Ring of Salvation
by AJ Marks
Part 2
Mitchell watched as the gate dialed and the seventh chevron locked and continued on. An unusual experience as he looked around at the equipment they would be taking with them. The connection made the MALP headed on through the gate and waited.
“Sir, it looks like an Ancient building,” Sam said.
“Ancients, you sure?” Mitchell replied.
“Positive,” Sam said. “That means they’ll have a way to plug in a ZPM if needed,” Sam stated.
”SG-1, you have a go,” Landry said.
Mitchell looked at the others before saying anything. “All right, move out,” he ordered and headed towards the gate with the others following him.
Stepping through the gate he saw the normal vision before stepping out on the other side of the gate and in another galaxy. It felt strange to him despite the fact he had been on other planets many times but didn’t usually go to another galaxy.
Sam, Daniel and Teal’c appeared beside him as they fanned out a bit to explore the area.
“Defiantly Ancient in construction,” Daniel said.
“Reminds me of Atlantis,” Sam said.
It was a place Mitchell had not been so he had to take her word for it, but the gate did seem a bit different, like the Ancients made advances in how to build them.
“So, how’s our power levels?” Mitchell asked seeing Daniel heading over to the computer.
“Ah, just a second,” Daniel said working on the computer. Mitchell looked around seeing Teal’c walk off through a doorway before turning back to Daniel. “It seems things are fine, we’ll be able to dial back to Earth no problem.”
Mitchell felt relieved at that.
“Colonel Mitchell,” Teal’c’s voice said. “I believe we are not alone.”
“How do you know that,” Mitchell replied over the radio.
“Because I am looking at them,” Teal’c replied gaining Mitchell’s attention real fast.
“We might need to dial out of here in a hurry,” Mitchell said to Daniel.
“Working on it,” Daniel replied as Sam moved over to where he was.
Mitchell made his way where he had last seen Teal’c go and down the hallway encountered him standing with three others, all dressed in brown and looking back at Teal’c.
“Okay,” Mitchell said as the group looked back at him. “Look, we mean you no harm, we’re explorers and came through the Stargate.”
“Stargate?” the man with dark hair said.
“Yeah, that disk back there, ring of the ancients, Chappa’ai, ring of the gods,” Mitchell said hoping one of the names meant something to them. “We’re only exploring and didn’t mean to intrude.”
“Um, we’re not from this planet either,” the man finally said.
“Fellow explorers?” Mitchell said knowing they could be a lot of other things.
“Patrolling for resources,” the man finally said.
“So neither of us are from this planet? You know who is?” Mitchell asked.
“No, thought you were the owners,” the man said.
“All right, then let’s all just lower our weapons,” Mitchell said lowing his as did Teal’c followed by the others.
“Sir?” Sam’s voice said.
“Everything’s under control,” Mitchell radioed back.
“If you didn’t come through the Chappa’ai then how did you get here?” Teal’c asked.
“Um, spaceship,” the man replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.
“Okay, let’s start over, I’m Colonel Cameron Mitchell, this is Teal’c. We’re part of a group of explorers of the Tau’ri,” Mitchell replied hoping it might mean something to them.
“Never heard of them,” the dark-haired one said. “I’m Captain Apollo, strike leader of the battlestar Galactica, this is Starbuck and Boomer.”
Mitchell looked over at Teal’c and knew it was beyond either of them. Perhaps Daniel or Sam might know more about the situation.
“Battlestar, what is that?” Teal’c asked, it was the question he wanted to ask as well.
“Starship,” Apollo replied back to him.
“Apollo, you still there?’ a female voice said and Apollo raised a devise which Mitchell considered to be a communicator.
“Yeah, we ran into someone, doesn’t appear to be dangerous,” Apollo said even as Sam walked up.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked, stopping as she looked at the two men then back at Mitchell.
“Samantha Carter, meet Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer, from the battlestar Galactica,” Mitchell said.
“A starship?” Sam asked.
“Yeah,” Mitchell said.
“Really, I’d love to see it,” Sam said even as Mitchell was about to protest she continued. “It’s why we came here, to see why there is only one stargate here. They might know.”
“It’s up to them,” Mitchell said looking back at Apollo.
“I’ll have to ask my commander,” Apollo finally said.
Mitchell nodded already thinking, he and Sam would go up leaving Teal’c and Daniel on the planet to explore the structure.
*****
Apollo walked to the shuttle where Sheba waited along with the Wilker and his scientific crew. Beside him walked Mitchell and Sam, strange visitors who had come though something called a stargate. He couldn’t wait for more information as they climbed aboard the shuttle.
“A ZPM!” he heard Sam say causing everyone to look at her, but she was looking at the yellow device Wilker had picked up.
“ZPM?” Wilker asked as Apollo settled into a seat.
“Zero Point Module, a power source created by the Ancients,” she said. “You don’t know what it is?”
“We’ve never run across such technology before,” Wilker said. “And who are these Ancients?”
Apollo motioned for Sheba to lift off even as Sam and Wilker continued to talk about where they found it and how many were there.
“Was it lit up or dark?” Sam asked.
“Dark.”
“It must be depleted, we haven’t figured out how to replicate it yet either,” Sam said to him.
They lifted off and headed towards the Galactica.
“So, you haven’t encountered a stargate before? How long has your race been traveling among the stars?” Mitchell asked.
“For over a thousand yahrens,” Apollo replied seeing a strange look on Mitchell’s face and he realized he probably didn’t know what a yahren was.
“Oh, then you probably know a lot of this galaxy, it’s our first time here,” Mitchell said.
“You’re from another galaxy?” Apollo asked.
“Yes, stargates are heavily populated all over the universe,” Mitchell said.
“Do you have spaceships?” Apollo asked, wondering if everyone used these gates did they even have a need for ships.
“We have a few, getting bigger all the time,” Mitchell replied back.
“So you came here to explore?” Apollo asked even as another question came to his mind. “You’re human?”
“Surprisingly humanity is spread though out the universe, but usually only where stargates are present,” Mitchell replied.
“Our legends say there were thirteen tribes, from a planet called Kobal,” Apollo said.
“Really, interesting,” Mitchell replied.
Apollo wondered what else they might have in common and where they actually came from.
*****
Mitchell glanced up out the window upon hearing they were approaching the Galactica. Looking out he felt a bit surprised to see so many ships of so many sizes. He then focused on one which seemed to have a unique look to it. He could see two massive hangars on the ship along with a massive thruster.
“Home sweet home,” Apollo said.
“That’s the Galactica,” Mitchell asked, impressed with the size. It was the size of a Gao’uld mothership at least. The shuttle landed allowing them out and onto a very organized flight deck. Mitchell looked around seeing the crew working with efficiency he would expect to see back home on a carrier.
He spotted a couple of people standing nearby and took in their appearance. One was an older gentleman with white hair and a blue uniform.
“Welcome aboard the Galactica, I’m Commander Adama,” the man said introducing himself.
“Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, this is Samantha Carter,” Mitchell said introducing them both.
“I’m told you’re explorers from another galaxy,” Adama said but also asked the question.
“Yes, we travel vast distances though the stargate,” Mitchell said.
“Haven’t heard of a stargate,” Adama said.
“It’s a device which creates a stable wormhole which can allow travel between two stargates using seven points, and when travelling to other galaxy’s an eighth point is required,” Sam said speaking up.
“How about we sit down and talk,” Adama said.
Mitchell agreed and they were led into the ship even as he looked around. He noticed one thing which seemed strange to him. They appeared advanced yet primitive at the same time. It was an odd mix to have a group seem so advanced yet there was something he couldn’t put his finger on. Looking over he spotted Sam looking around as well.
They were led into a room and sat down. Adama excused himself for a second along with Apollo leaving them alone in the room.
“You get the feeling something’s off?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, not sure what though,” Mitchell said.
“The technology seems too primitive,” Sam said. “And did you see the people in the hallways?”
“Yeah, not crewmembers that’s for sure,” Mitchell said wondering what they had stumbled into this time. He would have said more when Adama returned along with Apollo.
“How did one of these stargates appear on this world if you are from another galaxy? Have you visited this galaxy before?” Adama asked.
“Actually, the stargates were created by a race we call the Ancients, and it seems they put them on many worlds, but the gate on the planet here is the only known gate in this entire galaxy,” Samantha said.
“That’s good, it means the Cylons don’t have access to it yet,” Adama said.
“Cylons?” Mitchell said perking up at this. It meant there was something here and from the tone not friendly. Their quest for allies might have ended before it began.
“A race which is now comprised entirely of machines, their only goal is to eliminate humanity,” Adama said.
“Sound like wonderful people,” Mitchell said sarcastically. “Don’t think we want to wait around to meet them.”
“No, they destroyed our entire civilization,” Adama said shocking Mitchell and Samantha who shared another look.
“These machines, surely they have a weakness? Like the replicators, some sort of electronic burst?” Samantha asked.
“They are immune to such things, they’ve become independent robots, each of them acting like we do,” Adama said. “They are deadly and uncaring. They have no problem proposing a peace agreement and then attacking you.”
“Is that what happened?” Mitchell asked hearing that there was a story behind the words.
“We’d been fighting them for a thousand yehrens before they asked for peace. Used a senator named Baltar, instead they used as a surprise attack on our fleet and sabotaged our defenses destroying our twelve homeworlds,” Adama said. “Billions died.”
“Then this fleet?” Sam asked.
“Is all that remains of our civilization,” Adama said. “Until now it was also assumed it was all that was left of the humanity.”
“Our galaxy is full of humans, as are many other galaxies,” Sam said.
“The thirteenth tribe?” Apollo asked.
“How did they get so far and numerous?” Adama asked.
“That’s a long story, but it has to do with the Ancients, and the Gao’uld,” Sam said. “It’s a story we don’t know for sure. We think the Ancients were close to humans, and as a result took humans with them when they went to the other galaxies. As for the Gao’uld, they used humans for worshippers, hosts, slaves and more.
“Hosts?” Adama asked.
“The Gao’uld are parasites, they use a human host to live in and can extend their lives and abilities beyond a normal human, that and they wanted humans to worship them as gods,” Sam said. “Though we thought Earth was the homeworld for humanity.”
“Earth?” both Apollo and Adama said at the same time. Mitchell was slightly surprised at the reaction to the name, usually the name meant nothing to others and they had to use other names to get a reaction. “The thirteenth tribe!” Adama said.
“You know of it?” Mitchell asked, surprised.
“The thirteenth tribe and Earth is what we’re trying to find, our last hope for survival,” Adama said.
Mitchell looked over at Sam and then back at them. “This is getting strange.”
“If humanity originated here why did the Ancients leave this galaxy alone?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know,” Mitchell said shielding his eyes as a sudden blinding white lite enveloped the entire room leaving him wondering what would happen next.
End part 2