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Universe 4 - Interlude into Universe 5 (cont) Chapter 3 - 1939 Insertion into Universe 5-Timeline B |
| “So
we have a week before we’re due to contact Universe three again, I
think it is best that we decide what we will be doing to maximise our
use of that time?” said Radek nursing a mug of hot tea as he and Daniel
talked. “One of our main priorities has to be food because while we aren’t using much at the moment as it’s just the two of us until John and the girls come out of the Chambers it will still quickly become a major problem due to the fact we had to send most of the food with Sg1 as we didn’t know how long it would take for your and John’s counterparts to get the message and come retrieve them so only have a few days left for ourselves.” Daniel said immediately. “So one of the first things we need to do is smelt some of the gold we have into smaller ingot bars and sell enough to stock the complex with food, how much and what we purchase is something we need to work out quickly as it will determine how much of the gold we need to sell, keeping in mind our goal of keeping as much of the gold as possible for the future as we know in 1980 the price of gold will skyrocket.“ “True that is good idea and I agree it is imperative that we replenish our food supplies as soon as possible especially before America goes to war.” he said with a bit of worry. “I do not know how it was in America during World War II but many things were very tightly controlled in Europe including food.“ “A lot of things were Rationed in America as well.” grimaced Daniel in realisation. “So that makes it even more imperative that we stock up on those supplies as soon as possible before any of that comes into effect, if possible we should get enough supplies to last all the War so we don‘t have to tempt fate by running the gauntlet of all the paranoia of a Country at War especially as we won’t have the identification needed.” shuddered Daniel he found it easy to imagine what could happen especially given his luck. “Yes, that is a very wise decision dealing with such paranoid mentality as a population at War would not be pleasant and very dangerous not to mention that such Rationing would require paperwork we definitely will not have to present.” grumbled Radek. Daniel nodded with a sigh in full agreement, “Radek, exactly how good are the food storage facilities in this place and how large is it? We need to know both of those facts to make a reasonable estimate of how much we can buy as it is no use purchasing food if we don’t have the storage space for it, we also need to know how long will things keep before spoiling which will also have a big impact on what we can buy. I have absolutely no idea of what the Alteran preservation tech for food storage is truly capable of but it has to be better than what Earth even in our time is capable of in that direction given their Stasis technology. So how often would we have to come out to replace what spoils while we are in the chambers?” he asked seriously. Radek snorted, “Daniel, as you suspected the Alteran Stasis technology is also present in all their food storage technology in many ways it is better than what one of their normal stasis pods are capable of as it does not have to keep a living occupant viable and sane. Simple food storage has only the criteria of maintaining the contents in a usable manor as long as possible which is much simpler than trying to keep an organism alive. The Alteran commonly stored their grain harvests in ways that made it just as viable and useable a century later, although many things when stored fresh had a shorter length of viability even using stasis, so much like we do in our time they extended that viability by applying preservation techniques such as freezing, drying, bottling and other such techniques to the majority of their produce before it was placed in the Stasis.” Daniel frowned, “Give me an example, say milk it usually has a short useable life even when kept in the fridge.” “Yes, fresh milk has a very limited lifespan at room temperature but add cold and it can last a few days to a week which while also short can be extended by stasis unfortunately due to it having a high water content and high spoilage level even using Alteran Stasis technology fresh milk would not last more than two years at most which is about a week stasis time but even then it would have to be stored in the cold section of the storage areas to last that long.” explained Radek thoughtfully. “At the same time full cream milk can be frozen which extends that period tremendously so we could probably keep such frozen milk in stasis for about a decade or more, caned milk or dried powdered milk on the other hand would last the entire time we need it as the preservation techniques are very good to begin with and would be exponentially extended by the addition of Stasis.” “So method of preservation and which section of the Stasis Storage in the complex we place it will effect the length of storage time just as it does for us.” nodded Daniel thoughtfully as he assimilated that. “Yes the Alteran Stasis technology just extends the storage time, it is a great boon to food storage but even it has limits. It did help them survive the Century long Siege by the Wraith, the stasis storage areas in the City kept their supplies intact until completely consumed and they eventually began to refill them by converting a lot of the City to greenhouses and other food production to keep them filled. Then Time Dilation was eventually used to speed up that production in any areas that they had a shortfall in those first few years but eventually food was not a problem during the Siege of Atlantis, Daniel.” “What was?” “What else, Energy was their main problem as everything they used needed tremendous amounts of Energy especially the City Shield and the Dilation technology that kept the food on their tables both expended a lot of energy, the ZPM production facilities had been off world and they themselves had destroyed them so they did not fall to the Wraith and while they could reconfigure the ZPM’s they had to recharge them it wasn‘t something they could do that often as they had to let the subspace layer regenerate between the recharges, which made finding alternative energy sources vital. They tried everything Daniel but in the end it all came back to the ZPM’s which is why they eventually had to retreat back to Earth.” Daniel blinked at that but it made sense so he nodded, “So if we buy fresh milk it will remain fresh for about two years if we freeze it about ten possibly more. I presume it’s the same for meat and eggs or any other fresh produce.” at Radek’s nod of confirmation he continued. “Longer storage requires added preservation such as canning or drying etc. I’ll keep all that in mind when I start looking at food.” “Transporting fresh produce is no problem either while both ambulances are intact at the moment with the four medical stasis pods, it is not hard to switch the medical pods in the Jumpers with the stasis storage pods John and I found in the storerooms designed for such work. John and I found them very useful whenever we went on Hunting and Gathering trips it ensured we did not have to worry about the food we hunted or gathered spoiling before we made it back to the complex. Although John pessimist soldier that he is insisted we only switch out three of the pods on such occasions so we had the option of the final pods use for any Medical emergencies on such trips.“ “Did they ever get used?” asked Daniel with a frown. “A few times,” grumbled Radek. “Once we encountered an earthquake during which John was almost crushed he was saved only because I managed to get him into the pod which arrested the immediate danger of his death until I could get him into the Chambers at the Complex. The second time I was gored by mountain cat who decided I was more tasty than the animal I and the cat were both hunting.” Radek said with a grimace, remembering how painful it was to drag himself back to the Jumper after dispatching the cat and triggering the emergency beacon before even more painfully managing to climb into the pod, thankfully he and John had long since rigged a slave function in the Jumpers for such situations so John did not have to abandon his own Jumper when he arrived in answer to Radek’s emergency beacon, on seeing him in the pod John had immediately slaved his own Jumper controls to Radek’s and flew them both back to the Complex, John’s Jumper trailing behind like gosling by use of the remote control slave function they had adapted from the automatic parking system. Radek had not been impressed to wake in the VR of the Chamber back at the Complex and had given John a piece of his mind when he found out the Major had been foolish enough to continue their supply gathering by himself without the safety net of the beacon anything could have happened and Radek would not have been able to retrieve him before the Jumpers power supply expired and the Stasis function of the emergency pod with it. “Which is why I insist we also take that precaution whenever we leave the Complex having a medical mod in the Jumper has saved both our lives more than once.” when Daniel nodded compliance he changed the subject. “If we intend to go shopping I can see another problem that Ancient Egyptian apparel you are presently wearing is not suitable Daniel, as it will attract too much attention in the outside world.” said Radek with a frown as he started thinking of some of the likely dangers cashing in some of the gold would bring them in this dangerous pre-war time. “You’re one to talk those stark white Alteran outfits you and John wear aren’t much better even if you could fit in better by the cut, that colour will still turn every head to gawk at you.” snorted Daniel. “I figure I can solve that slightly if I mix the two styles together, some of the brown shades of my present clothing will cut the stark whiteness the Alteran favoured in their outfits down to something less noticeable unless we can somehow dye that white another colour to make it less noticeable.” Radek nodded at that, “Department store very hard to come by ten thousand years ago, we were just grateful that the Alteran did remember to leave us clothes before they Ascended or we would have been naked when we got out of Chambers the first time unless we made our own out of the plethora of blankets we found in storage or the hides of the animals we hunted for the larder later.” chuckled Radek. “They also left us the ability to make more of these Alteran Uniforms and a storeroom full of bolts of the fabric and spools of the yarn to make clothing with. There is an automatic tailor that takes our measurements then we choose from the available patterns and then it cuts and sows us new outfits when needed, the only problem is all the material is white and while they also left us the machinery to make more of the synthetic material they did not leave us the chemicals to make it so all we can do is recycle old uniforms through the yarn maker and make a recycled bolt of fabric but after a number of recycles the cloth weakens and eventually the recycled yarn is only good for blankets or underwear which does not usually need the durability and strength of a newly made bolt of the Alteran fabric.” sighed Radek, knowing he and John had been expecting to be running out of the cloth by now and having to deal with that weakening due to recycling the yarn but bypassed the problem entirely due to skipping thousands of year by using of the Time Jumper to get to this time period instead of using the Chambers or the Dilation so still had plenty of the Alteran fabric left. “The main problem is that the different clothing styles are programmed in already and all Alteran in style like what I am wearing as neither of us have much tailoring experience so have not been bothered enough to attempt to change the designs, it frankly was not worth the effort as these styles are comfortable as they are and we had no intention of interacting with the outside world enough for it to be a problem in addition the Alteran cloth is the only fabric we have so it would also stand out due to the colour.” “I can see that, I’ll need to make myself an outfit as well if I am to mix it with what I am wearing as I don’t think I will fit into your clothing or John’s, do you think that database of designs has anything to dress the girls in when they come out of the Chambers, the linen of Ancient Egyptian clothing isn’t suitable for this climate especially as children usually didn’t wear much.” he asked with a frown. “If there isn’t anything I’ll gave to purchase them clothing while we are getting food.” “When they are out of Chambers I shall show you how to use the tailor to make them clothing, the Alteran did not really change their styles for children so the option is in the tailor to shrink a design to child size you just need to tell the tailor that it is for a child then let it take their measurements. I suggest the Alteran Dresses to start with as there is an extensive selection of designs for female use in the tailor everything from simple to elaborate, quite a few of them dresses as Melina favoured them and she was a high ranked Council member. The tailor also makes underwear and there is a type of knitting machine that makes the Alteran version of socks and tights from the cones of yarn not the cloth. Also white of course!“ snorted Radek. Daniel sighed a little relieved at the idea as it put off a full shop for the girls he could probably get come coloured trim to relive the white a little as that wouldn’t be that expensive then a thought occurred, “What about shoes?” “There is another machine that makes Alteran footwear from another synthetic material that is soft durable and waterproof so that is covered as well although we would need to obtain more of the needed chemicals to make that material as we have run out. Thankfully we did experiment with that machine when it ran out of the synthetic. John made leather and we fed the resulting hide into the machine in place of the synthetic and it worked quite well which is why we no longer wear white boots but black. Since you could do with new boots as well we should see if we can purchase a few hides for the machine as that will be easier and quicker than hunting and curing our own hides as John and I have been forced to do. Purchasing from a professional tanner would also give us a greater range of leathers to work with.” “Thanks Radek that will be a relief a few white dresses should do for the moment I think, it’s not as if they’ll be leaving the Complex in either Universe for the foreseeable future and it will be much warmer than the clothing they have at the moment. Although you never answered my question about dye?” Radek laughed, “Do not mention dye to John, the fibre is synthetic and deliberately made to be impervious to most dirt which stops attempts at dying it as well, it is a very comfortable fabric as it was created to maintain the body temperature of the wearer, being cool when it is hot and warm when it is cold we suspect it might have the textile strength of Kevlar so might mitigate the damage from a bullet if we are shot, as far as we can see it‘s only true fault is the colour. John hates the white with a passion and I am not to fond of it either so we have naturally made numerous attempts to change the colour so it is not so blindingly white. John‘s first attempt was a basic black dye made of tannin obtained from oak galls and iron filings, John learnt to make it in his survival training and it is a good easy dye which is why we used it on the leather we made to make the boots. Unfortunately the attempt to dye the Alteran fabric failled spectacularly and when it didn’t work John complained quite loudly and thoroughly he was so disgusted at the failure, it was most funny to watch as he ranted that his Puddle Jumper was not a Companion so he shouldn’t have to wear Herald White otherwise called 'Shoot Me Please'. A comment that confirmed that he is total geek in every way.” Radek laughed at the memory. “So, I think we will definitely have to make use of your idea of mixing our respective clothing to mitigate both extremes to some extent, even so I think it would still be best if we do not attempt to stroll down the sidewalk of an American city wearing such clothing especially as there is a World War looming.” “You’re coming with me, I thought I was going alone and you would be staying here to work on the generators?” frowned Daniel. “John is in no danger and the amount of Naqahdah I can salvage is not enough to completely cure him at this time anyway so that can be started when we return. John would not be pleased if I let you go alone especially while you are carrying gold ingots, we will be armed as well but as we will not be going off world the Alteran stun guns will be sufficient I think, if we go off world it is another matter as the Alteran Weapons were found to be relatively ineffective in the face of Prim‘ta‘s giving Jaffa very fast recovery time from the blast.” Radek retorted. “As proven by the Colonel and Teal’c so we will have to save some of the Naqahdah for Zat’nic’tals for protection off world.” “I don’t need babysitting, I’m not exactly new to this Radek!” snapped Daniel. “You don’t need to come!” “I know you are very skilled but it is safer Daniel and it is no longer just yourself you must think of because if anything happened to you, your daughters would truly be Orphans.” glared Radek not giving in. “No, we will both go so we can watch each others backs the entire time, after we cash in the gold we shall first obtain more suitable clothing that will not attract attention, then we will go shopping for supplies in a different locality thankfully they have better preserving methods in this time as cans and other preserving methods have been invented, anything else will keep in the Alteran stasis pods until we return to the Complex and transfer it all to the freezers and cabinets of the food stasis storage areas. Do not worry about space either, the complex has two such areas and both are extremely large, one they made for us on the dilation level and the second the floor below this one which was used by the Alteran before they Ascended, it will frankly be a relief not to actually have to hunt and gather it all ourselves as John and I have been forced to do up to now.” Seeing that Radek was determined and he wouldn’t win the argument Daniel just nodded his agreement so Radek continued. “The clothing we purchase has to be a generic style that will not date too badly as the years pass as we will not be venturing out that often which means nothing to outrageous or trendy, we should not need more than one or two outfits each as it will only be for use outside the complex to stop us from standing out while shopping in America whenever we need to venture outside the complex to restock our supplies or do other things. The Alteran clothing will do for use inside of the complex as it is very durable and comfortable and we can easily make it. I will obtain John’s measurements from the tailor before we leave as we may as well purchase such clothing for him as well so we don’t have to make another trip just for that once he is well enough to come out of the Chambers.” added Radek thoughtfully. “Will the Alteran clothing be suitable for use as work clothes, Naqahdah mining was a very dirty job on Abydos and even with the Rescue Jumpers equipment I doubt it will be much better or less dusty.” mused Daniel with a wince as the list of purchases started to grow longer. “I better take all the gold with us, in smaller ingots. We can check out the prices of things before we cash in the gold that way we know how much to cash, what we don’t use should be safe in the Jumper as it will be cloaked and inaccessible unless someone has the gene and even then they will have to find it,” he said with a sigh. “I am hoping we don’t have to use all the gold because I want to save as much as possible to sell in 1980 but I’m realistic enough to know that might not be possible as I doubt this is our last shopping trip before then.” “True, money is undoubtedly to become a serious worry as time progresses and the cost of things escalate although I am pretty sure the gold price the Colonel quoted for that year is wrong as I am sure my own parents got much more for her wedding ring than that but that is something to look out for when the time comes but even that will not help us if we need to spend all the gold before then.” frowned Radek. “Work clothing will not be a problem as the Alteran clothing is much tougher than anything Terrans can make even in our own time. On the subject of money we do have a few other options available but they will start disappearing as the century progresses so if we intend to make use of them it will have to be quite soon.” Daniel eyed him warily, “What options?” “While I and John confined our mining activities to substances we needed for maintenance of the Complex such as crushed limestone for the air filters and a few other things such as the makings of new memory crystal for the complex we did once very naughtily discuss the feasibility of mining gold for trading use as most ancient civilisations would trade for gold but in the end we both decided not to chance it and used only the gold from the complexes water filter, as actually mining for such a in demand substance as gold might mess up the timeline in some fashion, at the time we did not know the Time Jumpers created a new Universe.” he finished dryly to explain their reasoning for the extreme caution. “You’re suggesting we should think seriously about mining more than just the Naqahdah with the Rescue Jumper equipment?” asked Daniel with a frown as he weighted the pro’s and con’s of that thought. “It is a reasonable and quite feasible option Daniel and one that will solve a great many of our present and future needs. In its favour we would not have to leave Earth for anything but the Naqahdah as that is not found naturally in this Solar System, as for the rest the Alteran’s did a thorough mineral survey of Earth in fact the entire Solar System during their time so that is not a problem, surely some of the gold or perhaps other coveted minerals we could sell when necessary to finance our plan are as yet still undiscovered on Earth as it is inconceivable that all of them have been found especially this early in the century, there should be many such deposits yet unfound due to their inaccessible locations. With the Jumpers we can get around that pesky inaccessible problem easily as we can reach such deposits and mine them easily as we aren’t as limited in terms of accessibility as this time period is.” Daniel nodded slowly he could see how that might be possible to accomplish this far back in time, the air transport that would reach the isolated deposits Radek was talking about was either still in its infancy or not yet invented so the Jumpers would enable them to get there first and take some of it before it was even found so technically it wouldn’t even be stealing. “Show me what you have in mind?” he finally said not fully convinced they should do it but very willing to be talked into it as it would solve a lot of their future financial problems. “Bring your tea, it is easier to show you on the Dilation level, John and I have long since routed all the different Databases in the Complex to be accessed through the Chambers VR system or the Dilation Level as the case maybe.” “Different databases?” frowned Daniel. “Yes by our count there are six different databases in complex, seven if you count the pattern archive for the tailor, knitting and boot machines, originally they were not connected. John and I had a very interesting time connecting them all so we could access them while either in the Chambers or in Dilation without having to leave, once we had done that it made our life much simpler.” Daniel frowned, “You make it sound as if the knowledge stored in the Complex is limited, when you talked about the Wraith and John playing with Janus’s Armageddon Failsafe equations I thought this place might have a Repository attached?” Radek snorted, “Not even close Daniel! The complex is a hospital and rescue station so most of the Database in this mountain pertains to that function, it is all compressed and archived but still easily accessible if you have strong Gene and know what you are looking for. The Medical Database has the most free space left as it originally designed to be constantly added too with not only the birth of children but records of illness and treatment for each Alteran patient as well. John and I both have very large medical records in that database starting from when the Alteran’s first treated us on Atlantis, that file was added to every time we entered the Chambers to heal or otherwise. The database also has a very large secondary file that is basically an addition to the Alteran Medical Database that not only had all their studies of the Terran body and genetic profile but a complete cross reference to the Alteran body and genetic profile for comparison. This is the Alteran Melina’s work, she was their Head Healer and on the Council and she found us fascinating so spent the years after their return before she Ascended studying us using the Chamber readings as a reference she also kept finetuning the Terran Chamber data crystals with what she learn so it wasn’t as crude as when we were first placed in them. The second database in the Complex is for the Rescue Group which Janus headed, I think he did not enjoy the job but had no choice as he had been assigned the job by the Council. On their return to Earth they did not need him to invent anymore as they were now working for Ascension not to win Wraith War.” Radek said dryly. “This database has the maps of planet which is kept upgraded by the sensor satellites in orbit under cloak. Janus created it and it was attached to the Rescue Groups computers because they had found out the hard way that such data was always wise to have handy during a rescue on such a geologically active planet as Earth. The Solar System was added as Earth also occasionally gets hit and the Alteran’s liked some warning so they could deflect it away from their bases.” snorted Radek from what he had found from going through the rescue reports and the comments on them which often included the Alteran equivalent of swearing they had no idea of the damage Earth could cause their installations, before the plague they had been about to shift to another planet when it became geologically unstable the axis shifting had been the last straw. That shift to a new plant had not happened because once the plague spread to epic levels they were to busy simply surviving to bother shifting to a more pleasant planet, it wasn‘t as if the environment was a danger given their technology they even stopped the problem of frostbite by making it that their cells survive being frozen as the SGC discovered when they found the Alteran woman found in the ice with the plague she had survived for over five million years in a frozen condition without celluar damage. Daniel laughed just as amused as Radek at the thought of the Alteran dealing with Earth's shifting crust and destructive weather. “The third database is from Janus secret lab in complex which is where John found the Armageddon Failsafe equations and many other things, the lab also had the design program both John and I often make use of. I do not think the Alteran had any idea what John’s super gene would do to their security, John just overpowers even their tightest and highest security levels, all their security system is like tissue when he connects as it automatically give him the highest clearance.” chuckled Radek. “It did not take long for John to discover that secret part of the Database that Janus stored his own work on, he hacked it in short order then it was a simple matter of finding the physical lab itself, that is where he found most interesting things. Unfortunately I was bitterly disappointed that we found no data on the construction of ZPM’s or how to recharge them it seems that became highly classified data during the war with the Wraith and the restriction was never removed. On the other hand we did find all of Janus approved and illegal project notes as well as a lot of Theoretical notes on ideas for future projects or ways to fix failed projects, the notes and blueprints for the Time Jumpers and the Armageddon Failsafe were there as well.” “John’s gene is still classed as super?” he questioned surprised he had thought the one the Chambers gave them would bring them up to John and Jack’s level. “There is still very big gap between what I can do and what John can do, he uses it much more instinctively and as I said he can overpower all the Alteran’s security that is something I cannot do either.” admitted Radek with a sigh. “Okay, so Medical, Rescue and Janus’s secret lab are three of the six databases what are the other two?” “The next database is an archive attached to the rescue database it is simply a massive storehouse of data that might be needed for a rescue while most of it is just a storehouse of massively compressed blueprints of Alteran Installations and Ships on file in case they are needed for a rescue, it also has any of the security codes needed to access them so is very helpful.” Daniel look startled, “Ship blueprints!” he exclaimed incredulously knowing how delighted Sam or Rodney would have been to find that let alone the rest of the SGC. “Yes but also their installations in fact anything they built they stored the blueprints and notes about. Frankly, we have barely scratched the surface of discovering what is in that archive but I would not be surprised if compressed deep in that rescue database are the blueprints of the ship that brought them to this Galaxy untold millions of years ago it is a good thing they are not as contrary as Humans or that database would be a million times the size .” “What do you mean?” “Daniel, you will come to realise that the Alteran hardly ever changed a design once it was perfected and they were satisfied that it did what they wanted. It is perhaps a result of their great age as a Race and a way to limit their need for Archive space but there has often been little change to a design for millions of years. Their installations and cities also tended to use the same standard blueprints over and over again merely adapted to the planetary environment.” laughed Radek. “It is the same with their space ships they had a few standard designs to cover the functions they wanted if they upgraded a system they made notes and added the new upgrades to that blueprint at the same time keeping the old design on file. As I said, I think it is because their civilisation was so old, in many ways they were static only changing when forced to do so, they did more upgrades to their space ships during the Wraith War than they had done in the last twelve million years which is why Ascension had such a strong draw for them.” Daniel nodded thoughtfully, “The Proclarush Taonas Outpost was the exact same design as the one in the Antarctic.” “Exactly, the same blueprint was used to construct them both and all other similar Outposts follow the same design and construction which is why only one blueprint for Outposts is stored in the Archive Database as only one blueprint was ever needed.” “That’s four of the databases what’s number five?” asked Daniel absorbing it all. “The fifth database contains the mineral and geological surveys of Earth and the Solar System a lot of it will be inaccurate as many of those deposits have long since been mined and that database was not updated.” “So what’s the sixth one?” mused Daniel. “You said the seventh was the clothing one!” “Training modules attached to Chambers designed to give us standard Alteran Education and overview of Alteran History as the original plan was for us to join their society when we left the Chambers and for that we had to be educated. It was only the standard education given to Seed Race who had advanced enough to join the Alteran. Melina and Janus upgraded that database by adding to it significantly with permission of the Council before most of them Ascended, overall they did not in fact add as much as they could have it was more a good range of training options that were added to keep us occupied, they also added the time dilation level at that time so we could get back to our own time as fast as possible.” Daniel frowned, “Training modules that seems out of character for the Alteran they have a strict non-interference policy for what they consider the lesser races?” “True but it was not so rigidly enforced while they were still corporeal as they routinely admitted their Seed Races into their Civilisation when they deemed them advanced enough,” snorted Radek. “Even so by their standards the training modules supplied were limited certainly nothing they considered classified or too advanced. Even in this the data was sanitized to the level of a newly elevated Alteran Seed Race so it is mostly career training for exploration crews, although it did have interesting careers such as Terra forming specialist which included such things as geology and bio sculpting a planets environment so it was viable and sustainable long term. It was the easiest for them to add as most of the biotech data was already in the Medical Database so they did not have to add to the storage space to add it as they would have had to for anything else. We were lucky they gave us even that and their Council only approved it because they thought us more advanced as a Civilisation and as a Race than we actually are!” said Radek with a butter wouldn‘t melt in his mouth look of innocence that didn’t fool Daniel one bit. “Really and how pray tell did they get that impression?” he asked dryly. Radek gave him a diabolical smirk, “It was quite easy actually and I did not need to tell a single lie to accomplish it.” he said with a chuckle. “We were still in the Chambers that first time and John was still not well enough to communicate so when they began to ask some interesting questions about our Race I became suspicious especially as I had grown up under a Communist Regime and have experienced such subtle interrogations in the past. I had long since worked out the readings from the Chambers could be used as a biometric lie detector so I was extremely careful of my words making sure I told no actual lies to them. The first significant question was an query about our Space Technology namely if we were dependent on the Stargate or Astria Portia as they called it to transverse the Galaxy. I quickly assured them we had not only progressed from simple rocket ships confined to the solar system but actual space ships that we designed and built ourselves that were capable of going anywhere in the Galaxy we wished. For good measure I assured them that we have already encountered the Nox and the Asgard and while the Nox considered us still young thought we have potential, the Asgard on the other hand were actual Allies and they considered us the possible Fifth Race to the extent that they were starting to help us refine our space technology. The clincher of it all I think was when I casually mentioned that some of our Race had actually Ascended.” Radek threw him a significant look making Daniel burst out laughing. Radek nodded obviously very proud of the fact that he pulled that piece of flimflam off and that he had managed to do so without resorting to a single lie as they would have detected it, “As I said I truly did not tell a single lie, Daniel. you cannot tell me that we have not indeed progressed from rocket ships to spaceships that we designed and built that can travel the Galaxy, the fact that the later was mostly due to reverse engineering Goa’uld ships was just a minor detail I left out,” he smirked. “I also saw no reason to mention how short a period of time has passed between the first rocket ships to reach orbit and our new spaceships that are capable of Galactic travel. It is also quite truthful that we are Allied to the Asgard who do consider us the possible Fifth Race, so they weren‘t lies either. As for the final claim that is not a lie either for you Daniel have definitely Ascended twice even if the first time you needed help to do so, the second time you did not. Technically you are not the only person of our Race to do so either, Daniel. The people of Abydos have also Ascended and they are descended from Terran’s as well, as they were stolen from Earth by the Goa‘uld to settle Abydos as slaves, when you consider their Ancestry you could in a way consider Abydos an old Terran Colony so that wasn‘t an outright lie either just a slight smudging of the details. Technically Terran’s have Colonised the whole of our Galaxy I just left out the minor detail of how it happened.” “Your incorrigible!” he said smothering another chuckle. “No John’s the incorrigible one and he has absolutely no shame, nothing is safe from him, pilot and navigation simulator was originally part of that added module but it was limited to training on older systems from long before the Wraith War when they did still explore, the limitation annoyed him so when he discovered the Rescue database of ship blueprints he added them to the module to give a wider range of ships to pilot just to make it more interesting. Then not content with that he raided Janus’s own private section of the Complex’s database for the actual design program we use that let us play with all the blueprints to make new ship designs and test them in simulations. I do not think the Alteran had any idea of what John’s super gene would do to their security.” laughed Radek, “I have come to the conclusion that the Alteran Gene does not work in the same maner as ours even if it essentially does the same job. It is the only explanation for how easily John just overpowers even their tightest and highest security levels, all their security just crumples when he connects and automatically give him highest clearance.” chuckled Radek. “As you may imagine it did not take long for John to discover that secret part of the Database that Janus created for his own private use, he hacked it in short order then it was a simple matter of finding the physical lab itself, as I said that is where he found the Armageddon Failsafe Equations and the design program we both use for our projects.” “I'm really surprised that John’s gene can still be classed as super?” he questioned again still surprised. “I thought the one the Chambers gave us would bring us up to his and Jack’s level but from the sound of it obviously not.” “There is still very big gap between what I can do and what John can do for instance I have noticed that he uses it much more instinctively than myself and as I said he can overpower all the Alteran’s security protocols often without even trying that is something I certainly cannot do either.” admitted Radek with a sigh. Daniel frowned thoughtfully, “You said the Medical Database had the most memory space left does that mean the Complex is running out of Memory storage?” Radek blushed, “Yes and No!” he said ruefully. “It was running out as John and I played with a lot with designs while in Dilation but once we realised the problem we did something about it, Janus’s lab had vats to make new memory banks for complex so we did make more to store our own creations in although it meant we had to obtain the raw materials needed to make them, we quarried limestone at the same time to replace the crushed limestone in all the air filters throughout the complex, that was an extremely filthy job as each level has five of the filters and the infectious disease lab and wards have their own isolated systems. Every air filter was in atrocious condition literally black and dripping with filth that took forever to clean so they could be restored to optimal working condition as the Alteran’s had not bothered with that little piece of maintenance before they Ascended.” grumbled Radek giving himself a mental note to check their condition it had been a few thousand years since the crushed limestone had been changed. “So technically the complex computer has unlimited storage because you two can make whatever you need as long as you have the base material?” he mused a strange disconcerting light in his eyes that made Radek suddenly wary. “Daniel what are you thinking to have such a speculative look?” he demanded worried. “I’ve been thinking Ba’al has just come back in time so he’s just starting whatever he intends to accomplish which is to probably take over and rule the other System Lords much like Anubis attempted so any salvaging operations beyond the gate will have to be done as soon as possible. We need to make a list of the things the SGC found that we can’t let fall into Baal’s hands in this timeline and go get them before it becomes to dangerous.” “Such as what?” frowned Radek not liking where this conversation was headed. “For a start the two Repositories we know about, Anubis knew what they were and made an attempt to get hold of the second one which is how Jack got it downloaded the second time.” Daniel said ruefully knowing that had all been his idea. “We have no idea if Ba’al knows about them or not but I don’t think we can take the chance that he doesn’t know about them and might try for the knowledge in those Repositories. They are much too dangerous to fall into the hands of Ba’al or any Goa’uld although Ba’al is the most dangerous as he may not be able to access them at the moment but I am sure it would only be a matter of time before he worked out how to access them especially as he knows Earth has people with the Genetic Key to them and given the Goa‘uld have an extensive Genetic Memory already he might be able to assimilate it if he can download it.” Radek thought on that horrific scenario and shivered, “I agree, that knowledge is much too dangerous to leave sitting around while Goa’uld such as Ba’al might have future knowledge of their existence, the fact you asked about memory implies that you are thinking of downloading one to Complex if possible.” “It’s an idea but it’s also a big risk it might not connect to a normal computer and it isn’t as if we can use it straight we’ve seen the end result of that twice.“ sighed Daniel. “It will take a lot of work as we must first retrieve the Repositories so they are safe before we even try to access it which might not be possible for us to do safely as they are designed to download into and organic brain not a computer memory bank. Even if we bypass that and make it transfer into the archive of the Complex we will undoubtedly have to add a tremendous amount of memory crystal to the Archive storage of the Complex than John and I have ever needed to store our ship designs. In fact it may take years to grow enough crystals to hold the contents of a Repository and it will also need a lot of supplies to make those crystals as what John and I mined to do the work we wanted will not be near enough.” “What about the access problem is there a way to download a Repository without it killing us?” asked Daniel hopefully. “Possibly, give me a minute to think about that.” muttered Radek with a frown as he thought about how to go about bypassing a Repository’s download function that was designed to be accessed by a different brain structure entirely or perhaps filtering it so it wouldn‘t try rewriting their brain. Seeing that he was lost in thought Daniel got up and refilled their mugs with fresh hot tea that Radek absently sipped as the doodled ideas and thoughts on one of the Alteran tablets they had been making notes and lists on. Finally he looked up and said, “It is possible and at least worth an attempt as I am hopeful that Janus and Melina have already done the hard part for us which is creating a filter for their Computers to access the human brain. Melina did most of the work by creating the programming to adjust the Healing Chambers to work with a Human Brain, while Janus did the rest by making it so we could not only access the virtual reality system which isn’t that difficult anyone in a Chamber would do that but making sure we could actually make use of the complex‘s database and teaching facilities which is not usually part of the Chambers reality system. With that much of the work already complete I might be able to create something to plug the repository into the Complex through that system and let it act as a filter so the repository does not all download all at once into our brain and kill us. It will take a lot of experimentation but if I succeed it is creating the crystals to make an archive big enough to hold the contents of a Repository of Knowledge that is a problem, it would be simpler to somehow limit the download and use the repository itself as an additional Archive?“ he asked hopefully. Daniel frowned, “The main problem I see with that idea Radek is that both Repositories only had enough power left in them for one download so unless the Computer system in the complex has the storage space available to store the contents of a repository we can’t use them as it will be a one off deal for both of them. Which only gives us two short attempts to download it all before they go dead.“ “Which is a problem as we do not know how much extra storage we would have to make to transfer it from the Repository and as you said we will not have many attempts even with two of them available. Our best bet is to examine Repository and attempt to discover how much storage it will take then start making it using Janus lab. It we do not complete the project in our time here we shall simply bring it all with us along with the two Repositories and continue the project in the Universe Four Complex but I would prefer to download at least one of the Repository here as I have no idea how it will react to the dimensional shift if as I suspect they are powered by a ZPM the little power they have will not survive the transition as Janus notes on the Mirror technology stated that Potentia as they called the ZPM modules lose a percentage of the stored power during such a shift into another Universe.” Daniel grimaced at that as he could see the problem immediately the with the state of the Repository power they would be dead after such a shift and would need new ZPM’s to work. “Okay so we either download them to normal computer archive crystal before we shift to Universe Four or we have to have a replacement ZPM power source for the Repository to use after we shift. “So, that is very strong reason to obtain at least one ZPM to take with us. But before all that we must not only mine a lot of Naqahdah to get John out of the Chamber but also collect the two repository we know about before Ba’al becomes entrenched in the outer Galaxy and it becomes too dangerous for us to venture beyond Earth, this is definitely a long term project but I am hopeful that we shall work on a way to permanently access them. But such a project will bring up another problem how do we take the archive with us unlike a Repository normal Alteran computer crystal while intensely dense with tremendous storage capacity it will still take up a great deal of room it is unlikely to fit in a Jumper especially as a lot of the available space will be taken up by the Time Machine?” Daniel sighed, “Damn, so the idea is useless our best bet is to obtain a ZPM to take with us to power the Repositories and do it all in Universe Four?” “We might be able to build a bigger ship to use the machine in and take it with us, some sort of platform with a lot of storage space would be our best bet at succeeding to take it will us but it will also be wise to also have a backup plan to just take repository and a ZPM for power source and do the work there. What else are you the most worried about that you think it wise we retrieve it before it falls into the hands of Baal?” “We need to get at least one of the ZPM’s as you said I wasn‘t going to as it is a big risk but as we really need one for the Repository that means a visit to Proclarush Taonas as I don’t think I can narrow the Camulus ones location and searching ten planets that might be inhabited by Goa’uld is to dangerous. But that work can be done on Earth as the Tel’tak to get there is on Earth so that’s a later problem for us although we’ll have to decide if we put the effort in to dive for the access medallion to retrieve the Tel’tak before the War starts making Egypt dangerous or do it after the War ends as I know a lot of fighting took place there which is why they shifted the Stargate to America as the Nazi were after it as they all thought it a weapon. My main worry other than the Repositories is that my Sam was speculating that the Time Jumpers either wrote over the old timeline or created a new universe and the only way she could think of to check which was the truth was to go to the planet we found the Time Jumper on and see if there was one there or not because if we created a new universe it would have been duplicated when the Universe was created. Unlike my Sam we know it is a new Universe so that Time Ship will be there and no way am I leaving it for Baal or anyone else to stumble over as it will create another universe if used.” “Yes, I understand what you are saying and if our knowledge of Janus movement is correct the ship should actually be there so your idea to retrieve it now might actually work.” Radek said thoughtfully, “Janus abandoned that Jumper and most likely Ascended a few centuries before our time so you are correct it should be sitting there waiting to be found which is bad as you said as it is not even hidden so would be very easy for Ba’al to find if he searched as the Janus of this Universe has already stopped using it himself.” “That's what I thought!” sighed Daniel. “That means we will have to collect it as soon as possible as we can't afford Ba’al to get his hands on a second way to Time Travel especially as we now know it will create another Universe. A pity we aren't further back in time we might have been able to intercept Janus himself and get his input about the Armageddon Failsafe problem facing the four universes?” he said to himself as he made notes. “While that is nice thought even if we were in right time period to intercept him it would have been very easy to miss him.” frowned Radek, “It would not have been something we could have counted on and it would have wasted a lot of our time attempting such an intercept so it is perhaps good thing we are to late too attempt that but we can definitely retrieve the Time Jumper now as he has already abandoned it to Ascend and I would prefer to surf the reset wave with a much newer Time Machine if possible as well.” he said dryly. “So retrieving that Jumper as soon as possible is definately on our to do list. Naqahdah also as we need to obtain that as soon as possible and after some thought I think we should obtain a sizable supply of it while we can. It is a powerful resource in any Universe and will not go astray. A supply of Trinium would not be out of the question either in my opinion as it makes a strong alloy we can make very good use of and will be useful if we need to build a new ship with greater storage than a Jumper the Tel‘tak hyperspace drive will be useful for that as well the ship itself we can dismantle for parts after we retrieve the ZPM from Proclarush Taonas.” he mused thoughtfully as he realised the possibilities of what he could construct in the time they had available if he had the right materials. “So I guess it’s my turn to ask exactly what are you suddenly planning Radek that you intend to dismantle a Tel‘tak?” chuckled Daniel. Radek had the grace to blush, “I suddenly realised if we intend to take the Repositories and the memory banks we will make to download it with us why should we think small we may as well go for broke as the saying goes and take the entire contents of the Complex with us while we are at it as it will all just disappear when the Time Line resets anyway.” “But most of it is already duplicated in those Universes, maybe not Universe one as the Dilation level wouldn’t have been made there as you said it was made for you and John and they may not have brought the Healing Chambers back either if they weren’t already in use as they were experimental but it should all definitely be duplicated in Universe Two, Three and Four.” frowned Daniel. “Daniel once the Failsafe bridge disconnects and the contents and people of the four Earths affected are dumped into the completely alien universe we will have to rebuild most of our Civilisation as all the infrastructure will be disrupted and probably spread over a number of solar systems that is if we are successful in spreading it out so it will not all be dumped on one planet and destroy and kill us all. You cannot tell me that the extra Jumpers, the extra Healing Chambers and the Databases already in the Complex are not all invaluable resources that would help our survival, even extra stasis storage is not to be sneezed at considering what is facing the Four Earths we would be fools to just leave it all behind if we can somehow save it and take it with us during the reset and then take it across the dimensional barrier to Universe four when we return there.” “You honestly think we can do all that?” frowned Daniel thoughtfully as once it was pointed out he could see the temptation and the need. The two extra lots of stasis storage and dilation machine alone would be invaluable for food production to feed people as it would make the most of harvests, add in the extra Healing chambers and all the rest of the Medical equipment in the Complex not to mention everything else in the complex like the Jumpers and it was obvious that Radek was right actually leaving it was insane when faced with rebuilding four worlds and making sure thirty billion people survived. “With an ample supply of Naqahdah and Trinium and the Hyperspace engine of the Tel’tak augmented by the Jumpers for extra power I believe we might be able to create a platform to take it all with us especially if we manage to retrieve the Time Jumper Janus was using, that combined with the working model and non working model of the time machine we already have should give us the ability to bring it all back with us. Although we will definitely need the ZPM to supply power for any platform I would make, the Tel‘tak power system would not be strong enough as it is only a small ship but with a ZPM it might be adequate for our needs.” “Okay when we come back from mining the Naqahdah I‘ll get to work plotting where exactly the sunken ship as all I know is that it sank off New Jersey about 1933 once we find where it is we can retrieve the medallion key to the hanger in Egypt, actually getting the Tel'tak might have to wait until after the war is over and that area calms down a bit?” mused Daniel but he made notes because if they could pull it off it would be fantastic. “While we are down there in the wreck I intend to puncher the canopic jars containing Isis and Osiris, it will only need a tiny hole to let in the salt water to kill them as that's how Isis died in my universe they are too dangerous to leave alive and while we know Isis was killed that way when the seal of her Jar was compromised in the wreck I intend to do both Jars on principle just in case.” “Of course I agree with that they are very dangerous creatures and this world does not need Goa’uld running around especially ones that will be very upset that their Tel’tak has been stolen.” chuckled Radek. Daniel laughed at that as well, “Very true! Are you sure we can pull this off or are we thinking too big wanting to take it all with us because even just getting the ZPM means we have to first get the Tel’tak which is a big project by itself maybe we should just stick with the Naqahdah mining and getting the newer Time Jumper for our use but forget about all these secondary projects, although I still insist we retrieve the Respositories so Baal doesn't get them but finding a way to download and store the data in them in a useable way can wait for the next universe as we can build the storage system over there and then borrow the Egyptian ZPM or the Proclarush Taonas one in our time to do the download to the system we build when we get back to Universe Four a lot wasier than trying to take it all with us?” Radek sighed, “While that is option and one I would recomend if we only had Naqahdah for power it could still fail as I have no idea how much power it will take to create Jumper size opening to get to Universe Four which is why I would prefer to obtain a ZPM which will give us power to spare that in turn will also make the platform idea viable to take all the other things we would like to salvage but I am not a fool so make no mistake Daniel, I can honestly say that without a ZPM it is best we forget about the Complex and leave all this lovely technology behind salvaging only what we can take in the working Time Jumper and hope the Naqahdah Generators I shall build will be enough to augment the power of the Jumper to bridge dimensional barrier. The platform idea is what I would like to do and will be working towards as it is very doable if we have even the a partially charged ZPM like the Taonas one but I know very well anything we do will be totally dependent on us obtaining the materials and power it would require. I am realistic enough to know that in the end it might come down to just what we can save in the Time Jumper.” he said ruefully but totally serious. “Okay I can accept that, we try our best for the impossible with the Platform idea as Plan A but have just the Jumper as plan B in case we can’t pull it off in time.” frowned Daniel in realisation. Radek snorted, “This is not so impossible just a lot of work and dependent on a lot of things like obtaining a ZPM for power as I said. If you want wishful impossible ideas wait until John hears what we are planning and adds to this wish list!” he snorted in amusement. “John will spend the time speculating on how to retrieve Atlantis to use as the platform as this timelines Atlantis is going to disappear in the reset as well and the one in the first Universe fell to the sea he will want to get it as a replacement and that idea has the added incentive that a copy of Elizabeth will be waiting for us there and while the Chambers might not be able to rejuvenate her entirely they would certainly gift her a decade or two of life. There is also the fact that Janus left her the address of five ZPM in Pegasus so it might actually be viable to bring Atlantis back although where we would hide a City that big until the reset is another matter.” Radek chuckled amused at the thought of them attempting to hide a six mile in diameter cityship from discovery. “I do not think we can even contemplate taking the City with us as it is much to big but I would love to at least raid the Alteran Factory planet Janus included amongst the Failsafe data as it is the first stop on the Fail-safe’s itinerary, the thought of a world not only full of Naqahdah but the actual factories to make puddle jumpers and drones sounds fascinating.” Daniel frowned, “None of that will be possible Radek at least not in this Universe but we can make sure Universe Four has the address and raid it after the failsafe shifts them to that planet. Plus those ZPM addresses were mentioned in the compressed data burst they sent back and were pretty much worthless after all this time. All but one of those ZPM’s are expired or almost expired and the one that’s not the Expedition from my universe never got as it was hidden and the people who hid it were taken by the Wraith, the native help they had was all a ruse to get the ZPM themselves and restart the order that hid it. They refused to hand it over as we weren’t Alteran born in the City of the Ancients, the report also had something about another encounter with the Genii a native people of Pegasus described as Amish Nazi‘s.” Radek laughed, “Such a description, are not those two lifestyles contradictory?” “Jack laughed as well until he actually read all the reports about them, they had no qualm about killing our people and actually invaded the City and not only killed people but almost got it destroyed. They also intended to take Rodney back to make them Atomic bombs to use against the Wraith and probably anyone else who annoyed them.” At that explanation Radek turned very serious, “Something we should definitely remember if we ever have to go to Pegasus in any of the Universes.” he said sombrely, he himself never boasted of such skills as they made you a valuable resource to unscrupulous Governments and a target for terrorists, something he feared McKay had never truly had to deal with or learnt the way he constantly boasted of such skills without a care for whom is listening which was probably what happened in Daniel’s universe but then McKay had been protected all his life against such kidnapping attempts so had been very spoiled and coddled by the Western powers so had not learnt the dangers of boasting hopefully the shock of it taught that McKay to mind his tongue in front of strangers but he doubted that he had. “I know retrieving anything in Pegasus is impractical Daniel we will be lucky to save the repositories and the contents of the complex and even that will depend on a lot of things. Although I do wish we could save Elizabeth her fate, she sacrificed so much, it is unfair to just leave her there.” Daniel grimaced, “It would take two ZPM’s one to get there and one to come back and the one to comeback would be a complete sacrifice as it would have to be left behind on the return to power the gate.” “I know this Daniel as I said, retrieving anything in Pegasus from this Universe is impractical and that includes the time copy of Elizabeth. No matter how much I wish otherwise we simply do not have the resources to expend on such a pipedream and if we did have the resources do we really have the right to expend them in such an extravagant fashion when we could just as easily use them to save people from this fleeting timeline instead. People who we know will die or have died in our own universes who will die in Timeline C after the reset due to their involvement in the SGC program, do they not deserve to be saved just as much as this copy of Elizabeth, there are so many of them Daniel, the entire Expedition died in Universe One surely they will have counterparts in this Timeline we could take with us or what about Janet Frasier who everyone at the SGC still mourns the death of from what I have heard, the odds are she will be alive in this Timeline when the reset is due. We could also save the Charlie O’Neill of this Timeline just as the Colonel intends to do in Universe Three.” Daniel winced at both the mention of Janet and Charlie seeing the point. “I get it, no need to continue Radek, saving any of them would be just as valid and a lot easier not to mention use less resources to do so as they will be on Earth. Pegasus is out for no end of reasons and we’ll make sure John knows that, we‘ll discuss the subject of saving people from this Timeline at a latter date when we work out how much room we’ll have left after the platform is built and packed, I think we have to make taking the contents of the Complex the priority.” frowned Daniel even as he said it but knowing it was the truth. “We‘ll decide on if we will attempt to save people closer to the time of reset. I intend to save Charlie anyway as I see no need to let him die and the Jack of this Timeline suffer that horror even if we can’t take them with us to Universe four this Jack may as well have those extra years with Charlie.” “I can agree with that as you say it would be cruel for the General to suffer such a heartbreak when he need not.” Radek agreed quickly. “Plus giving those extra years to this Charlie will not effect the reset so there is no reason for the General to suffer although he probably will not be a General as that came about only because of the SGC so it will be a Colonel O‘Neill.” Daniel nodded, “So we save Charlie but actually going out and gathering people from this Timeline and Universe is another matter. It’s quite a responsibility Radek as we’ll literally be playing God picking and choosing who we will actually take with us and I doubt we could realistically leave their families behind so that will take up even more of the precious space on whatever we build. I hate to say it but who we offer a place to will have to be judged by their usefulness to our final goal which is saving our Earth’s from being destroyed by the final stage of the Failsafe. For instance, Janet would be useful as all this Medical technology needs a Doctor to explore it but so would Carson Beckett, but if I had to choose between Carson and Janet I‘d save Janet not because she is my friend but because I know she has died in Universe one and two while Carson has only died in the first universe.” Daniel said with a heavy sigh as he put his heavy thoughts into words. “That said, there is another problem Carson and Janet might be useful but that would only be after it was all over, up until then they would contribute little to saving the populations of the four Earths so they shouldn’t by rights not be at the top of the take with us list.” “Yes, I see what you mean! Medical Doctor’s while useful are not vital to limiting death rate of Failsafe Armageddon. In that case, you may think me mad but I would vote to save the John Sheppard of this Universe even though we will have many John’s already,” Radek chuckled, “A plethora of John’s in fact as between the four universes and the time copying we already have more John’s than we have Universes but I say this in all seriousness I would think the addition of this timeline John Sheppard to our group would be just as valuable resource as a ZPM because his mathematical skill is phenomenal and would add significantly to the brain power we would have to finish the Failsafe calculations, the Rodney McKay and Samantha Carter of this timeline would also be very useful to that goal of working out a solution to the Failsafe so the final transition when the Bridge disconnects does not kill the population of four Earths.” Daniel frowned but finally nodded, “We save Charlie first as not doing so is just cruel when we can even if that‘s all we can do, it will at least give this Jack an extra ten years or so with his son which I think is worth it.” he finally decided. “After that we’ll decide who we approach in the lead up to the reset, we’ll have to make sure we have the exact time we need to be in the time stream on the list so we don’t miss it by trying to save someone at the last minute. Our main problem is going to be approaching people as we can’t upset the Timeline by making waves or bringing attention to ourselves, we also might not have a lot of time to gather people and frankly anyone Military will be the biggest risk as they will probably report us and even if they don’t they will still possibly be the hardest to gather in time because if they are on active duty they might be overseas at the time.” “They will want to bring their families Daniel, so that cuts down our potential passenger list significantly and we cannot ask them not to bring their families as it would also be cruel to deny them that comfort if we are taking them from this Timeline and Universe. The people we intend to save will also be more likely to consider our offer if we intend to save their families as well.” Daniel nodded, “I think my Sam had a brother, her father will be dead of cancer as it took becoming Tok’Ra to save him from that but I have no idea if she’d agree to come without the rest of her family or not. The Rodney I knew had a sister who was married and had a daughter, Rodney didn’t really talk to her as he didn’t approve of her marriage but he loved her intensely nether-the-less so I doubt he‘d leave her behind if he had a choice but as Jeanie is also a genius according to Rodney she wouldn’t go astray anyway but in the end we have no idea who will even be alive when the reset happens or even if they decide to follow the same career for instance Rodney once wanted to be a Concert Pianist.” chuckled Daniel. “The non event of the SGC in this timeline has the potential to change all their lives drastically including our own counterparts, I know my own life will be very different as without the SGC I would have been considered a crackpot, the Colonel said that happened in his own Universe as they found their Jackson teaching English. Also, all it would take is for any of them to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffer a lethal car accident or drive by shooting simply because they were doing something or were somewhere in this timeline that working for the SGC stopped happening in our own or like myself who needed the SGC to validate all their research. Then there are the Military like Jack, John or Sam who have a real chance of dying in combat long before the reset or for some reason or other don’t even enter the Military which is possible as we encountered a few universe where Sam never joined the Military and we know she didn’t in Universe Three. We can’t really count on anything being the same or surviving to the reset for us to even consider saving them until a lot closer to the reset a lot of them aren’t even born yet and won‘t be for decades to come.” Radek chuckled, “If this Rodney is Concert Pianist we must at the very least get copies of his work as it would be very amusing to show all the other Rodney‘s and hear the rants about the waste if his big genius brain.” then he turned more serious. “You are also right that such decisions will have to be closer to the reset for all of those reasons but also taking anyone from this universe will depend on if I actually work out how to change or add to their Quantum Signature so they will not suffer Cascade failure in Universe Four. Come on, I think we can shelve this conversation for a while, for the moment we have other priorities such as food and clothing then we will come back and work on the Naqahdah generators while we wait for the scheduled time to contact Universe three it is useless to really do more than that until we know if the children will be going there for safety or not.” “We were headed for the dilation level to have a look at the mineral survey then I need to find a way to smelt the gold into smaller ingots so it’s easier to sell and doesn’t have Ra’s treasury mark on it.” nodded Daniel in agreement. “We will discuss the best place to sell the gold while we look for gold we can mine as well as deposits of the raw materials we need to grow the memory crystals for the Repository download!” said Radek. “Janus’s lab has the smelting equipment so we will head there after the Dilation level.” Radek said as he lead him to the internal transporter for the complex and pressed the lowest floor where the dilation level was. “If we are going mining I need to check the air filters to see if we need new limestone. It has been thousands of years since it has been replaced so if nessecary we must do that before we mine for gold.” Daniel nodded knowing just how time could impact even Alteran installations he and Universe three's Sg1 had seen a lot of destruction in the five years of exploration they had before they found the Complex, he had been suprised at how little damage the Complex had suffered when they first found it and in hindsight it was obvious that that was only because Radek and John had done a lot of maintinenece over the millennia to keep the Complex in such good condition. The mention of air filters made him wince as after spending almost a decade working deep in a mountain he knew just how important the air system was in making such a place habitable so if they needed new limestone for the air filters they'd get that limestone. As they exited the transporter Radek paused before entering the dilation levels main entrance. The Transporter anti-chamber had it’s own air filter as it was cut off from the rest of the level when the dilation was activated. Radek groaned as they saw the black clogged limestone that had once been pure white. “That’s disgusting!” winced Daniel. “So I guess we do need to add crushed limestone to the list?” “Yes,” grumbled Radek in disgust. “We will need a sizable amount of it as well as the odds are if this level is like this most of the filters in the complex are bound to be approaching the same state as they were all replaced at the same time, so it is best we find a place to do some mining instead of spending all our gold on crushed limestone.” “Fun!” sighed Daniel. “But I suppose doing a little mining is better than smothering from lack of oxygen or using up all the gold purchasing it. Is it safe to stay on this level with the air purifier like this?” “It should be fine for the moment at least, according to this air gauge this filter is still working just very badly and each level have emergency respirators if I have miscalculated.” decided Radek after a slight pause as he checked the filter reading before closing the filter panel and continuing to lead the way to the database interface for the dilation level. |
