Ring of Salvation – Part 6

Ring of Salvation

by AJ Marks

Part 6

Mitchell found a very busy command room with Sam working with Wilker and a few others before making his way over to where Daniel sat.

“Want to fill me in?” Mitchell said.

“The ZPM doesn’t have enough power to dial again to our galaxy, so we’re hoping to boost the power with the starships nearby,” Daniel said.

“And this will work?” Mitchell asked.

“Don’t know, it might short the gate out, even destroying it,” Daniel said.

“Great, a gate which could short out, a large warship poised to crash onto this site in about an hour and Cylons on their way,” Mitchell said. “Good thing there’s no pressure.  Sam, what’s the situation?”

“We might have it ready to go in a few hours,” Sam said.

“You have fifteen minutes,” Mitchell replied.

“Sir, there are precise calculations which have to be made,” Sam replied.

“In a few hours this spot won’t exist anymore,” Mitchell said, “and will probably be overrun by Cylons. Time is something we don’t have this time.”

He watched as Adama walked in taking a look at the situation.

“How close are you to getting it to work?” he asked.

“Not sure,” Wilker said.

“Apollo you and Starbuck, set up a perimeter around the building, but be ready to leave as quickly as possible,” Adama said.

“Okay,” he said as he and Starbuck headed out.

“Sam, we might have to pull the pin and throw,” Mitchell said.

“Sir, even if we get it to work, it might not be stable for long,” Sam said.

“Then we move fast,” Mitchell said. “I’m going to help Apollo.”

He left the group and headed outside seeing a group of warriors ready and a line of people.

“All right, listen up,” he said loudly. “If the gate activates we won’t have much time, so go though as fast as possible and upon reaching the other side quickly move away from the gate.”

He looked up to see several vipers landing close by and the warriors jumping out and heading towards them stopping in confusion.

“Apollo, why are we still standing here?” a woman asked.

“Ran into a slight power problem,” Apollo replied.

“Yeah, we’ve got a Cylon transport heading here, should be here in a few centons,” she replied back to him.

“Great, all right, man all the defensive emplacements,” Apollo said, “but be aware of your communicator, if you are ordered to leave, do so.”

“Here,” another warrior said to Mitchell, handing him what looked like a pistol. “It’ll work better against the Cylons.”

“Right,” Mitchell said. “Sam,” he said keying his mic.

*****

“I’m on it sir,” Sam said replying to the question. She never felt so unsure about something before.

“We have incoming,” Mitchell said.

Sam looked at everyone else who all looked at her.

“As Cam said, pull the pin and throw,” she said. “It appears we’re out of time.”

Daniel walked over the DHD and began imputing the address. The gate began to turn and everyone prayed it would work.

“Chevron one, locked,” Daniel said, counting them down.

Sam felt the pressure build as each chevron locked.

“If it works we’ll have to go through fast,” Adama said, “especially if Cylons are already landing.”

“Right,” Sam said, ready to inform Teal’c of the situation.

“Chevron seven, locked,” Daniel said.

She watched as the gate twirled again and the eighth chevron slipped into place.

“Eight chevron, locked,” Daniel said as the lights dimmed for a second and the kawhoosh sound indicating an opening wormhole had been created.

Sam quickly looked at the readings.

“It worked, but I have no idea how long it will remain,” Sam said to them.

“Move out,” Adama said making his way to the gate.

“Teal’c, come in,” Sam sad.

“Major Carter, it is good to hear your voice,” Teal’c said.

“Yeah, we’re going to be coming through as fast as possible,” Sam said to him.

“Is there a problem?”

“We have Cylons charging the base, and we had to improvise the power, so we don’t know how long it will last,” Sam said.

“Understood, we are ready,” Teal’c said even as the first group began moving thought the gate.

“Sir, the gate is open,” Sam said to Mitchell giving him the information he needed.

“Go ahead and go though, you and Daniel, I’ll be the last one,” Mitchell said.

“Are you sure,” Sam asked.

“Just go,” Mitchell said, even as she heard shooting starting.

“Daniel, go,” Sam said to him heading to the gate herself with her equipment.

She moved into line and headed through knowing Daniel was about to come though as well.

Exiting she felt herself tossed out of the gate instead of the normal walk though. Before she could even gain her bearing she was dragged away from the gate as people were anxiously speaking all over.

“Major Carter, are you all right?” she heard Teal’c’s voice ask.

“Yeah, that was rough,” Sam said.

“There does seem to be a problem with this wormhole,” Teal’c said. “I have never seen it happen before.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Sam said.

She stood seeing that the Jaffa and others were rushing in, dragging people out and equipment so it wouldn’t back up in the gate. She only hoped they all made it.

*****

Mitchell fired a few times, seeing the immense power of this blaster and another Cylon sparked and fell. The Cylons were very different than what he expected.  They were large and accurate and actually faster than he expected.

“Fall back,” Apollo said.

Mitchell looked on seeing the line had disappeared and made his way inside as well seeing the last of the line almost running into the gate.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Mitchell yelled out.

The warriors came running in with blasters drawn and into the gate. A couple more were helping injured as finally Starbuck and Apollo appeared.

“You ready to leave,” Starbuck asked.

“Yeah,” Apollo said as a few stray lasers entered the room indicating the Cylons were close behind them.

“You the last group?” Mitchell asked.

“Yep,” Apollo said as they headed towards the gate.

Mitchell fired a few shots before heading though as well.

Seconds later he felt himself tossed out landing on hard ground and slightly dazed.

“Colonel, are you okay,” he heard Teal’c say.

“Yeah, defensive perimeter, now,” Mitchell said. “The Cylons were right behind us.”

He heard Teal’c say something in Jaffa and was dragged away as he finally shook the cobwebs clear and stood to see a defensive ring of Jaffa fighters even as the first Cylon came though. Everyone opened fire before the Cylon could get back up after being tossed out.

Several more followed in rapid succession but the line held until the gate finally closed.

“Wonder if the gate was destroyed?” Daniel said.

“Only one way to find out, dial it when we get back to Earth,” Sam said.

“I know I can’t wait to get back home,” Mitchell said flexing his shoulder satisfied he hasn’t broken anything.

“I would like to see your leaders,” Adama said.

Mitchell looked at Sam and the others knowing there was a lot to discuss.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Sam said.

“I’ll ask the general then,” Mitchell said.

*****

Adama watched as the gate was dialed again, activated and connected, or so he was told. He already informed Tigh he was going to meet with the leaders of Earth, and perhaps get some support to help rebuild their society and get information about this galaxy.

Beside him stood Apollo, going with him for security, but Adama had a good feeling the people he was talking to were trustworthy. He looked over at Mitchell and Sam who both nodded.

“All right, let’s go,” Mitchell said, heading into the gate.

Adama walked through and was met with an interior room with flashing red lights and men with weapons, as Mitchell explained to them. It was that way regardless of who came through the gate as they had to be cautious.  Standing in front was a man with brown hair and appeared to be in charge.

“Welcome to Earth commander,” the man said. “I’m General Henry Landry.”

“Commander Adama, this is my son, Captain Apollo,” Adama said.

“Well, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, as do we, shall we move to a more comfortable location?” Landry stated.

Adama nodded and they moved out of the gate room and into a hallway before climbing several sets of stairs, passing by a command room before reaching a meeting room.

“Coffee, tea or water?” Landry asked.

“Water,” Adama replied, unsure what coffee or tea was as a young aide poured some glasses and set them on the table as Adama sat down.

“There’s a lot to discuss,” Landry said. “We have an entire civilization which has moved to an entirely new galaxy.”

“Yes sir, it was close, we almost didn’t make it,” Sam said. “Have you tried dialing the gate?”

“We did not long ago, couldn’t establish a connection,” Landry replied.

“What does that mean?” Apollo asked.

“It means the gate is either destroyed, or buried,” Sam said.

“The Cylons won’t be using it to expand,” Adama said. “That is the most important thing.”

“Are they that powerful?” Landry asked.

“Sir, their weapons are quite extensive,” Mitchell said. “And they’ve overcome EMP fields.”

“I see, it eliminates weapons used against the replicators,” Landry said.

“Replicators?” Adam asked, having heard of this race before.

“A race of machines, unknown who really created them, some say the Asgard, others some unknown race. They do as the name implies, replicate,” Landry said.  “They use whatever material is around them.”

“Are they still around?” Adama asked.

“Unknown, we thought they were eliminated, but they keep popping up occasionally,” Landry said. “But you probably have some questions?”

“My people will require some help, are you willing?” Adama asked.

“We can provide some support, but forty thousand people, that’s a lot,” Landry said.

“I understand, they are willing to work, and we have many skilled people,” Adama said.

“I think something can be worked out, especially with new allies,” Landry said pausing in thought. “I might even have a proposal for you, one which the higher ups have been pressing for a while.”

“Not the colony,” Sam said.

“Yes, and it would make sense, they could easily help us out,” Landry said.

“Colony?” Apollo asked.

“There has been a proposal for a while to colonize another world, a Tau’ri world beside Earth,” Landry said. “Expand our territory as you say.  But gathering the number of people without exposing the stargate program is a problem.  This world would also be a separate colony but we would build our spaceports there.”

“We have experience in that,” Adama said.

“I thought you might, and you have the ability, a society, a range of people, and your own systems already in place. It would solve a lot of problems,” Landry said.  “How long would it take to get your farms up and running?”

“I don’t have that experience, but we do have people with such knowledge, and we brought seeds to help,” Adama said.

“Good, I think I can convenience rations for some MREs and such, it would be a temporary thing until you get on your feet,” Landry said.

“And this colony, how far along it is?” Adama asked.

“We’ve slowly been building it up, a couple of buildings, mostly scientific in nature to study the planet, but we’re working on securing the gate, similar to here,” Landry said. “We can train your people in how to operate it.”

“I think it might work out,” Adama said.

“I’ll inform my superiors,” Landry said, excusing himself as a plate of cookies were place on the table.

Adam helped himself to one surprised at the sweet taste, but enjoyable.

“They’re chocolate chip cookies,” Sam said.

“Very delicious,” Adama replied.

“So, the war lasted a thousand years against the Cylons, sounds like a long time,” Mitchell said.

“It was, several generations, and really the war was starting to drag out,” Adama said. “Resources were becoming scarce, especially some of the fuel sources.  Its one reason why we thought the Cylons might actually want peace.  Some of us thought the Cylons would use this to rearm themselves, but the overriding want of peace overruled common sense on what we knew about the Cylons.  They will do anything for victory.”

Adama noticed Mitchell was about to say something when Landry returned.

“Well, they have some doubts, but will agree,” Landy said.

Adama knew there was still a lot of things to do, but for now his people had a place to go, and a mission still. The future looked brighter than it had in yehrans.

End of Ring of Salvation