” Kinsey asked.



“More than you can know. Crichton could be a powerful ally to Adama because he carries the knowledge of the Ancients. And then there’s Chiana…”



Kinsey grimaced at the mere mention of the Nebari’s name. “Daniel Jackson’s slutty girlfriend! What can she do? Kick the Cylons between the legs?”



The man didn’t share the senator’s amusement. “Trust me when I say in the long term, she could be just as dangerous as Crichton.”



Kinsey leaned back, to try and find a comfortable position in which to sit. “What makes her so special?”



“No need to worry. Forget about General Hammond for the time being and do your part as we had planned. You will be rewarded… Mr. President.”



***



Colonel Jack O’Neill was having one of those mornings. The kind when you awaken in a groggy state and for the next several moments all you can do is just lay there wondering where the heck you are.



Through his sleepy haze, the first thing O’Neill saw was a field of stars… Was it still nighttime? He was looking through a window just two feet away, but the stars were moving…



He was on a spaceship… Talyn. A living ship… Right?



Then he took notice of the pool of warmth curled against his back… There was someone sleeping with him but who? The mysterious figure at his back suddenly cuddled closer up against his body. O’Neill quietly hoped it was female or this would be one very awkward moment that would haunt him to his dying day.



Under the blankets, a slender hand slithered around his body. It moved up and across his chest, passed his throat, over his mouth, finally reaching his face. The mystery hand lightly touched his nose before playfully squeezing it like it was a bike horn.



Beep-beep!



Okay, O’Neill was now wide-awake after that and everything came roaring back to him.



“Good morning, Sam,” he whispered.



From behind his back, Carter rose up on one elbow, smiling down at him, saying in a teasing voice, “Sorry, did I wake you?”



O’Neill rolled onto his back to stare up at her appreciatively.



They were sleeping together in one of Talyn’s compartment bunks. Being a young Leviathan, Talyn’s living quarters were still not fully developed and sleeping accommodations were quite limited, so it was necessary for some of them to share bed space.



Not surprising, it didn’t require much arm-twisting to get Daniel and Chiana to be bunkmates, but it floored O’Neill when Carter suggested they share a bed, too. Not that he minded, but he was worried they might be moving too fast. Much as he hated to admit it, Carter was still acting a few rounds short of a full clip at times. He was slightly relieved when she told him they would be sleeping together with shirts and shorts on. After five years of working together, side by side and forming a close friendship, O’Neill didn’t want to do anything to ruin it.



Carter continued to smile down at him, saying, “Jolinar says good morning, too.”



For a second, O’Neill frowned before reaching up and playfully pinching her nose, his frown changing to a smile. “Well, since Jolinar can hear me, good morning to you both.”



The Tok’ra gave a sly grin before curling up against him. The two then slipped their arms a