The Return
by AJ Marks
Part 1
Sam made her way through the gate to what was being called Caperica. Her first official duty as the new commander of the SGC. It was amazing how far she had come in ten years and never expected to be in such a position. Stepping though she exited to a similar set up on the other side. The soldiers stood down upon her arrival as a brown haired man stepped forward.
“Apollo, how are you?” Sam asked.
“Took a while, but we adjusted,” Apollo replied as they made their way away from the gate and out of the gate building.
Sam was amazed at how quickly they had built a city here for forty thousand people. Of course not everyone was on the surface, many were above working on the space docks on the next generation of ships which was why she was there.
“Never ceases to amaze me,” Sam said as they head towards the shuttle pad and a few shuttles were waiting. “How’s your father doing?”
“Retired finally,” Apollo replied, “and taking it easy for a change.”
“Can’t believe everything you went through to get here,” Sam said. Their society had been destroyed, they fled the Cylons across a galaxy only to find a world with a stargate on it. Sam wondered what might have happened had they not tried to go through the gate at that time. They would probably have been destroyed and no one on Earth would have known.
Walking into the shuttle Apollo went to the controls and she saw Starbuck was also waiting.
“I hear you’re a general now?” Starbuck said.
“Brigadier general,” Sam replied, but still an honor for her.
“Congratulations, and you’re now in command of the stargate program,” Starbuck asked.
“Yeah, what about you two? I haven’t been keeping up and haven’t had time to read over all the reports,” Sam said, knowing she had a lot of work to do and to catch up on.
“Working on training a new group of pilots,” Starbuck said.
“Head of the academy,” Apollo said. “I’ll be taking command of the Galactica.”
Sam nodded, already knowing that part as the shuttle lifted off. “So its almost complete?”
“Yeah, it was easy, a combination of Earth and Colonial tech,” Apollo said.
“Can’t wait to see it,” Sam said, rather excited to see how it would look. A combined project between the two groups.
“How are things back on Earth?” Apollo asked.
“Same as usual, politics and secrecy,” Sam said. “Its amazing that the secret has held so well over so many years.”
“That surprised me,” Apollo stated.
“I think its because most of the conspiracy theories involve actual sightings, not us going to other planets. It seems so crazy that most smart UFO and alien researchers ignore it as implausible,” Sam replied back, and the fact they had worked hard to make it sound crazy whenever something did come out.
Looking out the window Sam had her first look at the starship. It was different than the Daedalus class, and seemed to show a bit of the Colonial design, including two hangars, one on each side. It was also the largest such ship ever produced yet by the SG command.
“Impressive,” Sam said.
“Incorporates all of your technology as well,” Apollo said. “Including shields and weapons from the Asgard. We made a few adjustments with our knowledge, and Wilker’s had a blast learning all this new technology, including the stargates.”
“I can see why,” Sam said, having worked with him a bit. The man had a natural knack for electronics, but admitted Cylons were still beyond him to replicate.
“Any word about the Cylons?” Apollo asked.
“With the gate unable to dial, we have no word,” Sam said as the shuttle landed on the hangar and they made their way inside the ship to a meeting room.
Sam could spot many differences in technology between the 304 class and this new one. Many of the controls were different as well as they sat down.
“So, what will the Galactica be doing?” Apollo asked. “There’s not much here, and the group which you are up against, well, things seem to be at a standstill.”
“Well, we do have a mission for the Galactica,” Sam said.
“Oh?”
“It’s a mission to your home galaxy. Basically setting up a watch,” Sam said. “SG Command is still concerned about them. They could pose a threat in the future, and one we want to keep an eye on.”
“So we’re headed there?” Apollo asked.
“Only if you and your crew accept it,” Sam said. “We’ve set up a relay station in the Pegasus galaxy.”
“How long would it take?” Apollo asked.
“Well, several weeks at best, depends on how long you’ll need to be there,” Sam said. “It all depends on what you find, but we would like to establish a base of operations with a stargate.”
“I see, well I think we can manage that,” Apollo said, after all they had a working knowledge of the system, and perhaps they could discover some who survived.
“Good, they want you to leave the moment the Galactica is ready,” Sam said.
“It will be interesting,” Apollo said. “Any requirements for a base?”
“Someplace hidden,” Sam said. “If they are as hostile as you say, we don’t want to be spotted.”
“I think we can try that,” Apollo stated.
“Good, if they get out of that galaxy, or discover hyperspace technology, the galaxy could become very dangerous again,” Sam said.
“So, they haven’t decided to do anything about them” Apollo asked.
“We’re not capable of undertaking such a war yet, but we need information,” Sam said.
“I think I understand, not what I wanted though,” Apollo replied back to her. “I still want to destroy them all.”
“That’s all part of this, how dangerous are they at the moment. How much time to do we have before they start sending ships out of their galaxy?” Sam stated.
“Well, the Galactica is ready for long range missions, so why not test it,” Apollo said at last.
“Good, be careful in the Pegasus galaxy for the Wraith,” Sam said.
“What is the situation there?” Apollo asked. “Haven’t seen much aside from normal reports.”
“Quiet for now, something I’m not that excited about. Makes me wonder what they are planning,” Sam said.
“All right, I’ll get the crew up and ready, we should be ready to launch by the end of the month,” Apollo replied.
“Great, now, how about a tour,” Sam said, the real reason why she wanted to come. She wanted to see the ship.
“Follow me,” Apollo said.
*****
Apollo headed to the bridge, along with Sam to begin trials of the engines. They were going to make a hyperspace jump to Earth, beam Sam back down to the SGC and then head back, finish the training and head out on their first mission.
The crew so far seemed very capable, and everyone seemed to be working very well together. The crew was mostly from the old Galactica, with a few new people from Earth.
“Commander, everything’s ready,” Boomer said, Apollo’s second in command on the new Galactica.
“Good,” Apollo said looking over at Sam. “Want the honor?”
“Me, no, this is your ship, I’m only an observer,” Sam replied back to him backing off a bit.
Apollo smiled at her before heading to the command chair. The bridge was different than the old Galactica, yet a bit similar in that the bridge was in the center and raised so he could see everything.
“Helm, plot a course to Earth and engage the hyperdrive,” Apollo said.
He watched as the crew went through their calculations and in a few seconds the ships engines started up and the ship jumped into hyperspace.
“Amazing,” Apollo said as they jumped.
“Surprised you didn’t have this technology,” Sam said.
“Our research was in weapon design and armor, not this,” Apollo said. “It was a way to keep up with the Cylons in battle. Though this would have given us a tactical advantage.”
“The Cylons would have copied it,” Sam replied.
“Yeah, they would have captured a ship and figured it out,” Apollo said. “As it is they don’t have a need for such fast ships.”
Apollo looked around seeing the crew working as the ship flew along in hyperspace.
“This will take a couple of hours,” Sam said. “I could use something to eat.”
“Sounds good,” Apollo said, leaving the bridge in Boomer’s capable hands and heading to the mess hall with Sam.
“So, how are your people adapting?” Sam asked when they reached the elevator.
“There have been a few problems,” Apollo said honestly. “Some people were resistant to forming an alliance with Earth despite what was going on. Think they figured it was a way for a clean start and be independent again without war.”
“Hate to say it, but our galaxy is full of war,” Sam replied back to him.
“We found that out,” Apollo said. “The Jaffa have been helpful as well, but many in our government distrust them. Having those things in them which could mature into those Gou’ald beings, not very comforting.”
“It’s one reason we’ve been developing ways for them to remove them safely,” Sam said. “You know Teal’c doesn’t have one anymore.”
“Yes, we know, he’s a remarkable man,” Apollo said. “I think my father sees a lot of himself in him.”
“He’s be a tremendous asset to our planet,” Sam said. “Especially early on when we had little information about the Gou’ald. He provided the needed information about how they worked. We now have a lot more information, sometimes it’s a wonder we did as well as we did against them,” Sam said.
“From what I’ve read things were pretty well status quo until the Tau’ri’s arrival into the universe,” Apollo said using the name Earth had been given by the others in the galaxy. “Sometimes all it takes is a small group willing to stand up and really want change.”
“Well, we got lucky, not every dimension was as lucky,” Sam said. “From what we’ve learned there are plenty of other universes where we failed.”
“That one still boggles my mind,” Apollo said thinking that somewhere out there, there was a dimension where they might have beaten the Cylons instead. ”So, once we reach our galaxy what are the orders?”
He watched as she looked thoughtful.
“Set up a base of operations on the planet for observation,” Sam replied. “Preferably in a spot which can’t be seen in the air, you might have to dig a bit.”
Apollo gave that some thought already and realized if they dug in, the Cylons would never spot them in the air. There might be some power fluctuations they would read, but aside from that it would be easily defendable and quick to abandon and destroy if necessary.
“I take it we’ll be using the Tok’ra technology,” Apollo said. It could bore a room and passageways quicker than anything they had. It might take some time but they could build up the base, get the gate active and once that was up the Galactica could head out on a new mission.
“Yeah, we were lucky enough to get it from them after everything which has happened,” Sam said.
Apollo recalled the reports. After several years of operating together they had grown apart, but recently they seemed to becoming allies once more. The Tau’ri appeared to be the powerhouse of the galaxy and the Tok’ra realized that.
“Any reports from the one group,” Apollo said. “The one who were attempting to dial the ninth chevon.”
“We heard from them, seems like they went several galaxies away on board an Ancient starship. We currently have no way to bring them back yet,” Sam replied back to him.
“At least things are quiet for the most part,” Apollo said.
“Except for the Lucian Alliance, I think we might have problems with them. The biggest problem there is they are loosely joined, not unlike the Gou’ald, but even more so right now. They have yet to consolidate their power into a working unit which gives us some time to strengthen our posts and gain allies,” Sam said to him.
“Like us,” Apollo said.
“Yes,” Sam replied.
“Well, our people are happy for your help that you gave us upon arrival, and the Jaffa have also been, interesting to work with,” Apollo said.
“Not as much as they seem to think you are,” Sam said. “I think it was good for such an advanced civilization to interact with them. They are not used to such things under the Gou’ald.”
Apollo gave that some thought and realized the technological advanced on his civilization were in some areas, far superior to what was here, and in other areas they were way behind. It was an interesting blend of technology, like the new Galactica. He wondered how its mission would go upon arrival back at his home galaxy.
End part 1