Knife Edge, part 2: Past, present and
future.
P5X-729, 2002
O’Neill, Carter and Teal’c looked eyes-wide at Rommie, who calmly collapsed her forcelance and re-holstered it. It was O’Neill who got his voice back first, “Shouldn’t you be like, I don’t know, in the far future and all?”
Rommie nodded, crossing her arms, “I should be, but I’m
not. And before you ask, I don’t know why, only how.”
Carter blinked, “Well, how?”
Rommie sighed, “Long story: We had just managed to get
the 50th world to sign onto the Restored Commonwealth, and defeat
some very nasty guys from a parallel universe, when an Asgard ship appeared out
of nowhere. The Asgard hadn’t been seen in known space for almost 5,000-years,
and so we where a bit surprised when Commander Thor teleported onto my command
deck.”
O’Neill whistled, “So Thor is still around in your time.”
Rommie nodded, “Alive and well. The expression on
Dylan’s face was priceless.” She walked over to the small craft and open the
canopy. The reached inside and retrieved a small metal disk. She walked back
over to the other and held it in the palm of her hand, “He gave us this.”
The disk glowed for a moment, then a holographic representation of Commander Thor appeared above it:
“Greetings my friends. By now you will have made contact with the crew of the Andromeda Ascendant, and they will have explained that I have sent them back to your time. This is not a coarse of action my people have undertaken lightly: the potential damage to the timeline is serious, but it may be our only hope: Anubis has found the time machine the Ancients built on P4X-639, and has adapted it to send a probe into the future to gain access to more advance technology. This cannot be allowed to take place. I am unable to travel back myself, so I have enlisted the help of Captain Hunt and his crew. The Andromeda has been upgraded with our most advanced technology, and should prove more than a match for Anubis’ fleet. Good luck.”
The
image faded.
Meanwhile, Jacob had helped Jonas to his feet, and decided to join the conversation, “P4X-639? Isn’t that the world where you got stuck in a time loop?”
Rommie looked at him, “And you are?”
O’Neill sighed, “Rommie, this is Jacob Carter, host to Selmak of the
Tok’ra. Jacob, Selmak, this is Rommie, Avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant.
Don’t make fun of her being an AI: he’s a little tetchy.” He grabbed Jonas
by the colure and pulled him forward, “This is Jonas Quinn, our new anthropologist/geek.”
Rommie nodded, “What happened to Dr Jackson?”
O’Neill frowned, “He died, massive radiation poisoning. Well, I saw ‘died’: he ‘ascended to a higher plain of existence’ or something.”
Rommie’s face fell, “I’m sorry. He seemed to be a good man.”
O’Neill nodded, “He was.” He shook himself, “So, when do we get up to the ship?”
Rommie winked, “How about right now.”
The air shimmered, and then they where gone. The Slipfighter closed its hatch and took off on autopilot.
O’Neill blinked: the forest had been replaced with one of Andromeda’s hanger decks. Rommie headed for the door, “If you’ll follow me: Dylan would like to see you.” SG-1 hurried to keep up.
Carter managed to catch up with Rommie, “So, apart from the teleporter, what else did Thor give you?”
Rommie smiled, “It’s not so much ‘given’ as
‘on-loan’: he’s going to take it back when we’re done. And as for what
else: he upgraded my sub-light engines, sensors and communications. He installed
energy shields and two Asgard weapons arrays.”
Carter whistled at the list, “I bet Harper’s drooling over them.”
Rommie laughed, “He would be, but he don’t understand
much of the technology: the Commonwealth never really went into energy shields
or weapons as much as the Asgard did. He dose says he has an idea how the
faster-than-light communications and sensor systems work though, and he’s
going to send a report on them to Sinti as soon as we get home.”
SG-1 where surprised when Trance rounded the corner heading their way, “Oh Rommie, there you are. Dylan’s getting a bit inpatient.”
Rommie smiled, “Well, he’s the one who set the ‘no
teleporting onto command’ rule.” She saw the blank expressions on their
gusts, “You remember Trance Gemini don’t you?”
O’Neill nodded, “Yes, but she was Purple, and had a tale last time I checked.”
Rommie smiled, “Long story, and we don’t know the half
of it. Come on, Command is this way.”
Trance walked on until she reached hydroponics, “Andromeda, can you engage privacy mode for me please."
The AI’s voice seemed to come out of thin air, “Privacy mode engaged.”
Trance smiled, “You can come out now. I doubt Andromeda
could see you, but she would get confused if he saw me talking to thin air.”
“That would complicate matter.” Daniel said as he made his way though the plants, “And us much as I would like to see the other again, that’s not why I’m here. What are you?”
Trance smiled, “It’s complicated.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow, “I’m not the only one who
wants no know: I was ‘sent’ because I know you, and it was hoped that
you’d be more forthcoming to someone you knew. The others can be, well, more
direct when it comes to their questioning.”
Fast as a viper, Trance grabbed Daniel’s arm, startling him, “Hey, your not supposed to be able to do that!”
Trance’s expression changed to one Daniel hoped never to see again, “You want to know what I am?”
Daniel felt his eyes drawn to Trance’s, and the universe
seemed to open up and swallow him.
