STARGATE: EXPLORER

by Lady Grey
Alpha/Beta by Jude

May 24

One Month Later

Aboard the Gaia

Daniel stood on the tiny balcony, leaning on the railing, gazing down at the glowing heart of the great ship. This was his private place, the one room where only he could enter. Scout had closed it off with doors to the balcony and the corridor, locking them with a biological scanner that would only allow Daniel to pass. It was a tiny room, little more than an alcove, but it was his alone.

Whenever he felt restless or stressed, he would shut himself up in the tiny space. In there, he could breathe and relax. He could lose himself for a little while, and his meditations in that room helped tremendously. Day by day, he found more doors opening in his subconscious, and that introspection helped him to shut down the wildly random outbursts of his growing Ascended powers. He could turn them off when needed, and that was all he wanted.

But just now, with the stillness and quiet of solitude gathered around him, he'd found something in his hidden past that he knew would change him forever.  He bowed his head, the memory rushing into his consciousness, swirling about, churning in his soul like whitewater.

Leaving the ranks of the Ascended the first time had been his choice, not a punishment handed down to him by the Others. Watching Jack die over and over at Ba'al's hands had been the starting point, but being prevented from saving the Abydonians had been the last straw. He’d been snatched back at the last moment by Oma Desala, then forced to witness the destruction of his adopted home and his wife's people.

As he stood there in contemplation, so long after the event he'd locked out of his mind, Daniel's heart ached for the Abydonians, but he forced himself to keep his grief at bay. His hands tingled, his body reacting to the rising energy, but he closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing, using the lessons Scout had taught him to keep the newfound memories in check. He didn't want those powers; with a little more practice, he'd be able to safely tie the abilities off and make himself normal again.

Only that wasn't all he'd discovered during his introspection. He'd found another memory, bright and clear, and understood every detail of it. He could build Merlin's weapon, if he wished.

He just wasn't sure he wanted to have the annihilation of an entire race on his hands.

He needed more time to think about that and make sure he chose the right path. Such a weapon could easily destroy the Ori, but if it were unleashed in this galaxy, it would wipe out the Ancients. That might be something the Furlings wanted; maybe it was even the justice they deserved.

Or perhaps they had deserved their exile and near-annihilation; he still wasn't sure. There wasn't enough evidence to know either way. Not yet, but perhaps exploration of the next Furling colonial world on his list might shed some light on that question.

All he knew for certain was that he didn't want to share this information with the Furlings until he knew more about why the Ancients had put them away, and that puzzle still remained tantalizingly unsolved. He would wait and watch, and search for the truth. For now, he had a little peace, and it was good.

May 27

Three Days Later

The ruins called Con Thien were all above ground, laid out in a spiral with smaller curved trails cutting through to the larger radiant arms of the streets. Some of the buildings had been blasted to rubble and dust, others worn away to mere skeletons, but toward the center, a handful still stood in pristine glory.

Exploring them was the hard part, because the ceilings were only five feet high.  This was a world once populated by Grass Clan, and these ruins had been the center of their civilization on this devastated planet. Very little life remained near the cities, which were barely more than burned-out craters. Only this place still gave off an energy signature, which the away team had followed eagerly, hoping to find another piece of the Furlings' puzzling, mysterious history.

On this mission, they were accompanied by Jarvik, chief of the Furling infirmary staff. Although she had the stature of a child, the grief and shock on her face were clearly the outward signs of adult feelings; she understood what she was seeing around her.

She also seemed to know where she was going, leading the party down side paths, moving always to the right until they reached the city center. Her small body fit easily through the archway in an outer wall of the central building. It was too small for Denali to enter, and Daniel, Scout, and Rose had to bend over to get through it. 

The giant would remain vigilant at the entrance, in contact with the team through the comm link.

By the time they reached the structure's inner chambers, Daniel's back was aching. He needed to stretch, but there was no place to do that, short of lying down flat on the floor.

"Are we there yet?" asked Rose, leaning over with her hands on her knees as they came to a stop inside a large room at the center of the complex. "I'm too old for this kids' clubhouse thang.”  She joined the others as they examined their surroundings. The walls were lined with dark, silent machinery, many of which bore similarities to the incredibly high-tech analyzers in Gaia's infirmary.  ”What is this place, anyway?"

Jarvik spoke a single word in her dialect, and immediately, the readout inside Daniel's visor translated, Laboratory.

"What kind?" the Colonel shot back, a definite tone of uneasiness now in her voice.

Curious, she wandered closer to the central unit, reaching out to touch the sleeping device. A sonic pulse similar to the startling ship's klaxon reverberated through their bodies, and her hand bounced off an invisible force field, preventing her from getting near the apparatus.

"Protected," said Jarvik. She gestured around at the circular room, lined with dormant equipment. "Secret research. Only Grass may touch." She looked a little afraid, her big gray-green eyes shifting to Scout’s face as if waiting for instruction to proceed.

Daniel glanced at the elder, who had taken a seat on the floor, knees drawn up, forearms resting on them. "Continue, Rhami," he said quietly, the picture of calm acceptance. "We are prepared for whatever we might find here."

Daniel was intrigued to hear the healer's true name, and filed the information away for later.

With an acknowledging nod, Jarvik withdrew a small portable power supply, a mini-ZPM of Furling design, from a pouch slung over her shoulder.

They watched as Rhami plugged the powerful little battery into the appropriate hole in the device, and all around them the room came to life. Tiny lights flicked on and machinery began to hum.

Excitement shot through Daniel. This was the first Furling colony they'd found with an intact computer system, and he was hoping they'd find answers here. He was also hyper-aware of the fact that, if things didn't go well, he and Rose would be witnesses. That put them in a very precarious position. He would not be unprepared in the event they found something the Furlings wanted kept quiet, so he stepped to one side, casually placing himself between the aliens and Rose.

His fingertips tingled as he recognized the warning sign of potential power discharge, brought on by the thrill of discovery. He couldn't afford to let himself get carried away and possibly damage the machinery in the room, so he quickly tamped down the energy building up inside him.

Still, he might need to defend himself and Rose if what they found here further implicated the Furlings in a plot to destroy the members of the ancient consortium to which they had belonged.

Very carefully, using his mind rather than his hands, he activated the tissé built into his s'resh as a precaution, setting the weapon to stun.

Rhami's small hands swept over the controls on the central database, designed much like a small DHD. "Accessing last security recordings," she reported to the rest of the team. "Final moments of Clan."

A hologram appeared beside the device, showing the whole room in miniature. A dozen or so diminutive Grass Clan researchers lay face down on the floor, hands clasped behind their heads, while human-looking beings -- the Ancients, Daniel assumed -- stood over them with weapons aimed and primed to fire. Every one of the Ancients looked ready to kill, teeth bared, expressions grim and filled with fear and fury.

One of the Furling researchers awkwardly twisted around, in an effort to look up at the Ancient officer in charge. "Must not stop research!" he cried, obviously desperate. "Nox released sickness, not Grass!"

"Silence!" screeched the commander. "They brought us evidence of your plot to destroy us, Furling. It was not their fault the sample was compromised. You have killed us, you murderous traitors, and we shall do the same to you!"

"No! We can save you!" Grass protested, lifting his head still further off the floor. "Sickness not meant to kill, Ancient!" The healer's hands pressed against the floor, and twisted upward a little more, tears streaming down his cheeks. "All will be reborn! All, even Asgard. Please--"

"Liar!" growled the Ancient, his eyes flashing with hatred. He pointed his weapon at the Furling. "Where is the research data? We will find the cure for this plague ourselves, and undo what you have done to us."

Slowly, carefully, the little Grass Clan healer pushed up to his knees and sat back on his heels. He gathered his hands into his lap, left over right. His head swiveled, and eerily, he seemed to look right at the recording device for a moment, speaking to it, rather than to his captor. "Sickness cannot be stopped," he said quietly, resignation etched into his face; he knew he was about to die. "Will change us all. Data is not here. Is hidden."

His fingers moved, barely noticeable, but enough that Daniel saw the strange gesture.

"Tell me where it is!" the Ancient roared.

The Furling shook his head and sighed, gazing at the floor. That was his last breath. His death was vividly recorded, along with the systematic execution of all the other Furlings in the room. The recording scrolled onward, revealing the Ancient soldiers' desperate search for a way into the machinery, but they couldn't touch it, couldn't interact with it; even their weapons fire just bounced off the shields protecting it.

Rhami sent the playback into high-speed, showing the bodies being cleared out and more teams of Ancients arriving and working with the alien technology, trying to hack their way into the system. Their movements grew halting, labored, their complexions turning sallow or gray as they sickened and then ceased to appear in the room, their numbers thinning out until the lab remained empty and grew dark when the power supply was exhausted.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Daniel sat down on the floor by Scout, and Rose joined them a moment later.  "What did that last bit mean?" she asked as he sat down a little hard on the floor. "Sorry, but I always have a little trouble following Grass' conversations."

"I'm wondering about that, too," Daniel agreed. "Is that a reference to the crystal pyramids we found?"

Scout nodded at Rhami. "Perhaps Grass will find more information in the database," he suggested. His shoulders slumped, and he turned a weary, relieved smile on his human companions. "While the People do seem to have been the creators of the virus that killed the Ancients, this seems to support Mountain's message that said the Nox were the ones who released it. According to this account, it was being engineered for another purpose, one it had yet to fulfill."

"And they died before they could achieve it," Daniel added. "They said everyone would be reborn.  He directed a question to Grass.  ”What does that mean?"

The little healer's expression was closed. "Have ideas," she returned enigmatically. "Not ready to say yet. Need to study records." Her gaze moved to Scout's face as if searching for support.

"We may find our answers here," the elder agreed. "Please proceed, friend. Report to us as soon as you have a solution to this mystery of our past. I will ask if Doctor Lam wishes to assist."

"I'd like to stay, too," Rose volunteered, "so I can report to General O'Neill."

Scout nodded and got to his feet. He took a step, bent over beneath the low ceiling, and glanced at Daniel. "Would you also like to remain?"

Daniel studied the relief etched into Mikha's face and shot a glace at Rhami, already working on the computer terminal, disarming the shields and setting search parameters, all within full view of the entire party. There was no hint of subterfuge here, no attempt to hide any of the data they’d found.

Daniel felt his last remaining suspicions slipping away. The Furlings had been honest with him from the beginning, if not fully forthcoming with details of every strategy. If he asked the right questions, he'd found theyd given him all the answers. That was the key to communicating with them. They had trusted him with their history, including events that had the potential to be damning to them as a race.

He smiled at Scout and shook his head. "I can check the progress reports from Gaia," he returned cheerfully. "I'll be a lot more comfortable in my office than in these buildings. You remember the way out?"

Twenty minutes later, they’d rejoined Denali and returned to the ship, arriving just as Doctor Lam and six of the Grass Clan medical staff arrived in the transporter room to go down to the surface. He smiled and waved to her, watching as she and the little Furlings disappeared in a shimmer of humming light. Scout kept pace with him, head down, hands clasped behind him, obviously deep in thought.

"You seem relieved to find out your people didn't intentionally kill the Ancients," Daniel mused. "Did you have doubts?"

Mikha nodded. "We have never been a people who expected the worst of others," the elder explained. "We were innocent then, and could not have imagined what the Ancients did to us. They were our friends, according to the historical records we managed to maintain." His gaze lifted to Daniel's face, the orange ring around those amber irises intense. "But those who survived on Furdani theorized the Ancients might have been plotting to make war on us all along. If that were true, then we would not have been prepared. That is the only reason we can imagine our people might have had for creating the virus -- as a way to strike back at those who would do us harm."

For a moment, Daniel just stared into those alien eyes, contemplating what he'd seen in the hologram. The hand movements the Grass Clan scientist had made nagged at him. It was a hint, but he didn't know what it meant, not yet. He'd have to look through the Furling database for the appropriate character in their written scripts to see if he could match it.

Right hand, first two fingers extended and spread, thumb tucking the last two fingers into the palm. Left hand on top, thumb and index fingertip touching, all the fingers curled into a tube shape, backs of the hands touching.

"I think there might be another reason your people created this virus," Daniel said carefully. "The researcher said everyone would be reborn. That's the key, Mikha. He was trying to buy his people's lives with that promise, only the Ancients didn't listen."

A sensation gripped Daniel's heart as he turned his gaze down the corridor to watch where he was going. It was something like fear, regret, hope, and anticipation all rolled into one. The germ of an idea lay just out of reach in his consciousness; if he could catch it, he thought all the pieces would fall into place at last.

He suspected the Ancients had made a colossal error in judgment by condemning the Furlings to death and exile. If this intuition proved true, the Ancients might have killed off the only race in the galaxy who could have saved them -- would have saved them, given a chance.

Daniel made a decision then, and a great weight lifted off his heart. "I'd like you to come with me to my office," he told his companion. "There's something I want to show you. I'm going to start drawing up the plans for a machine the Furlings can use as a weapon against the Ori. We tried it once, but it was apparently destroyed before it could be put into action. This time, I think we can make a few adjustments that will be to everyone's best interest."

"A weapon?" asked Scout, his elegant eyebrows lifting in surprise. "From you?"

"Hey, I just remembered how to build it three days ago," Daniel shot back, recognizing a tease when he heard one. "Gimme a break."

"Very well. What would you like broken?"

Daniel couldn't help grinning.

May 29

Two Days Later

Gaia Infirmary

Carolyn looked tired as Daniel sidled up beside her in the testing bay. "You rang?" he asked quietly.

She glanced up at him with a weary smile. "Hey, yeah. I wanted to tell you about what we found at Con Thien." Her hands moved expertly over the controls of the database, sliding across virtual screens and pulling up data that floated in the air, inscribed with light. "Apparently, the Nox suspected the Furlings were plotting some kind of biological warfare and stole some samples of the virus from where it was being developed. That's how the contagion began, with the specimen containers being compromised."

"Which is pretty much what those two holograms on Helikon and Con Thien both indicated," he reiterated, nodding. "But why develop the disease in the first place, unless they really were planning a bio-war?"

She smiled, her chin dipped down, dark eyes sparkling with secrets. "Jarvik and I have a theory," she told him. "Can't tell you about it yet, but if it's true…" She shook her head and gave a soft chuckle. "It'll knock the whole galaxy on its collective ass, Daniel." 

Oh, how he hated being teased with information just out of reach. He frowned at her. "No hints?"

Her lips pressed together as she struggled to keep silent, and failed. "Okay, just one. Look at this."  Her left hand swept across a sensor panel, and two DNA holographs that had been minimized leapt up into view, spirals twirling silently in the air. She pointed at one. "This is us," she murmured, her gaze riveted to the helix. "Human DNA. Specifically, yours."

He cleared his throat nervously and waited for identification of the other graphic.

"This is Virus A," she whispered. "What do you see?"

Daniel squinted at the images, his eyes shifting from one to the other, back and forth, looking for something, anything that would trigger recognition.

Then he saw it.

His eyes widened. He gasped, "Oh, my God."

Then he bolted, running out of the infirmary and down the corridor as fast as he could, headed straight for Laboratory Six and the crystal pyramid he’d found months ago, in another set of Furling ruins. The answer had been there all along; he just hadn't been looking for it in the right place. 

End Chapter 34
 

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