5SGC: General's Jack O'Neill and Hank Landry sat in the conference room overlooking the Stargate drinking some beers that Jack had smuggled in some years ago and hid in a refrigerator in the infirmary as they poured over all the information they had previously collected about the case as well as listened on the recorded conversation they'd just had with Major Bonner.
"What do you think?" asked Hank curious.
"What do you think?" Jack repeated back at him. Hank just held up his hands in defeat.
"I think you made the right choice in giving him the guilt verdict," Landry began. "There's just not enough evidence to acquit him, besides the inconsistencies that he brought up."
"Thanks," said Jack, but not happy about that fact. "I've known Gus Bonner for years now and he worked hard to earn his spot as leader of SG-8. I just don't know where things went wrong…not so much with ending up on that planet, but why he can't admit to what happened."
"So you still think he's guilty?" Landry pointed out. Jack shifted uneasily at that.
"Sam's always telling me the simplest explanation is often the one that's right," he responded in reference to Colonel Samantha Carter. "I think what might have happened was that he led his team into that ambush and he can't bring himself to admit it and so he came up with this story to absolve him of guilt."
Landry did think that sounded like a reasonable explanation. But both knew it didn't explain why the Lucian Alliance was still after him. It would be one thing to burn bridges with SGC, but to have their one major opposition on him as well basically left the Major with no allies. Jack knew Gus wasn't that foolish and Landry didn't get that impression either from their conversation.
"So do these Tla'kahn exist?" asked Landry next. Jack shrugged.
"I've got Sam looking into it. Daniel too once he gets back," the General responded. "I hope they find something, but I won't hold my breath."
"So do we still give them the mission?" asked Landry finally. Jack gave him a sideways glance.
"This is your command," he told him.
"You outrank me," Landry shot back wryly. Jack sighed.
"I think we only have one option available to us," he pointed out. Landry nodded his head.
"I agree," he stated and both finished their drinks and then left the conference room together.
Another world: "So do you think these Tla'kahn exist?" asked Daniel having listened to Ec'co's story as Draa'ga listened in.
"I believe so," Ec'co admitted. "We have encountered scattered pieces of an unknown type of technology on worlds where Lucian Alliance posts have been devastated. We've also discovered footprints and other scraps of information on what these creatures might look like."
"Which would be?" asked Daniel.
"I believe them to be reptilian in nature and bipedal. They're a violent warlike race but also extremely patient if Major Bonner's shadow organization is to be believed, otherwise then we'd have heard something them before now," Ec'co answered. "I can understand if you don't believe us, though."
"No, I'll never dismiss anything without proof," Daniel disagreed with him before turning to Draa'ga. "Do you think they're telling the truth?"
"Yes," said the alien with certainty. Daniel grinned at that.
"Do you believe what I said is the truth?" he asked next. The alien gave a smile.
"Yes," she agreed. The scientist nodded his head and now there was silence amongst the trio.
"Why have you come?" asked Draa'ga curious. "I sense there is something more to your presence than you are admitting to."
Daniel looked up at her impressed by her psychic abilities and nodded affirmatively. He didn't know if Jack and Hank would agree to send them on this mission, but he felt they still deserved to know why they had been contacted after so much time.
"Does the name 'Destiny' mean anything to you?" he asked the alien of unknown origin.
"The future that will be," said Draa'ga simply. Daniel nodded his head.
"Yes, that's what the word means, but I wanted to know if the name Destiny meant anything to you," he asked hopeful. Draa'ga thought long and hard about that one.
"Ride the winds," she answered cryptically and then moved off away from them. Daniel watched her go before turning back to Ec'co as Draa'ga stopped and used one of the pointer fingers on the end of her claws to dig into the ground.
"I take it, that it is a ship, planet, or structure only accessible through extreme means?" asked Ec'co insightfully.
"That's right," Daniel confirmed. "It's a ship built by the Ancients requiring a ninth chevron to reach."
Ec'co whistled at that.
"What would provide such power?" Ec'co inquired. "Clearly not a Zero Point Module."
"Nope, you're right. We need a planet with a naquadriah core," the scientist told him. Ecco's mouth dropped open at that in shock.
"Does that mean something to you?" Daniel demanded.
"You might say that," Ec'co answered him. "Many years ago my people found a planet through the Stargate with what they later suspected had a naquadriah core. It was there that they performed a number of experiments using the Stargate."
Daniel leaned forward. "I did not know that. Is that planet still around, would your people be willing to let us use it?"
Ec'co shook his head. "Many years ago an experiment went wrong and the planet exploded. If you're looking for such a planet, I would caution you that the risks of reaching this ship may be too great against any reward. Plus if you were to reach this ship, there would be a strong possibility you would not be able to return so easily."
Daniel sighed at that and leaned back on his log.
"You don't know the half of it," he confessed.
Earth: "So how're things on Atlantis?" asked Gus of his old friend. "I heard you stopped the Wraith invasion with the help of the Daedalus."
The two of them were lounging out the main entrance to the complex as personnel and vehicles constantly rolled by.
"That's right we did," John agreed. "Just how long have you been gone anyway?"
"I'm not really sure. Around two years I think. I was never good at astronomy or calendars for that matter," Gus reminded him. John nodded his head at that.
"Course you weren't any good with motorcycles either as I recall," Gus laughed as John scowled at that.
"It was your idea in the first place to take the commander's bike out for a spin," John distinctly recalled.
"And you wanted to show me up by riding it first," Gus concluded. "Well it's not like it mattered since we both got busted for it."
"Except the base commander never let me hear the end of it," John complained.
"Ah the dangers of bootleg hooch," Gus laughed before changing tracks. "But seriously, congratulations on your promotion."
"Thanks," said John. "It wasn't really a fair competition though, was it? Not after what happened."
"Ah, don't look at it that way," said Gus dismissively. "I did what I had to because I thought that what I was doing was right."
"You didn't betray SGC did you?" John had to ask.
"No," said Gus as if that should be obvious. "But I did take my team to PR-6308 and I should've expected consequences. Just not the ones I got."
John tried to remember all the details of what had happened to Gus and SG-8.
"Do you think there's a traitor in SGC?" John pointed out, that being the logical conclusion of Gus's situation if what he said was true. If Gus had really been in two places that day, it possibly even implied a shapeshifter might have been involved.
"I don't want to cause a witch hunt without just cause," said Gus reluctantly. "But if you could look into it on my behalf, I wouldn't complain. I'd do it myself, but I doubt I'll ever be welcomed back if I can't prove what really happened on PR-6308."
"Which was?" asked John. Gus waved his question off.
"Let me worry about that," he told him. "Once you prove my innocence here I'll be able to honor that bet we made all those years ago."
John turned sour at that. "I don't smoke anymore to need that carton."
"That's not my problem. But I'm sure getting enough alcohol to match your weight will help out," said Gus with a big grin before consulting his watch. "Shouldn't you be off to your transport or something? I mean Atlantis is a few weeks journey away."
John laughed at Gus being out of the loop for so long.
"Atlantis is on Earth now," he informed him. Gus looked amazed at that.
"Wow," Gus said impressed. "I wish I could go and see it. Course my science officer would probably kill me for seeing it before he does."
"And I don't think the Generals would appreciate it, either," John reminded him.
"You got that right," said General O'Neill as he and General Landry emerged from the base into the open air.
"I take responsibility for letting Major Bonner out of his cage," John admitted upfront. Jack waved off that concern.
"We've still had eyes on you this whole time," he told the duo. "Colonel, I'm sure you hate goodbyes, but it's time to make your exit."
John nodded his head affirmatively as the two Generals gave him their space. John did have work to get back to.
"Adios muchacho," he said simply. Gus gave him a smirk at that.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he said lightly before turning serious. "Actually, I do need one more favor."
"Name it," said John immediately.
"Find the families of the cadets under my wing and tell them that I promise I'll bring them back alive," Gus swore. John Sheppard gave him a grin and tipped his head at him and left without another word. The Major then walked over to the two Generals who were waiting for him.
"So what do you have to tell me now?" he asked. "Am I finally going back?"
"Not just yet," said Landry. "First we have one more thing to discuss."
Another world: "Amazing," said Ec'co. The entire team of cadets was semi-circled around Daniel as he related the story of everything that had happened to the crew of the Destiny up until that point.
"Good to know some people are in as worse shape as we are," said Harrison aloud and was subsequently hit hard in the ribs by Stacey's elbow for his comment.
"I can only imagine the dangers of needing a planet with a naquadriah core, though," commented Seattle. She had the Replicator cradled on her lap after feeding it some power from a device Daniel didn't recognize.
"We've lost two planets already trying to dial it," Daniel told them before he amended. "Well, we lost one and the Alliance lost another. Now it's just a race to find the next one to dial the ship."
"I'm not sure why you're so interested in a hunk of junk in the middle of nowhere," Stacey confessed as Harrison nodded in agreement. "I mean don't get me wrong, we need to get those people back, but as far as sending more…from the sounds of things the ship's about to fall apart soon anyway."
"I know," Daniel agreed. "But that ship is a goldmine of information about the Ancients that we can only dream of at the moment. It may even hold the key to understanding the Ascension process or even the underlying structure of the fabric of the universe."
"If you say so," said Stacey still unconvinced it was worth the effort to try and save the ship. "So what would you need from us?"
"Since you're jumping around so much, I'm hoping that you'll eventually run across a planet with what we're looking for and let us know," Daniel told them. The cadets and Ec'co perked up at that.
"A mission, really?" they all said excited. Daniel held up his hands to warn them.
"I can't assign it to you because that's up to General Landry," he informed them. "But if you were to find this planet and let us know, it'd be to your benefit about proving your loyalty to SGC."
"I'll check my records right away," said Ec'co heading for the dune buggy. The others watched him go before turning to Daniel.
"Thanks for caring about us," said Seattle touched.
"I just want my two interns back," he confessed jokingly. "I got used to having you two around. Now it seems like my workload is getting heavier and heavier by the day not that we found Destiny."
Seattle chuckled lightly at that as Jetsam seemed to react to her mood and chirped accordingly.
"I suppose it would be kind of fun to fly one of the oldest ships in existence," Harrison said a little dreamily.
"Yeah, I mean why wait for the ship to fall apart when you can fly into the nearest sun and destroy it," Stacey accused as Harrison steamed at that comment about his flying abilities. Seattle also laughed at that as Daniel shook his head bemused.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
The group looked over at the stones device as it began making the same noise it had at the beginning.
"Well, looks I'm off," Daniel told them as he stood up headed for the dune buggy. "It's been a real pleasure meeting all of you and I really do hope we get back in touch soon. Ec'co, Seattle, if there's any way I could get a hold of whatever scientific research you've been doing out here, I'd appreciate it."
"We'll do our best," Ec'co promised. Daniel patted him on the shoulder before looking over at Seattle and her 'pet'.
"That thing is a danger and I really think you're better off destroying it," he said, repeating an earlier sentiment. Seattle shook her head but otherwise said nothing in response, just clutched the machine closer to her chest protectively.
"We'll…talk about it," Ec'co promised reassuringly. Though even he knew they wouldn't get far as Seattle was very protective of her pet and they did need it to survive out here in the harsh unknown. Major Bonner had felt the same way about the Replicators but when they'd stumbled upon that Asgard Core oh so long ago, he knew one of them would be a lot more helpful for their situation.
Earth: "A Replicator?" shouted Jack in shock. Gus gave him a mild grin as he sat in a chair in front of the Ancient Communication Stones.
"Yeah," he said offhand. "Use what you can to your advantage, I say."
"Oh, I'm never going to hear the end of it from HWC and the IOA if they find out about this," the General groaned. "Course I'm sure the IOA would love to get their hands on it."
"You bring me home, I won't need to have it around anymore," Gus pointed out. Jack shook his head lightly.
"Get out of here," he ordered. Gus gave him a mild salute before turning melancholic at that.
"General, I want you to know that you made the right decision," the Major said, in allusion to his trial and the resulting verdict. "I just hope I get the opportunity to prove you wrong."
"I hope you do too," answered Jack softly. Gus was about to hit the button when another thought occurred to him.
"Oh, if we find any more Ancient repositories of information, I'd be sure to pass them along to you," he said and began laughing hard at that as Jack growled at him and slammed the button to send him home.
Another world: "Be sure to tell Draa'ga I said goodbye," Daniel told the team as the alien was still over in the clearing drawing something with her claws.
"I'm sure she already knows, but we will," Seattle promised. Daniel nodded and was about to press the button to send him home when one more nagging thought occurred to him.
"Why is she called Draa'ga anyway?" he had to ask. Perhaps it held some symbolic meaning that would give him further insight into the Ancients…or the Furlings.
"Oh that's easy," Harrison laughed. "When she finally looked like she is now, she reminded me of my first grade teacher. We used to call her 'The Dragon Lady' and so she began calling herself Draa'ga."
Daniel was so stunned by that response that he couldn't muster one of his own and found himself back in his own body before he could muster any coherent thought.
"Daniel?" asked Jack, concerned at his lack of response. Finally the scientist realized where he was.
"I don't believe, I just don't believe it," he said, still in shock. He then got up and slowly headed for the door.
"Wait, what did you learn?" Jack demanded. The SG-Infinity team was largely a mystery to SG Command and any thing he learned would be useful.
"RJ Harrison should never be allowed to join the Stargate Program, ever," Daniel concluded and then was gone from the room. Jack watched him go at a loss before laughing heartily at that. He'd been told the same thing by Stargate Human Resources but in some ways he found the cadet to be like himself at that age. Hopefully his time out there amongst the planets tempered him and the rest of his team. In time perhaps they could all lead their own SG teams, if they could ever prove their innocence.
"Sir?" came a voice from nowhere that caused the General to jump he'd been so lost in his thoughts.
"What is it, Sam?" asked Jack to the absent Colonel Samantha Carter.
"I've found the results of that query you want to me to run," she told him. "Do you need me to come down and give them to you?"
Jack was about to say yes when an amusing thought crossed his mind.
"No, I'll just come up there," he told her. "Beam me up, Sammy!"
"That's not funny, sir," Colonel Carter responded immediately.
"Yes it wa-," and then he was gone from the room in a brilliant flash.
Another world: Gus Bonner blinked his eyes and felt a little woozy from the suddenly change in bodies as he looked at his team who were watching him expectantly.
"How did it go?" they asked impatiently. Gus shrugged as he put the stones away and closed the box before securing it in the vehicle.
"About as I expected," he told them simply. "I still need to prove my innocence, all of our innocence, before we're allowed to go home."
The others turned glum about that before wondering about the next piece of business.
"So is SGC going to let us go search for that planet?" they all asked again in unison. The tone in their voice was obvious. They needed this one glimmer of hope in their lives that they might have a positive future ahead of them.
"Oh that," Gus realized before turning solemn. "Look, I know how much you've all had to suffer out here without knowing what the next day holds and with a mission to somehow prove our innocence. I'm sorry for the lack of normalcy, I really am. Especially since SGC really doesn't want anything to do with us."
The cadets turned really downtrodden at that. Gus looked them all before a slow smile broke across his face.
"Or should I say, didn't want anything to do with us," the Major amended as a look of hope dawned on the others faces. "I don't know what Daniel Jackson did to convince them, but for the first time in nearly two years, the SG-Infinity team has been assigned a mission by Stargate Command."
The cadets broke out into jubilation as Gus tried to calm them down.
"It's an unofficial mission!" he told them, not that that dampened their spirits. "And it's only if we happen to stumble across such a planet, we're not to go looking for it. That being said, let's roll out!"
The team nodded as they raced to their vehicles as Ec'co who was prepping the buggy pulled out a device that Daniel hadn't seen on his trip.
"I take it our other secret is still safe?" he asked while looking over as Seattle secured Jetsam in his case.
"That's correct," Ec'co responded as he pulled out a Zero Point Module that looked practically brand new. He then produced another device that had one large opening on one side and a smaller one on the other. He then plugged the ZPM into it and then produced another device that looked like a miniature ZPM and plugged that into the other end. Both devices powered up and then Ec'co removed the smaller one and walked over to the DHD with it.
"Harrison, go get Draa'ga," Gus ordered to the fighter jock. He looked at the alien still in the clearing and ran off towards her.
"Hey, Draa'ga let's go!" ordered Harrison. The alien continued drawing on the ground almost as in a trance. It wasn't until she Harrison put his hand on her shoulder that she snapped out of her reverie.
"It's a nice drawing, what is it?" asked the fighter pilot as he looked at the image she had clawed into the Earth.
"I do not know," admitted Draa'ga as she regarded the image. Harrison produced a small camera and took a snapshot of it.
"Well I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually," he told her. "Now c'mon, we're leaving."
Draa'ga nodded and got up to join them when a small wind brushed across her face and a single leaf floated past. She then looked at the ship and smiled.
"Fatum," she remarked simply in a language that Harrison didn't understand. Instead he motioned for her to join them and they rejoined the group as the Stargate began the dialing sequence.
"Where we headed to now?" asked Stacey curious as she put her helmet on and revved her ATV.
"According to the latest intel we uncovered, I think the Tla'kahn may have had a fortress somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy," Ec'co told them. "We've got the DHD all charged up with our 'ZPM in a Can' and we're ready to jump."
"How come you didn't tell Daniel about our Ancient Device that can power up a Stargate long enough to make cross galaxy jumps?" wonder Harrison aloud.
"If they knew that we had the power source to jump galaxies when we chose, the whole landscape of the conflict between SGC and the Lucian Alliance would change drastically," Gus reminded them. "That's why we're keeping this such a secret."
"Is there any way we could use the cans to make our way to the Destiny?" Seattle asked. Gus shook his head.
"We don't even know where that ship is," he told her. "And even then, the power in a ZPM is not limitless. It could easily give out part way through and then we'd never get there or back. We have to use this thing conservatively which is why we're only jumping out to nearby galaxies so if we need to be rescued, we can."
The eighth chevron locked in and the wormhole fired up.
"Time's a wasting people. It's like I always say, the best world is always the next one. So let's move 'em out," Gus ordered. The three vehicles roared into the wild blue wormhole and vanished as Harrison fired up his jetpack and went through as well, leaving a world behind that had changed their lives in so short a time.
Above the Earth: Jack was drinking some coffee as he stood by Colonel Samantha Carter who was operating the Asgard Core onboard the Daedalus-Class Cruiser Odyssey.
"I don't think this stuff tastes as good as the real thing," the General complained since the Core had made the coffee he was currently drinking.
"Maybe it's an acquired taste," Sam responded offhand as she pressed some more buttons.
"So what did you find?" asked Jack curious. If there was proof these Tla'kahn existed, it meant that Bonner's story might have some truth to it.
"After running every variation of the word you mentioned, I came up with this," Sam answered. On the interface the word Tla'kahn appeared and next to it the words 'One entry found' appeared.
"Well that's a start," said Jack positively. Sam shook her head.
"Not just yet," she responded. She hit the appropriate buttons and for the word Tla'kahn it simply read 'Unknown'.
"Great," said Jack rolling his eyes clearly annoyed. Sam nodded her head.
"That's what I thought too," she agreed. "And then I realized there was a second page."
She hit a button and a new image popped up on the screen.
"It can't be…," said Jack at a loss. The image was a blurry one but it was clearly of a bipedal lizard with a staff weapon in its hands.
Another world: The animals were going back to their regular lives after the departure of the new arrivals through the ringed object. And then just as soon as they'd settled back into their routines, once more the device activated followed by a blue geyser seemingly erupting from the side of the ring and then flowing backwards and settling for a few moments.
ROARRRRR
From the blue waters a giant tank of unknown origin emerged and rolled down in the meadow throwing up grass and dirt before settling to a halt and scanned the area around it. After a few moments the turret stopped moving and the top hatch opened and two large bipedal lizards emerged from it and hopped to the ground below.
"We appear to have just missed them Commander Da'Kyll," said one of the aliens to its companion. The one called Da'Kyll nodded his head in agreement as he noticed the tracks leading to and from the Stargate.
"A shame, Pahk'kall, but one that couldn't be helped," Da'kyll told him calmly. "We only found out about their arrival here some time after they had made the jump."
Pahk'kall nodded his head and the two fanned out to search for any clues but largely found none.
"What do you make of this, commander?" Pahk'kall asked looking down at a drawing etched in the ground.
"I do not know," the Commander responded. "But it is of no concern to us. All that matters is finding and stopping Gus Bonner before he has a chance to prove our existence. The Lucian Alliance still has much more work to do before we can finally show ourselves to this galaxy and conquer it."
"Which is why we must find Gus Bonner, now!" exclaimed Pahk'kall. Da'kyll laughed at that before giving a reassuring pat on the shoulder to his companion.
"We must be patient," he told him. "Our species has outlasted all of its contemporaries thus far by not making foolish mistakes. The Ancients, the Asgard, the Goa'uld the Ori, the Replicators, none of them are a concern to us anymore and soon neither will these pesky humans. Major Bonner will fall before us, we need only gather enough intelligence to make a quick and accurate strike against Bonner and this will all be over. THEN NO ONE WILL STAND AGAINST US AS WE CRUSH ALL OF OUR ENEMIES!"
"Yes, Commander!" said Pahk'kall excitedly as he walked to the DHD and plugged in a terminal and began pulling the gate addresses stored in its memories for later analysis to try and track the wayward team down. As he did so, Da'kyll took one last look at the drawing on the ground before committing the image to memory for possible later use and then entered the tank as Pahk'kall did the same. The Stargate activated and then the Tla'kahn vehicle was gone from sight through its blue pool before the wormhole shut off.
The animals now emerged even more trepid than before, but the strange ringed object did not make any more movements and soon the creatures once more were frolicking across the land.
One small woodland creature, though, stopped its daily routine when it noticed something new in the ground that it had not noticed before. Etched into the ground was an image in a top down profile of some object. One end of the image appeared as a bowl on its side and from the middle of the bowl rising up was a single column that got narrower and narrower before ending with a curved shape. The creature had no idea what the image was supposed to represent and so it continued on its way once more with it never to be thought of again.
Untold countless of light years away, a lone ship named Destiny raced through the universe on its unknown mission. A ship bearing an uncanny similarity to the image clawed into that distant planet by a mysterious alien named Draa'ga.
At the end of time and space lies Infinity…
