Stargate Unification

Langeran Surprise

Eli connected via the stones on the morning of his second day, and looked at General O’Neill as he verified who he was.

“General, it has only been a day, however I have a very interesting report to make. 4 passengers from when Destiny was launched have been discovered aboard, and we have had a failure in the Plasma Storage System. The room is still cooling from the Plasma Breach, and we will begin assessing the damage in a few hours.” Eli told him quickly.

Jack O’Neill was a little surprised by this turn of events, as he had not fully expected Eli to use the connection this morning. “What does this do to our plan?” he asked knowing that the negotiations would take months.

“Utterly destroys it, but fortunately we dropped out in a region devoid of anything. It should give us time to make some repairs to the ship, which might mean we can survive a fight as we plow through the blockade line of another star. Regardless of what we do however, we have enough food for 6 weeks, and enough water for 3 months. After that we will have major issues.” Eli reported to him.

“What about power for life support?” I was under the impression that would be an issue beyond 14 days.” Jack asked him.

“I found a way to extend it to cover about 8 weeks with 5 people, by running it only when it is absolutely necessary. It is not the perfect solution to the problem, but it allows the plants in the hydroponics and other plant bays to process some of the CO2 for us.”

Jack nodded as he looked at Eli. “I will have more people here tomorrow for your scheduled check in, and will expect a full briefing on the situation.” He informed Eli.

“Have a woman as well on the stones, I will bring Vasi with me. She can tell her own story far better than I can.” Eli said as he thought of something. “Would it be possible to do this briefing in Atlantis? I think there might be a few details we can find about Destiny there.”

Jack looked at him, and knew that Atlantis was going to be tricky. “Atlantis could present a few problems, let me see what I can do.” Jack said making no promises. “Reconnect with Vasi in 12 hours, that will give you enough time to perform more diagnostics and have more detailed answers.”

As soon as Eli disconnected, he picked up a phone and got Woolsey on the line.

“General, what can I do to help you?” he asked almost sarcastically.

“Is Jonas Quinn still answering your calls?” Jack asked him.

“I have a conversation scheduled with him and Ambassador Ovirda later this morning. Why do you ask?” Woolsey asked him.

“I need to have him present at a briefing tomorrow, and need your authorization to have said briefing performed on Atlantis. Mr. Wallace is hoping after the briefing he could search the database for clues about Destiny.” Jack informed him simply.

“The first could prove relatively easy, the second however is going to be walking a very fine line.” Richard said over the phone. “It will be arranged however, you are aware it is unlikely to change anything though.”

“I think I can find something that will bring them back to the table. You can inform Ambassador Ovirda that there has been a significant change, and he has one chance to capitalize on my generosity. If these talks fail however, our current treaty will apply for one year, and than they will be on their own.” Jack told him before he hung up the phone.

12 hours later to the second, Eli reconnected to the Engineer he was in, and Vasi connected to an Ancient Drive Systems expert that could continue the work that Vasi was doing.

“Commander Vasi, a pleasure to meet such an esteemed guest. I am sure that you have many questions, as do we. For the moment however, how about we discuss the most pressing issues.” Jack said as Carter, McKay, Zalenka and half a dozen other of the top scientists were gathered on the conference room.

“Apologies that I do not know your names or ranks, but it is a pleasure to see that the design is not actually of my people. What is it you would like to know?” she asked before General O’Neill introduced everyone.

“Why were you stuck aboard Destiny for so long?” Rodney asked.

“A glitch in the suspended animation pods caused our pronged sleep as it were. Once Eli reset the system, it woke us. If it is all the same to those of you in charge, we have no desire to risk a repeat of the experience.” Vasi answered with the facts.

“If you were in stasis pods, how are your bodies so we’ll preserved?” he asked her.

“I am not familiar with what type of pod you are, but a person does not age when they are placed in cryogenic suspended animation. That is why it is called suspended animation.” Vasi chided him slightly.

“What was your mission?” Carter asked trying to change the subject slightly.

“My team was aboard running the fin diagnostics and repairs to the systems of Destiny. A solar flare caused a glitch in the system, and Destiny launched prior to our escape pod returning. As such we had no way off of the ship once it jumped into FTL. We had no supplies beyond a few days, and also knew it would be several years before we would be far enough away for Destiny to dial back to Alterranus. Another glitch froze out countdown clock, and 62 million years later Mr. Wallace rescued us from our long slumber. As interesting as the past is at the moment, I would like to know what is being done to rescue us?” Vasi asked them.

“That is a difficult subject to discuss, but I assure you the people we need to discuss it with will be present tomorrow.” Jack answered her.

Vasi nodded as she looked at him. “General, if you are straight with me, I will be straight with you. The answer is the same as it was than, you have no idea for how we will be rescued. As such, I would like to spend my time trying to answer that question myself. I was under the impression we would be going to Atlantis, and this is far from the architecture of my people?” She asked them.

“We will be traveling to Atlantis shortly, there are others who have questions for you as well.” Jack said as the others looked like they were ready to jump.

“That will be dependent on how things sit. From what I can see, it appears you could benefit greatly from someone with my experience with Alterran technology.” Vasi told him bluntly.

Jack nodded as he knew exactly where she was going with that. “I see, the situation is somewhat precarious from a diplomatic standpoint. We might be able to send supplies, if we can negotiate with the planet that has the ability.”

“What kind of people are they?” Vasi asked him. “What is it they need and want for the supply line?”

“They are a world driven together by necessity, and what the tech and means to defend themselves from those who want to risk destroying their entire planet for their own benefit.” Jack said assessing them.

Vasi nodded as she considered what she would be able to offer them. “So planetary shields and planetary based weapons that have the power to destroy targets in space. What is their level of technology?” she asked him as Rodney snorted.

“Depends on what sector you wish to know of. Their biggest benefit is that they have a nearly limitless energy potential in their planetary core. The downside is they do not have a large potential for advancing their overall technology quickly without assistance.” Rodney told her.

She nodded as she knew a lot about many different types of systems at technological levels. Despite what was widely believed, a good number of the Alterrans left Origin in stasis pods. The journey away from there was long and arduous, and had taken many generations to actually achieve. She had helped build the original craft they escaped on, and was awoken when they reached Earth. She than learned the changes than, and helped build Destiny while she learned the Engineering for the Atlantis Class City-Ships. “That will not be an issue for me.”

“What happens if we do not support you in supplying them with technology?” Carter asked.

“I do not need your support for my offer, other than to allow me the use of this communications technology and use of the Stargate. The rest of what they need is the knowledge in my head, and the desire to do the work themselves.” Vasi said as she had another thought. “Why is it the situation is so precarious?”

Jack and Rodney both knew that she would learn soon enough. “We attempted to prove it was safe to dial Destiny by doing so. It did not go according to plan.”

Vasi shook her head. “General, you are fortunate that I came along. Will your government allow me to negotiate on all of our behalf?”

Jack looked at her curious. “Yes, we will.” Jack said before they finished for the evening.

The next morning Vasi entered the conference room in Atlantis, and she was surprised there were a few people.

“General, I do not know why we are here? What do you think has changed in the few weeks since that incident?” Ovirda asked him blatantly.

“Ambassador, you are no longer negotiating with General O’Neill, or Mr. Woolsey. I would appreciate any questions, comments or concerns be directed towards me. As I have a limited understanding of that incident, unless you wish it included in this matter, you will not mention it again. We are here to discuss a trade to establish a supply line-“ Vasi said as Ovirda cut her off.

“What has changed since we refused to allow this a few weeks ago? Until there is no danger-“

“If you wish to experience no dangers from Naquadriah, I suggest you relocate your people. There is a 17 percent chance in the next 6 months that a solar flare from your own star will destabilize the raw ore, that will result in a catastrophic failure. The core of your planet is the very definition of unstable and unpredictable.” Vasi told him bluntly cutting him off. The look on his face made it clear he was not used to that.

“General, if we are to be disrespect-“

“Ambassador, again you are negotiating with me. If you wish to discuss disrespect, maybe we should discuss how you have now disrespected me each time you have opened your mouth so far?” she asked him coldly with a glare.

Ovirda and Jonas both looked at her, shock clearly etched on their face. “We will not stand for this treatment.” Ovirda said as he stood up.

“Ok, we will inform the Lucian Alliance that we will no longer be supporting you, or protecting you. We have other methods available to ensure they never achieve a foothold aboard Destiny.” Vasi said making both of them freeze.

“You need us more now than we need you.” Ovirda said with a smirk.

“Not really, from my reports the method the Lucian Alliance will use will work at most for 7 minutes before your planetary core is destroyed. 2 minutes after that it will be destroyed, and unable to ever dial Destiny again. Seems you need the protection of Earth far more than we need your supplies to help 100 people survive. Even if I am one of them.” Vasi replied still coldly.

“It will still be months before we have an assessment from our scientists about the safety of what you are suggesting. How can you expect us to take them at their word, or you for that matter?” Ovirda asked.

“Ambassador, I do not have the time to mince words with you, nor do I have the desire. There are few things you can take for granted, and the words of people who have nothing to personally lose are meaningless. Why should you trust my word over theirs? You shouldn’t, I am sitting here because I am told you are the person who has the ability to give me what I need. Why would I care about your planet?

“Your planet is the only one that we know even has the ability to dial the Destiny. The properties of it so rare that there might be a couple left in the entirety of this Galaxy. That means if I want supplies more than once, I need to ensure your planet remains intact. As such, I will do everything in my power to ensure that your planet is as safe after we dial, as it was before.” Vasi told him bluntly.

Jonas chuckled as he looked at Ovirda. “Ambassador, if I may? I believe we have a few people who would be willing to use their communications stones. If they could travel to Destiny for some training, we could get their input on our designs on the planet as well. It would also give us the opportunity to determine if they are being sincere with the severity of their claims.” He suggested as a compromise.

“Mr. Quinn, ignoring the fact that again your delegation offers nothing but insult to me when I am not responsible, that was what my offer would have been in the first place. I am offering my expertise to train your backwards scientists so they even have the ability to understand what they are giving their so called expert opinions on. In the process if we manage to teach them a few other things that they can than use to make your other technologies more efficient, well each course of action has its own consequences. All I ask, is instead of being ignorant pricks who want everything handed to you on a silver platter. Try working with us and our partners on Earth, allow us to teach you what you need to understand what it is we are offering. Otherwise my offer to them will be to expand the sensors ability to scan the entirety of the Galaxy at once. Than it will take me a matter of days to find the planet we need, and establish a supply line. At which point any offer to join with you as equal partners evaporates, along with the knowledge and experience we can offer. You have 3 days to make your decision, after that it will be too late to be anything but trade partners, and you won’t have a lot to trade with.” Vasi said to him very bluntly. She was not in the habit of mincing words, and had dealt with a fair number of politicians in her lifetime.

Ovirda looked like he was forced to swallow a live frog, the astonished look more than enough to bring a smile to Jack’s face, and horror to Woolsey’s. “In all my years I have never had someone put it to me so blatantly before. What exactly is it you are offering Commander Vasi of the Alterran Exploratory Forces?” he asked her.

“What is it your people need to feel assured that we would not place your planet at risk?” Vasi asked him bluntly. “I understand that you are having your Stargate relocated from your power generation station, to make it much more difficult to establish the power needed to dial Destiny. As such we will need extremely large capacity power conduits, several large power buffers would decrease the overall demand of a dialing by storing the power needed to establish a connection. That will of course allow us to install multiple redundancy systems, and I am assured by General O’Neill, and Mr. Woolsey that they will supply you with the equipment needed to seriously upgrade the efficency of your power generators, so that it will not cause disruptions to the rest of your power grid. By my calculations it should be possible to attempt the first dial out in 6 weeks, and the risk to your planet would be less than the risk of a solar flare spontaneously combusting the ore while it is in the planet.”

Jonas looked at the design she had made the night before, and it called for the labor of 2000 men around the clock to complete in time. It would see multiple power buffers installed, along with transmission lines capable of carrying ten times the power they generated now. It would also improve their power generation from 28 percent to nearly 80 percent. He looked at her calculations for a few moments, and nodded to Ovirda. “This system would reduce the risk of dialing Destiny to next to nothing. No riskier than dialing any other address, and this drastically reduces that risk as well.”

Ovirda looked at him skeptically. “You said the odds of that were astronomical, how is this different than the other attempts made by them that resulted in the destruction of two planets?” he demanded.

“Do you seriously want an answer to that, or are you attempting to be rhetorical?” Vasi asked him deadly serious.

“If you think you can explain it to me in a way I can understand, please do.” Ovirda said daring her.

“The other two attempts failed to account for the power rebound of the Naquadriah deposits when they are tapped for a source of power. Because of this failure to anticipate that, it created a catastrophic feedback loop in the raw ore itself. As such it destabilized enough of the mineral to initiate a thermal runaway that resulted in the large scale detonation of the veins themselves.

“Your facility however has already made those calculations, as I am sure it was a hard learned lesson that nearly destroyed your planet once. Your facility utilizes those shockwaves from the generation process, and harnesses them into usable power that can be safely scaled up with the proper upgrades. Now if I had 200 years to wait for you to learn what is necessary to achieve my goals, I would wait until your descendants could easily understand the concepts I am willing to begin teaching your people. I assure you before we begin the dialing procedure, your own so called experts will be able to tell you with confidence that I am correct when I say there are 20 billion things more likely to destroy your planet, than dialing the Destiny one time a month for the rest of forever.” Vasi said to him as he actually smiled and looked at Jonas.

“See, not so hard Jonas. Commander Vasi, General O’Neill, Mr. Woolsey, am I to assume that she and her other people will be attending the dialing of Destiny?” Ovirda asked.

“Ambassador, one of my crew will likely be here the entire time that your people as well as several teams from Earth do what is needed to make your new facility ready to dial in 42 days. That is ironically the exact amount of time we have to survive with the rations currently available to us. I need this to not destroy your planet, just as much as you do. Regardless of how much you are able to send, in a matter of weeks to months we will be right back in this position. Needing supplies that can only be delivered via your planet. If it means I have to teach you what you need to know, so be it. Do you accept the terms I have proposed, or not?” she demanded of him as he looked over them carefully.

They were actually far more favorable than he had ever anticipated, and included terms he would have never dreamed of asking for. “Mr. Woolsey, you and General O’Neill agree to these terms?” Ovirda asked as Jack leaned forward.

“Our acceptance is unimportant, what is important is you agree to them. We will live up to our part of the terms to the letter, especially if it leads to a long term supply line of men and materials needed to supply Destiny.” Jack said as he tapped the document. “Most of this was prepared before she arrived, as it was always our intent that your people should benefit from this arrangement. You however were to proud, stubborn and arrogant to allow us to help you in any meaningful way. Thus, here we are.” Jack said indicating the overall situation.

Richard looked at him. “General, I may have no say in how Commander Vasi composes herself-“ he said before Ovirda stopped him.

“That may be a factual representation of the events from your perspective General, however as Commander Vasi rightly guessed, we have faced that catastrophic possibility before.” Ovirda said as Jack nodded.

“I remember it well, if not for than Colonel Carter, it would have failed to prevent that catastrophe. In fact, as I recall we helped avert a few others as well.” Jack said as Jonas stopped himself from laughing.

Ovirda nodded as he looked at Jack. “Very well, let me be equally blunt with the two of you. Until my science advisors are satisfied, we will not attempt dialing.” He began as Vasi stood up.

“Have a good day than Ambassador. General, I will need two days to upgrade the city sensors for a full scan of the Galaxy. We will need to work fast if we are to establish a supply line in the time allotted.” Vasi said as she turned to leave while Jack and Woolsey stood as well.

“Airmen Jennings, please escort them to the jumper and have them transported to the Stargate.” Jack said as he turned to leave.

“What is the meaning of this Mr. Woolsey?” Ovirda demanded.

“Our lead negotiator has abandoned the negotiations with Langera. Our offer is now officially rescinded, and we will abide by the terms of our protective agreement for the current 5 year term. It will however not be renewed, and all diplomatic channels are hereby severed.” Woolsey said handing them the notice that they had 72 hours to agree to the terms of the original proposal. “It was a take it or leave it offer gentlemen, as I informed you it would be. Time is of the essence now, and if you will not agree to the terms we must utilize our time and effort on other avenues.” Woolsey said before he left the conference room as well.