New Beginning

Chapter 1: Starting Points

Sloan Great Wall complex of galaxies (SGW for reference in the rest of the story), unknown planet, unnamed galaxy, SGU

Time had not been kind to the Lantean Empire's once vast expanse. Over tens of millions of years, it had grown and at it's peak, spanned 10 galaxies, had exploration vessels out in the farthest reaches of the universe and had over 1 trillion citizens. By the time Atlantis had fallen 10,000 years ago, that had shrunk down to just Lantea, a few outposts in the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies and maybe 10 million citizens mostly on Lantea or Terra. But what of the swathe of cities, terraformed planets, research stations and ships that once made up the largest empire in the known universe?

It was the stargate on Gan Prime that activated, awakening the research lab's AI and started things off.

Earth, SGC 2021

The 1600 commissary rush was over, Daniel and Vala were grabbing a bit to eat, as the klaxons sounded, indicating gate activation.

"General to the Control Room." Walter's voice could be heard.

"Also SG1, all of you, to the briefing room. You have a visitor." Walter continued, a hint of a smile in his voice could be heard.

"Oh great, what now? We've been through the debrief from yesterday's trip to P3X–417a?" Daniel said looking at Vala.

"Well, let's not keep the General waiting." Daniel finished, assuming it was General Carter who was calling them together.

"Watch it Daniel, I heard that!" General Samantha Carter replied, having just walked in to get a coffee. Sam and Daniel chuckling together.

"And I'm not the one who called you upstairs, I don't know who actually did." Sam replied.

Though Sam was the Co-Head of Homeworld Command with General Cameron MItchell, the two of them would work out of either the Mountain or Washington, on a daily basis.

"Oh know, Jack wouldn't be here, would he?" Sam spoke aloud.

"He's been know to do wacky things." Daniel responded, thinking of Sam's husband, his friend Jack O'Neill, President of the Unified Tau'ri Federation.

Rounding up the stairs into the Control Room, on their way to the Briefing Room, Sam, Daniel and Vala saw the smirk on Walter's face, as he watched his long-time colleagues as they went about their day. He knew that upstairs were First Minister Teal'c of the Jaffa Nation, President O'Neill of the UTF, General Cameron Mitchell and that they were all there for as much a secret and unknown reason as Sam, Daniel and Vala were, as they headed upstairs.

Coming up the stairs, smiles erupted on everyone's faces, as colleagues and old friends, husbands and wives met each other, surprised at seeing each other.

"Jack, what's going on?" Sam asked of her husband.

"Sam, it's ask much an unknown to me as to Teal'c and Mitchel here." Jack replied.

"General Carter, it is good to see you again. You look well." Teal'c said.

"Thank you. You look well and how are Sandra? How are Ry'ac and My'a?" Sam replied.

"Okay, anyone know why we are all here. This is a very dangerous meeting, from a security perspective." Cam spoke aloud. All in the room knew exactly what he was meaning and from long years of experience, knew to be aware, even in the company of old friends.

Atlantis, Pegasus Galaxy

The stargate dialing sequence started up.

"Incoming wormhole." Chuck announced over the city-wide PA.

"Who is it?" Mr. Woolsey asked, having just been posted again, this time, as Head of Atlantis.

"Receiving, this can't be right…" Chuck started.

"So, who's coming to visit us this time?" Colonel John Sheppard asked, having bounded up the stairs, Teyla and Ronin right behind, with Dr. Rodney McKay behind.

"It's showing Dr. Weir's IDC, sir; but that can't be right, as this one is the old one, before she was turned into an Asuran and then resurrected and we tricked the others through the spacegate before we left for Earth last year." Chuck replied.

"Shield up, security team to the gateroom." John Sheppard spoke aloud and into his walkie-talkie.

"Atlantis, please, open the shield, let me through." The voice and tone was definitely Elizabeth Weir's; but as everyone knew, that wasn't possible. But this was possible as well, weirder things had happened, the SGC and SGA teams had all seen it first hand.

"How do we know you are indeed Dr. Weir?" Richard Woolsey spoke.

"Richard, good to hear your voice. I understand your concern, how could I be alive, when last you, John and everyone knew, I was in a replicated body of FRAN, frozen in space, having taken the remains of Liam's group through, to save you all, knowing I would die too." Elizabeth spoke.

"If you don't trust me to come through to you, come to me or give me the address to a third gate, where you can have me examined before, I hope coming home." Elizabeth continued.

"Can you wait a moment?" Richard Woolsey asked.

"John, Teyla, Rodney, Ronen, what do you think?" Woolsey continued?

"I say we let her through and have her checked by Jennifer and Carson." All chimed together.

"Okay, I agree. It's against protocol; but if it is Dr. Weir, it would be good to have her back, for real." Richard said.

"That's not the only reason." John said, aloud; but under his breath. He'd missed Liz ever since her death at the hands of Oberoth. If this was truly her, it might be a chance to rekindle passions thought dead.

"Let Dr. Weir through; but if we detect any other entities in the matter-stream after her, put the shield up immediately." Richard Woolsey said, stone cold and with a look that told all, 'don't cross me'.

ST, USS Arcturus

The USS Voyager and USS Potemkin broke formation with the USS Arcturus, leaving her to explore the Delta Quadrant. Voyager was to return to meet old friend and was the flagship for the three in the Delta Quadrant; the Potemkin was to put down and start building a Starbase near the exit to the Trans-warp conduit that Starfleet and reworked after the destruction of most of the Borg's network of Trans-warp conduits back in 2378AD. It was a 2 week trip to the Vendarik system, where the USS Arcturus was to start it's research. What made the system interesting were two things, a trinary star system within dozens of planets and hundreds of moons (of which at least a dozen were seemingly habitable "M" class planets and a hundred or more "M" class moons as well); the second being an odd energy signature coming from a small object orbiting the main Yellow Dwarf star.

Two weeks have now passed and the Arcturus has parked itself in orbit around the 4th "M" Class planet in the Vendarik system, with teams on the surface studying it and the ship studying the object in orbit around the star.

"Cmdr. Gerani, please come to my ready room" her comms badge chirped, a message from Capt. Lars.

"Be right there Mme" the Cmdr. replied.

Cmdr. Gerani was a Hi'Ak, tall, an imposing figure on any starship and one whom all the crew respected. She carried her notepad in one hand, various reports in another and was pulling back her hair with another, as she pressed the button for the turbo-lift with her free hand.

She'd just left the Astrometric's Lab and the Science Lab before that, having spoken to the team leads about the planets in the system; but more importantly, the object orbiting Vendarik 1 (as the star had been now designated). The object had all the scientists perplexed, the Astrometric's lab was just in a tizzy and the AstroPhysicists and Cmdr. Gerani (herself a noted AstroPhysicist and XenoBiologist) wondering what it was and how is was possible.

The doors to the turbo-lift opened and she walked down the steps of the Bridge to the Captain's Ready-Room and knocked, a quaint habit she'd had since childhood.

Chuckling to herself, Capt. Lars replied "Enter".

"Tea Cmdr.?" The Captain asked.

"Thank you Mme."

Two mugs materialized, a steaming one of coffee and the other of English Breakfast with honey and milk, for the Cmdr.

"Far'na, it's incredible, we're exploring our own galaxy and come across this object, which defies description and analysis by all aboard this ship. Any ideas what it is and how it got to orbit a star?" The Captain asked her friend of 20 years, her First Officer for the past 5 years aboard both the USS Nightsider and now, the USS Arcturus, the premier science vessel in Starfleet.

"Janet, I have no idea and it has me and everyone aboard in a quandary." She replied.

"I've been going over the sensor logs, the probe logs and even the probe we sent through and it just shouldn't be possible to be doing what it seems to be doing." Janet replied, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Were I to theorize what it is, it would be a door into another universe." Far'na replied.

Just then the intruder alter sounded and the door to the Captain's Ready Room opened, a woman standing there.

"Hello Captain and Cmdr." She said.

"And who are you?" Both officers asked.

"Oh, I'm just a humble member of the Q Continuum." She replied.

"Oh brother, not one of you. What do you want this time?" Capt. Lars asked.

"Nothing. I'm just here to tell you that what you think adventure is and what wonders your universe has offer, pale in comparison to what is through that Stargate orbiting around Vendarik 1." Q continued.

"So, why haven't you gone through and explored Q, knowing how powerful and curious you are as a species?" Cmdr. Gerani asked, smirking.

"To be frank, and I know you won't believe this; but, we're afraid and we loose our power in that other universe." Q replied. This shocked both Starfleet officers to no end.

"Beyond that, though we can look through the Stargate and have sent probes through, it's affected them in certain ways." Q went on.

"How?" Both the Captain and Commander asked simultaneously.

"Well, the Borg scout ship we encouraged to go through was stripped of all active nano-bot and lost communication with the Hive. The Vendari ship went through without incident; but upon coming back through lost all power. No one was hurt though. We want to see what is on the other side and explore; but cannot. We, the Q, want to ask you to try?" Q finished, a hint of shame in her voice, likely from being shown to not be Gods, or the like to lesser beings.

"Well, isn't this a day to remember. Can I record that for posterity?" Captain Lars asked and Cmdr. Gerani stifled an outright laughing fit over.

Q didn't answer; but did wave her hand and two more people appeared in the Captain's Ready Room, Rear Admiral Janeway and Fleet Admiral Picard of Starfleet. Both looked confused for a moment as both junior officers stood to attention and then with Q, brought both flag officers up to speed with what the situation was.

"So, you're wanting the Arcturus and its nearly 900 military and civilian crew to what, go into the alternate universe because you cannot and you won't risk yourself?" Admiral Janeway said.

"Right, that would fit very much with the Q Continuum's way of doing things, have others take the risk for your amusement; is that it Q?" Admiral Picard followed on with.

"Though we have before been known to act that way, I admit, this time it isn't the case." Q said, without bravado.

"So, what is it you're asking us to do and what do we get out of it? And don't patronize us by suggesting 'we are explorers' and so it's part of what we do, we know that Q."

"We know that on the other side of that Stargate, that is for term for it, we found out, is a universe very similar and yet different to this one; we also know that there is knowledge there that more important to all the multiverse than anything in this universe or any other we have travelled to." Q replied.

"I am here because I want to explore with you, I asked the Continuum to be allow to come. I volunteered to be stripped of my powers to explore something new. I know I have much to learn and maybe something to give in return. But if we don't try, we won't know." She continued.

"Damn it Q, this had better not be one of your games. Either you or Q that taunted me for so many years." Picard replied. It was now that the other Q appeared.

"Did I hear my name called?" Q asked.

"Oh no, not you too." Janeway groaned, putting her hand on her forehead.

"What, my love, you don't want to see me?" Q asked, feigning hurt.

"Don't even get me started." Admiral Janeway replied, giving a glance at Fleet Admiral Picard, he nodding understanding.

"So, Qs, what are you asking of us, lesser beings." Cmdr. Gerani asked, point blank.

"We want you to explore this other universe, with Q here aboard to help and learn." Q said.

All this time, Admiral Picard had been wondering about the Q, she looked familiar but older.

"Amanda, is that you?" Picard asked.

"Yes Admiral, I am Amanda, as you knew me." Q replied.

"Good, I was starting to think this was one of Q's games; but you being here has changed all that." Picard replied.

"Captain, Commander, Admiral Janeway, I leave it at your discretion as to what to do here; I would have told Q to 'go f-off' were it not for Amanda being the one who came forward asking. I have known her before she was a Q and so, think her reasons are true and she'd not playing a game here. I though do not trust 'my good old friend' Q to be the same." Picard continued "I will sanction the USS Arcturus going through this Stargate, if and only if, the crew freely want to. Or send through a small away mission in a Delta Flyer shuttle to recon first and then decide."

"I agree with you Admiral" Janeway replied.

Q stood thinking for a moment.

"Now isn't this a sight, you're thinking before acting Q. Have you by chance grown up a little?" Captain Lars spoke, getting a withering look from Q back; but even he couldn't deny the truth.

"Alright, this is a chance to explore and do something no other Q has ever done. You know Q, Amanda, that this may mean your death and/or never being able to come back to this universe; the same goes for anyone who goes through the Stargate. Don't say I didn't warn you." Q finished off and then vanished.

Two week later, after both getting the crew to decide if they'd freely risk going to another universe and never being able to return, having the USS Potemkin and USS Voyager take any unwilling crew on, and sending 3 manned shuttles through the gate, they felt as ready as they could be for this adventure. Amanda had used her powers to improve every system aboard ship, impart as much knowledge as possible to the ship's database as possible about what to expect and incase either she was stripped of the knowledge when she gave her powers up (going through the gate) or was killed.

Sloan Great Wall complex of galaxies (SGW for reference in the rest of the story), unknown planet, unnamed galaxy, SGU

Four separate stasis chambers shimmer, as their shields restrain each a lab beside the room with the stasis chambers, samples from each species is being held for analysis. Why?

Two of the stasis chambers registered power levels approaching that of fully charges ZPMs, one labelled the species as "Q" and the other Ori. Both were humanoid form, seemingly unwilling or unable (more likely) to use their incredible powers to escape. The other two chambers were occupied by a one being looking to be crystalline in nature, the other, a Goa'uld.

A vaguely humanoid technician walked into the lab, it's tall body reminiscent in colour of an Asgard; but it was too tall, head was not large enough and the mishmash of texts and technologies around the lab, looked to have been taken from Alteran, Asgard, Wraith, some unknown organic, all connected into a central device, which at it's center had both a ZPM and a cloning chamber.

"Project Xa, day 12036. I seem to have finally succeed in stabilizing the DNA merged from the Goa'uld symbiot and Ori and separately the Q with the crystalline being. So in an effect to save us, I am going to try to take the now stable Ori/Goa'uld and cross it with the Q/crystalline being. This, once stable should allow me to graft it onto the test host genetics in hopes to create a more suitable genome from which to grown new bodies for us. End of report." At this, the being sent the report log out into deep space, to a repository 5 Billions Light Years further toward the rim of the Universe.

SGU, Destiny

"Good morning Scott, how are you and Chloe doing?" Colonel Young asked.

"Well sir, we're well. Its amazing to think how fast three years has passed. Any news from Earth?" Lt. Scott replied.

"General Carter's last communication, sent 2 years ago said they are working on it, she was in from Atlantis, they have a promising find in the sister city to Atlantis, Auratora." Young responds.

"They must have been found in the years we were asleep I guess? What's so promising about it, if I may ask?" Scott replies.

"I'll tell you and the senior staff, on the bridge when I get there. I'm going to get a coffee first though." Young replied.

"You drink that stuff?!" Scott says, face screwing up to show just what he thinks of it.

"Well, when it's all you have… I guess it will do." Young answers back, smiling and nodding to his 2IC.

About 10 minutes later on the bridge.

"So, Scott's giddy as a newborn lamb Colonel, mind letting us in on the secret?" Rush asks.

"Colonel Everett, what's the news?" Camille says.

All eyes expectantly looking at Colonel Young.

"So, General Carter and the Atlantis Expedition found another city ship, like Atlantis, called Auratora. According to Dr. Jackson, it was what people on Earth called the Library of Alexandria, if you know about that place." Young said.

"Jackson, Carter and Dr. McKay all believe that whereas Atlantis was the crown jewel and capital of the Alteran Empire, that Auratora as the cultural and literary 'capital' of the Empire. At this moment, many new discoveries have been made, including designs for the Destiny, how to repair some parts of it, and how to dial it possibly, from a normal planet." He continued.

"So we might be going home? Any idea when?" Eli asked, both excited and sad in a way.

"No, I don't, sorry Eli. What I do know is that with the next connection, apparently the communication stones can be used, to do site to site transport of non-living items. So we might be getting some new supplies. But I don't know what or when." Young finished.