A/N: So this is the last chapter for a while. Enjoy.

"How are things looking?" Daniel asked through his com badge. The sun had just come up and he was sitting in his chair in the highest tower of the Antarctic outpost looking at requisition papers for the new off-world colony they would start today. A few weeks had passed since Daniel's conversation with Camile Wray and they had made the announcement that today they would start recruitment for the new off-world colony. Colonel Sheppard had been working with his men to place as many transport rings across Earth as they could and they had ended up with roughly two thousand platforms across the planet.

-Ehm, I think you better come see this for yourself,- Colonel Sheppard replied.

"Well we knew we would most likely only get a handful or two to start with," Daniel said. He got out of his chair and walked up to the window, he could see quite a lot of people walking around, more than he expected.

-That's not what's happened.-

Daniel returned the papers to his desk and walked over to the door. "I'll come down to see it for myself." He walked down the corridor to the nearby transporter booth and picked a booth close to the new assembly area outside the outpost. It was a short walk to the nearby exit where Sheppard was leading the recruitment with four men. When the door opened Daniel could see the problem, several thousand people, young and old, were waiting in the large field and in the distance he could see their ten ring platforms working overtime as more and more people arrived.

Sheppard heard the door open and looked over his shoulder. "They've been arriving since before daylight came. We've already processed..."

"Seven hundred and nineteen," one of his men filled in from the table as they continued working.

"It seems your offer was rather popular, I just hope you can deliver our end of the deal. Two months of rations for everyone who goes there, that's a lot of meals," Sheppard said.

"We have enough power to synthesize that food in the short term so I am sure it will be fine, my only worry is that they will have a hard time with the colony," Daniel said.

"General O'Neill have already sent two Auroras to the planet to set up a basic infrastructure and they have some thousand Asurans there as well as a handful ZPMs, there's no chance the colony will fail," Sheppard reassured.

"Still, we expected maybe a hundred to start with, we will need to tell them to hurry up and synthesize more tents."

"I've already informed one of Rodney's Lantean underlings picked for the project that they will need more of everything, I am sure they will figure it out," Sheppard said, but Daniel did not hear a single word, instead he stared at one of the younger women standing in front of the table and she stared back. "Daniel?" Sheppard said over and over again. "Get a medical team down here."

"It's fine Colonel, I'm just a bit shocked," Daniel finally replied. He jumped over the table and the young woman rushed forward towards him. Her arms slammed around him in a tight hug that almost knocked him over. It took a few moments before he returned the embrace.

"Is it really you Daniel?" she asked.

"Of course it's me Cassandra," he answered. He could see everyone around them staring, except for Sheppard who only gave him a questioning look. "Come on, let's go for a walk." He led her around the table towards the entrance.

"Is everything as it should?" Sheppard asked when they passed him.

"It's been a long time since anything was this good Colonel, I'll take care of her registration myself." He gave the group of Lanteans and Sheppard one more glance. "I'll get you a few dozen more men."

"I think that would be a good idea," Sheppard said before returning to his duties at the table.

Daniel led Cassandra through the corridors of the base to mess hall which was almost empty at the time, but there were still plenty of food standing ready for breakfast.

"Take anything you want, I just need to see to something," Daniel said.

"Anything?" Cassandra asked hesitantly.

"Anything." Daniel walked over to one of the tables where two Lieutenants were sitting with their food, he recognised them as some of Sheppard's more trusted officers.

When they saw Daniel approaching they stood up and saluted. "Sir."

"There's no need for that," Daniel said and motioned for them to sit back down. "I think you know about the recruitment we're doing today?"

"Yes Sir," both said.

"Well there's probably two or three thousand people waiting in line at the moment." He saw the surprised look they exchanged. "The rings have been active for an hour or so and more people keep arriving, think you can get your men along with some tables and get out there to help them?"

"We'll get right on it Sir," one of them said and they both got up, but Daniel mentally pushed them back down in their chairs.

"Finish your meals first and make sure everyone gets a proper breakfast, it's going to be a long day and I want you all on your best behavior."

"Yes Sir," they both said and began to shovel down their food.

With that done he walked back to Cassandra who was halfway down the serving station with a large tray filled with plates of food. Daniel had already eaten in his quarters so he only picked up some fruit and sat down at a table to wait for her. When she finally came she was balancing one tray in each hand.

"Are you going to eat all that?" Daniel asked sceptically. They were using several alien plants that were very filling and he knew a group of marines would find it hard to share what she had on her trays.

"Food's spares on the outside so I haven't had a proper meal in months," she answered and began stuffing herself with the food.

"Fine. So tell me what happened to you? Sam had almost a hundred people searching for you for well over a year."

"One of my mom's friends escaped the SGC and warned me about what had happened there, we packed everything and drove north. She had family in Canada where we stayed for a few weeks. Things were sort of good up there until one night, I felt a Goa'uld approaching but I had no chance to warn anyone before they began to fire at the house. I took a bullet to the leg but managed to get out through a window, I stole one of their cars and used it to go further north to Alaska. From there I took a fishing trolley down to Hawaii and switched to a cargo ship headed for Chile. We were attacked by Goa'uld death gliders off the coast of Ecuador, we fled in the lifeboats. I heard one of the boats made it to shore, a plasma bolt hit my boat and threw us into the water. I was rescued by a small group of resistance fighters, I'm still not sure what language they spoke but I lived with them for a while. One day they left for what I think was an attack on something, a week later they still hadn't returned so I took a jeep and some gear and left. Things kept going that way, anyone putting up a fight died or vanished around me so I kept moving around until word of the Goa'uld's defeat reached me, by that time I was deep in the Colombian rainforest. Then came the S.E.N, things were still horrible with very little food and medicine but it was a big improvement over the Goa'uld so I stopped running and settled down in a small village as a medic. When the S.E.N were overthrown things got much better, we got at least one decent meal each week and enough medicine to go around but I never knew that you were with the Lanteans. Had I known I would have sought you out earlier."

"Sounds like you've been through a lot," Daniel said. He was more than a bit taken back by how much food she was eating while still managing to talk coherently. "Sam will be thrilled to see you, Jack too I think, and Teal'c, though you'll have to wait until Teal'c returns from Lega."

"So what have you been up to Daniel? Are you a Lantean? Are Lanteans really aliens?" She kept pushing down food and had already gotten through one of the trays.

"I've been getting a lot of frequent flyer miles going between Pegasus and Earth," Daniel said.

"Cool, so what about the Lantean part?"

"Well I guess technically they are aliens, the Alterra created them in Pegasus but they are also humans, just a lot more evolved. I on the other hand am Alterran."

"So you're actually an alien?"

"No, I was born on Earth and like many others I was turned into a Lantean since it's a more effective form when working with our technology. I was then chosen to be further evolved into an Alterra. Now the case of Alterrans being aliens is hard, they came from another galaxy but lived on Earth for a long time before going to Pegasus. So while they are from another galaxy they are the original inhabitants of Earth, humans are the third and most primitive evolution of the Alterran genome."

"So if the Alterra are more advanced why did they make Lanteans?"

"Because for some reason as the evolutionary complexity and advancement increases the birth rate rapidly decreases which means that after a time it is hard to maintain or increase the population. When the Alterra came to Pegasus they were far too few, so they created a more primitive race that could grow in numbers fast enough to be useful. So the Lanteans were created. The humans of both Pegasus and the Milky Way were created before the Lanteans but because of the relative primitiveness of humans we usually call them the third evolution."

"And why create humans if they could make more Lanteans?"

"Well the Alterra were dying from a plague that was slowly killing them, I guess they saw the galaxies as empty and wanted to see some life in them."

"It seems like a lot of work."

"Yes, but I guess you could say the Alterra are workaholics, we don't really have free time. But that's all ancient history," Daniel said with a small laugh.

At that time over a hundred soldiers came running into the mess hall and began to throw together a quick breakfast for themselves, less than a minute later the two Lieutenants began to order them out of the mess hall and to eat on the way.

"So what's up with only having like five people waiting outside?" Cassandra asked. She had finished the last of her food and was wiping away some crumbs.

"Well we interviewed some people and all the people we spoke with seemed mildly interested in moving across the galaxy. We expected maybe a hundred people or so to begin with until the first colonists could show that the galaxy is open for colonisation."

"So you're actually not prepared for this? You don't have the food you promised?"

"We don't have any food yet, not for a hundred people, not for a thousand, not for ten thousand people. But we have technology that can create food instantly, it's a short term solution but it will do for this. I will personally see to it that we send all the food you will need."

"So it can be done? We can actually establish a colony?"

"Of course, we Alterra don't make promises we can not keep. I'll take you to see Sam and Jack."

"Where are they exactly?"

"Jack's in Atlantis and Sam's commanding one of our warships." Together they got up and left the mess hall.

"Sam said Atlantis is in another galaxy? Can we really go there?"

"It'll only take a few seconds to travel to Pegasus, I do it at least once every week." He tapped his combadge and connected to the control room. "This is Daniel, please send a message to Colonel Carter and General O'Neill. I need to see them in person as soon as possible, it is not life or death but I want them to hurry up. I'm heading for the Nest right away so have the gate ready when I arrive, if the ship is in hyperspace I want the gate ready to dial Atlantis."

-Copy that Doctor,- a voice replied. It took a few seconds before it continued. -We're standing ready to dial the Nest.-

"Are you in command or something? People seem to do as you say."

"Sort of. The Alterra are the leaders and I'm an Alterra, which means that I'm in charge but I'm not their commander. Their commander is Colonel Sheppard who you met outside, he's one his way to becoming an Alterra but his skills are more military than diplomatic so I get to overrule him on most things."

"Sounds like you're their actual leader."

"I just deal with the larger decisions, the Sheppard handles the day-to-day activities around here."

They walked into the gate room just as the gate activated.

"The wormhole to the Nest is established Doctor," one of the techs informed.

"Thank you, excellent timing," Daniel said. Next to him Cassandra was starting to hesitate but he led her forward to the gate.

"Is it safe?" she asked.

"Perfectly, I've traveled through it probably a thousand times by now and I've traveled between galaxies at least a hundred. Just breath out before stepping inside." He gently led her forward and into the gate.

On the other side of the gate Sam, Jack and Mokar were waiting.

"What's so im..." Sam began, she stopped as soon as she recognised Cassandra. A moment later she ran forward and lifted Cassandra from the floor in a tight hug.

Jack was right behind her but only ruffled her hair. "It's good to see you Cassandra."

"It's good to see you too Sam," Cassandra replied and returned the hug.

"You may wish to move," Mokar said when the gate began to dial behind them.

"Are we interrupting something?" Daniel asked hesitantly.

"We're expecting a delegation from the people of Novus," Mokar explained. "The Destiny expedition made contact a few weeks ago and have been helping their people back to their colony. Their leadership has finally organised enough to send a delegation to us."

"I'm sorry, had I known I would have waited."

"It's fine Doctor Jackson," Mokar said. He looked over at Sam and Jack who were busy talking to Cassandra. "It seems both Colonel Carter and General O'Neill are busy at the moment, perhaps you'd be willing to join me in their place?"

Daniel shone up like a lighthouse. "I'd love to, the chance to meet a new people is always a good experience."

"Good."

The gate activated and five men and women in dark brown leather clothes stepped through. They each gave a deep bow to both Daniel and Mokar.

One of them stepped forward. "I am Yaozu."

"I am Mokar of the Alterra," Mokar said and returned the bow. "This is Doctor Jackson, also of the Alterra."

"A pleasure to meet you," Daniel said.

"The pleasure is ours. To finally be able to meet our ancestors kin and see where they come from is a great honor," Yaozu said.

"It will be some time before we can take you to Earth, Earth was devastated by an attack a few years ago. We are still rebuilding and until it is safe I will not risk anyone's lives other than our own," Mokar said. He could clearly see the disappointment in Yaozu eyes. "But there are several other locations we can show you."

"We would offer our help but now that all of our people are returned we are even cannibalising our spaceships for resources," one of the women said.

Mokar help up his hand to stop them. "We have what we need to restore Earth and we simply need time. Now while this ship is most likely the safest place in this galaxy it is also a ship of war with a war to fight. It will be better to have these talks in our city, Atlantis, where we have the proper facilities and luxuries for a meeting like this." With a mental command he dialed the gate to Atlantis.

"Please, it would be an honor to see this city."