Disclaimer: The characters of Star Trek belong to Paramount. The characters of the Four Orders are entirely my own. The characters of Stargate belong to MGM but the words are mine.

AU/DS9/TNG/SGC: The war with the Dominion takes a turn for the worse. The sudden cry for help from the Q Continuum diverts the Federation's attention to investigate a mystery buried deep into Earth's past: a secret so dangerous that it divides the Earth in two and reshapes the galaxy.

Chapter 1

The Unusual Request

Captain Benjamin Sisko was in his office pacing restlessly. In his hand, he held yet another pad containing the list of casualties. He stopped pacing. He thought that after bringing in the Romulan Empire things will improve but sadly they had taken a turn for the worse. True, at first they changed things – they won many important battles but then the Founders increased exponentially the numbers of the Jem Hadar. Overwhelmed at places, the Federation and its allies retreated.

Captain Sisko resumed his pacing. His thoughts raced reaching in the darkest corners looking for a way out. But there was no way out. He did all he can to change the outcome of this war. It was the last straw he drew when with cheating and lying he got the Romulans onboard but there was no one left. That was all and it was not enough.

And now he had to post the latest report – the new casualty list. This Friday was grimmer than before as the number of casualties had increased. So far, Starfleet has lost twenty percent of its fleet. The Klingons have lost around there as well and the Romulans, well they were starting to feel the heat as well. There was no way out now. It was all or nothing.

Sadly the way it was going it was probably the latter. Benjamin felt now more than ever the loss of Jadzia. He had now Ezri of course but she was younger and less enthusiastic, more insecure. Benjamin sighed. No, it was Curzon he missed. He could use his friend. Or more to the point, he needed a shoulder to cry on, to lay his head at rest. Yes, he missed his mentor.

Closing eyes for a moment, Benjamin rested then straightening his uniform left his office and went to do the sad duty of posting the list of casualties. Many people had gathered there to take a look, more than usual, and many cried while he had to stay cool. It was a sad day and there was nothing he could do to make it better. But he stayed until all but his senior officers remained.

"Captain Sisko," The com badge beeped.

"Sisko here,"

"I'm sorry to disturb you Captain but there is a priority one message from Starfleet headquarters."

"I'll take it from here."

Captain Sisko walked to the nearest post and accepted the incoming message. The face of Q filled the screen.

"Q!" Captain Sisko exclaimed and his nostrils flared with quickly climbing anger.

"Benji!" Q replied on the other side. "It is good to see you."

"I wish I could reply with the same."

"Yes, yes, we are not going to dwell on old times." Q said and his voice dropped. He suddenly looked saddened for something. Captain Sisko and the others of course started wondering what new twisted game he was up to. The Q entity had omnipotent power over space and time and was extremely annoying. But of course, they could only wonder why he used the com and Starfleet channels and not his usual way of appearance out of nowhere. "We d…I don't have time for them now and I…"

"What do you want Q?" Captain Sisko abruptly interrupted him.

"I need your help!"

Brazen silence took the room. Captain Sisko stared blankly at Q who was still on-screen. He tried to decide whether it was one of Q's elaborate jokes or something else.

"What?" He asked just to make sure he heard correctly the first time.

"I need your help!" Q repeated with the same low voice.

Captain Sisko walked away from the console reached for the window and sat down. His eyes locked to the screen where Q stared back. He narrowed his gaze and wondered what could drive this omnipotent being to make such a request, for a request it was.

"Q, we don't have time for your games." He said in adamant voice. He was still resisting his original urge. Q was famous for his practical jokes.

"As much as this would satisfy you, Benji, I'm not playing games. The Q continuum needs your help!"

Captain Sisko blinked even harder this time. The Q continuum was the home of these omnipotent beings. If they could not solve a problem why did Q think the mere mortal humans could? And then just in blink of an eye he was the truth in Q's eyes – fear, genuine fear. Sisko could not believe it but there it was. Q was afraid of something, terrified perhaps.

He understood the cloak and dagger approach. The Q could not show fear it would ruin his usual reputation. But Benjamin Sisko had to wonder what could spook the Q?

"Why don't you swoop over and we will talk about it!" Captain Sisko said finally after remaining silent for several minutes surprising mostly his officers.

"If it were that simple Benji, I would have come in the first place." Q replied. "It has taken the Q a great deal of time to set up even this link. We don't usually have any need for crude technology such as yours."

"What?" Captain Sisko was up on his feet staring with disbelief at Q. "You're calling from the Continuum?"

"Yes,"

"This is an occasion."

"Don't mock the situation, Benji!" Q reproached him.

"And why should I believe you? Your credit on credibility Q is not very high."

"Very true," Q said. He then stepped aside and many people dressed in different fashion and some Starfleet uniforms filled the background. Sisko knew the truth though they were all Q. An elderly looking man took his place.

"Captain Benjamin Sisko," He began. "The Q continuum did not select you by chance."

"Oh!"

"You're the link between the space-time of your species and those of the non parallels, creatures like us and those to whom you belong – the aliens that you met the first time you came in this area. Your Bajoran friends called them the Prophets but in many aspects they are like us."

"It is good to know."

"Captain, the Continuum cannot keep up this link for long. As Q explained we are not used to use such crude technology. We don't have much time. The Continuum is in great peril and only you the son of the Prophets can save us now."

"Wow! This is an occasion. It is not every day you hear such a plea."

"Your mistrust of us is understandable, Captain given your experience. But you must put it aside. It is not only the Continuum that is at risk here. The Prophets and all other non parallel creatures are too. A great menace has awakened from the dark veils of your past…"

"My past?"

"No, your species,"

"What menace?"

"I should tell you, Captain. The humans of Earth are not who they seem. Your planet has more secrets than any other in this area of the galaxy."

"What secrets?"

"Dangerous secrets,"

"That doesn't tell me much!"

"We know. Look more carefully at your own past."

"Mister Q, I imagine. Earth's history is six thousand years. It would take me a lifetime to discover all of its secrets."

Q stepped forward again. "Actually, it is not six thousand years, Benji. It is much more than that."

"Really and how long would that be?"

"Several million years, by your timings,"

"Million?" Benjamin Sisko blinked again stunned.

"I should tell you what, Captain." The Elder Q said. "We are sending you the coördinates of a world where you will find more questions but also a lead. Trust us when I say this to you. Your planet has many dangerous secrets. Sadly we cannot give you all the answers. You will have to discover them on your own. It is the only way you'd reach the truth.

I can tell you only this. It is not Zefram Cochran that first met the Vulcans. They have been on your planet almost a hundred and thirty years before that. But this is only a drop in a bigger ocean. This is what you must know – in the year 1997, your world changed drastically and ever since then until the year 2035 it has altered the galaxy itself. In a place of hollowed mountain you sh…."

The transmission suddenly scrambled and it was lost.

"Sisko to Ops,"

"Ops here, Captain,"

"Trace that transmission and try to restore contact,"

"Yes, sir," There was a pause. "I'm sorry, sir. The transmission is gone."

"Did you manage to trace it?"

"It was coming from somewhere around a star twenty light years from here."

"Did you receive any data?"

"Yes, sir, a coded message,"

"Decode it immediately! Sisko out," Captain Sisko looked at his senior officers. He was not entirely sure what to make of all this. "We shall meet in the conference room in an hour. Dismissed."

An hour later, the senior officers gathered in the conference room. Captain Sisko entered. His facial expression was unreadable. He entered the data received by the mysterious Q transmission. It was the coördinates of a world.

"So the Qs were saying the truth?" Nerys asked.

"Yes," Captain Sisko nodded. "At least this part,"

"So where is it?" Security Chief Odo inquired in his steady tone.

"Its site is about sixty light years away from Earth."

"Hum,"

"Have Starfleet ever been there?" Nerys asked.

"No," Captain Sisko replied and sat down. He was pensive. "I have already spoken with Starfleet Command."

"And?" Odo said.

"And," Captain Sisko continued. "They find it intriguing. It doesn't happen often having the Q Continuum ask anyone for help. Starfleet agrees that something has rattled the Q and if they are but still believe we can solve then we must."

"And if it is one of Q's little jokes?" Nerys asked. She was not convinced the Qs demand was genuine.

"Many in Starfleet share your skepticism, Colonel." Captain Sisko replied. "But the Q elder was strangely precise over two specific years that nothing in particular happened on Earth. Nothing that could show the humans would take their place in the annals of galactic history."

Captain Sisko stood up and called those two years on the screen. "In 1997, fault of an accident stranded USS Voyager there because of an accident."

"I'm familiar with it." Nerys said.

"Good and then in 2035…"

"You were there with Jadzia and Julian." Odo added.

Captain Sisko closed eyes for a moment. It was hearing Jadzia's name. It hasn't been that long since she passed away yet.

"No, it was 2025 but the elder Q was rather specific. He said that in 1997, the course of the human race changed and since we have no sign of that other than Voyager's presence that never happened because the Starfleet of the future fixed it, we definitely have a problem.

Beings as powerful as the Q do not rattle easily nor make such curious and unusual requests or give such specific years for no reason. He said Earth has many dangerous secrets."

"He also said the Vulcans came to Earth circa 1950." Julian reminded. "This is preposterous."

Captain Sisko however did not look like he found it that way.

"Right?" Julian asked.

"As it turns out, they have indeed been there around 1950."

"WHAT?"

"A Vulcan science expedition crash landed near Carbon Creek around 1950. Only one of the Vulcans survived but they recovered her almost a year later."

"I'd imagine the Vulcans were not very happy to share that."

"Not really," Captain Sisko said. "But given the source of the information, they could hardly say it is speculation."

"So if the Q were right about this then…" Odo continued.

"Then they could be right about the other part they are so rattled about." Captain Sisko finished Odo's thought. "Starfleet ordered us to investigate. They will send other ships to help as well."

"The Enterprise, I imagine?" Julian asked.

"Yes, they will be there too." Captain Sisko said.

"But we are in the middle of a war!" Nerys protested.

"Starfleet is aware of that."

"So what? We just abandon everything and go a wild goose chase." Nerys said. "What does Starfleet expect to find and gain from this…" Nerys stopped herself midsentence catching up pretty quickly. "You cannot be serious. They expect the Q to help with the war."

"Well, they think if the Qs owe us then yes essentially," Captain Sisko replied.

"That's preposterous. There is no guarantee in that."

"No, there isn't." Captain Sisko said firmly. "But Starfleet doesn't enjoy mysteries of this kind. If the slightest chance the Qs are saying the truth then we must know."

"And the benefit that goes with," Julian said. The others looked at him. "What? If it is technology that can rattle the Q then the Dominion would not stand a chance. Right, Captain?"

"Yes, Doctor, I believe that is what Starfleet thinks. We leave tomorrow morning. Dismissed,"

Captain Sisko had much thinking to do. His officers raised a valid panic point. What if it was a joke? But then why the entire Continuum would play along? The other Qs do not share Q's game policy. They would see right through him. But if it was true then what? What in Earth's history of that time period could make the Q so apprehensive? And why aren't they doing something about it? They are omnipotent. It was a curious puzzle.

Captain Sisko understood Starfleet's wishes all too well. It was a very interesting situation. He kept wondering though of the last words of the Q elder. He said a place of hollowed mountain. He kept wondering what he meant. Was he talking about a facility or a base and where is it? It frustrated him that the transmission cut just before they learnt of its site. But then again, the Q elder said they had to learn the truth on their own as it was the only way for them to believe it.

The coördinates given were also a puzzle as Starfleet has never been there. The Q elder said they would find more questions there but also a lead. Captain Sisko kept wondering of the meaning of this. He barely slept that night.

The next morning, the Defiant was ready for departure. Captain Sisko entered the bridge and all his officers were present except Colonel Kira Nerys. Someone had to stay behind and ran the station.

"Sisko to Ops,"

"Ops here," Colonel Nerys replied appearing on the view screen.

"We're ready."

"Good hunting, Captain,"

Captain Sisko sat back on the command chair. "Mr. Nog, clear all moorings, one-quarter impulse,"

"Moorings cleared, departing at one-quarter impulse," Nog replied from the helm.

"Set…"

"Course already laid in, Captain," Nog interrupted enthusiastically.

"Engage to Warp Nine on my mark," Captain Sisko said. "Mark!"

The Defiant's engines kicked in and the ship jumped to warp disappearing in the depths of space.

Nerys watched it leave. She was certain they were going on a fool's errand but Starfleet had given their orders. It seemed they were more important than a war raging across the breath of the galaxy. There were times she could not understand the humans.

Nerys shook head, Starfleet and their strange beliefs. She had to focus on the problems at hand running the station and managing the war. Starfleet had left it in her hands. They did not send anyone to replace Captain Sisko. They had given this responsibility to her. And she was going to make the captain proud.

The Defiant, after two weeks of hard travel, dropped out of warp above the coördinates provided by the Q. It was a class M world with mountain ranges and lush forests. There was nothing particularly unusual about this planet.

"Standard orbit, Ensign," Captain Sisko commanded. "Mr. Worf, scan this planet,"

"Yes, sir,"

Worf initiated the scan and waited for the result. If they expected to find something interesting they were in for a bad surprise. There was nothing special about this place. The scans did not show any life forms other than local animal life or power signatures of any kind.

"Mr. Worf?"

"Nothing sir." Worf replied and moved aside so the captain could see for himself.

Captain Sisko frowned. There was nothing. A part of his mind agreeing with Kira Nerys about the wild goose chase was saying now – I told you so but the other part did not want to give up this easily. The Q said between 1997 and 2035. If that were true then this place would have been abandoned for more than three hundred years. He also said hollowed mountain.

"Mr. Worf, scan the mountain ranges for hollows artificially created."

"Captain?" Worf looked at him strangely.

"It is what the Q said."

"Yes, sir," Worf resumed the scanning inputting the new limits and soon the scanners found such a place. "I have something."

Captain Sisko moved to him to see. "What do we have?"

"The scans show several such places across this range." Worf showed. "It is definitely not natural occurrence."

"Is it good for us?"

"Yes, captain," Worf replied fully understanding the implied question.

"Alright, let's take a look,"

"Ah, Captain,"

"Yes, Mr. O'Brien,"

"I'd recommend using the shuttle going down there. The ionization of the planet's atmosphere doesn't look very welcoming for the transporters."

"Understood, Mr. O'Brien. Mr. Worf,"

Worf, Sisko and two security officers of the Defiant took a shuttle down to the surface. The moment they crossed through the lowest layers of the atmosphere the first shock took place. The surface below looked like it had been through one hell of a battle. There were craters all along the surface up until a ledge in the mountain rocks covered in debris.

"Why didn't the sensors pick this up?" Captain Sisko asked. He did not address anyone in particular.

"I'm uncertain, Captain." Worf replied anyway. "It is possible the high concentration of ions prevented the sensors of getting an exact picture."

"It looks like a hell of a battle was fought here." One of the security officers stated the obvious.

"It looks like orbital bombardment." Worf corrected.

"It would certainly explain the high concentration of ions in the atmosphere." Captain Sisko reasoned.

"According to the sensors, it is from energy based weapons."

"What kind?" Sisko inquired.

"Unable to tell, Captain,"

"What?"

"It is unlike anything we've come across." Worf gave the stunning answer. "It is not in the database."

"Alright, so we are at the right place then," Captain Sisko said. The Qs were saying the truth. He had now at least half a dozen questions. "Can you find a place to land so we can reach the inside of the mountain?"

"Yes, Captain," Worf checked with the sensors and quickly discovered such a place. It was on the other side of the mountain range. As they arrived above it, it reminded of the old lanes used for planes to take off. Worf landed the shuttle before the place the sensors said there was an opening leading inside the mountain.

Captain Sisko, Worf and the two security officers left the shuttle. The air was perfectly breathable. They stood a tricoder in hand, before the place where the opening was.

"According to the tricoder, there is an opening here." Worf stated.

Captain Sisko stepped back. "Mr. Worf,"

Worf joined the captain and noticed they stood before a large gate. It was obvious when seen in this perspective.

"We have to find the locking mechanism." Captain Sisko said.

"Right," Worf agreed punching series of buttons on the tricoder. Suddenly, with a loud thud and grinding, the large gate of rock moved sideways revealing darkened space behind it. "It is open."

Taking light torches, Captain Sisko and the others proceeded in. The place indeed looked abandoned for many years. Dust had settled everywhere. Suddenly the light fell on a shape.

"Over here," Captain Sisko said. The others joined him.

The lights surrounded the shape and Captain Sisko gaped in disbelief. The shape was that of a craft but unlike any he has before seen. It was long fifteen meters, made of metal his tricoder could not entirely recognize. Some of the metals could be found on Earth but the others not. It was standing on its landing gears.

It reminded him of a military stealth craft of the twentieth century but it was different. The wing span was different and the height too. There was place for two pilots in the cabin. But the readings Captain Sisko got from the tricoder confused him to say the least.

"According to the tricoder," Worf said examining the data. "This craft has four engines."

"Yes," Captain Sisko confirmed. "Four different types of engines," The data he got suggested – thrusters, rocket boost, main propulsion engines and one other he could not name. It occupied a significant part of aft of the craft. Its design however was unknown to him though it seemed built by humans. This was highly intriguing. "We should go ahead. We will check this craft later."

They left the craft behind and moved on. Soon they located stairs and followed them. At one point, the stairs separated – one going down and one going up.

"Mr. Worf, you and Lieutenant James will take the path down while I and Lieutenant Johansen go up."

"Yes, Captain,"

They separated. Captain Sisko and Lieutenant Johansen reached the upper floors and continued into a corridor. There were many rooms along the way. Some looked like storages but there was nothing but empty crates in them. There was one room that reminded of a mess hall and another in which they entered was definitely a conference room with chairs turned upside down. It looked like people had left in a hurry.

Exiting, they proceeded further. Walking up some other stairs they found themselves into something Benjamin Sisko could describe as a control room. There were many consoles that fitted the aspect level of technology correspondent to the twentieth century.

Captain Sisko approached them and tried to activate them but there was obviously no power left. He used the power of his tricoder but nothing happened. They were incompatible until suddenly the power came up lighting everything.

"Mr. Worf, did you find something?" Captain Sisko asked tapping his com badge.

"Yes, Captain," Worf replied. "We found a large power generator. We just activated it."

"Did you find anything else?"

"No sir,"

"Then come join us,"

The many consoles flickered into life. As Benjamin remembered theirs names: computers. Of course, they were not nearly as advanced as what they have now but that was normal. They had three centuries to perfect them.

These computers still had keyboards but they were not so difficult to navigate or so he thought. Many of them proved encrypted and even the tricoder could not decrypt them making downloading the data rather difficult.

Captain Sisko stepped back for a moment as something in the design of this room had caught his attention. Behind the consoles, there was a large glass and behind it a protective window made of titanium.

"Lieutenant, see if you can find the locking mechanism for this window?" Captain Sisko said pointing at the titanium protective window.

"Yes, Captain," Johansen replied. Once turned around however his face showed concern. It was not time for them to make this discovery. But delaying it was no longer an option either. They were here already. If he did anything suspicious, Starfleet would start asking even more questions. If they only knew the truth they would be scared though rather impressed. "I can't find anything, sir."

"Let's see." Captain Sisko looked around and soon found a lever that was cleverly disguised and pulled it.

It was just in time. Commander Worf and Lieutenant James came in.

The protective window lifted and revealed a room beneath. But the sight was most unusual. The four stared stunned at it. On the lowest level the control room overlooked another room, three stories tall at the far end of which the huge shape, flat and round like a pancake set on end. It was a disk, which consisted of two concentric rings inscribed with alien symbols, surrounding a gleaming iris of overlapping steel plates that completely covered the centre.

"What the hell is that?" Captain Sisko exclaimed.

Lieutenants James and Johansen exchanged quick looks and shrugged. "No, idea, Captain,"

"Captain," Commander Worf exclaimed. "There are stairs leading to that door down there. Right from here," And he followed the stairs he had discovered. They led before a steel slide door. With some effort he and Captain Sisko managed to slide it open. They entered into the room containing the strange circle with the alien symbols.

Worf put his tricoder to work but the data he was getting led to more confusion.

"What is it, Mr. Worf?"

"This…um…thing is made of several elements but there are some the tricoder cannot name."

"Cannot?" Captain Sisko looked at him.

"No, Captain," Worf shook head.

"Let me see!" Captain Sisko took a look and agreed with Worf's assessment. But one element caught his attention. It was present in the scan of the craft they discovered before reaching this place. It had a slightly different structure but was essentially the same. This became very interesting.

"Captain, this thing is emitting a low-level radiation."

"What kind?"

"Unknown!"

"Alright, Mr. Worf I had enough of this." Captain Sisko exclaimed frustrated. Worf did not understand his reaction. "Get Mr. O'Brien and the rest of the crew here so we can get to the bottom of this mystery. Contact Starfleet Command as well and tell them we will need some help here."

"Yes, Captain,"

"I'll come with you, Commander." Lieutenant Johansen said. He exchanged another quick look with Lieutenant James. They needed to make contact as well and report this development.

Captain Sisko however quickly fell in love with this strange ring and its alien looking symbols. The data flowing from his tricoder suggested this thing was over ten thousand years old. And whatever it was, twentieth century technology surrounded it.

He imagined the people of Earth might have discovered it though he still could not answer the question that burnt him ever since he came in here. How did the people of Earth reach this world in the first place? It was sixty light years away from Earth. How did they do that? Was it possible aliens abducted them and placed them here? But then if they did why would these aliens build this base with Earth technology? This made no sense to him.

The Q elder was right. He told him he would get more questions. He never truly believed the Q until this very moment. All this was very strange and highly intriguing. Over the past few years, Starfleet has forgotten its core mission exploration and gotten into the war business until this opportunity presented a very teasing and tingling mystery.

Over the next few days, four Starships arrived in orbit and poured down their people. Mr. O'Brien was still having difficulty decrypting the security protocols of the base's computers, which was to say the least very impressive for technology three centuries behind them. But with the arrival of the USS Enterprise Captain Sisko hoped this problem will exist no more. The Enterprise's computers were more powerful than any of the other ships.

Captain Picard himself came down to the base along his android Commander Data and his first officer Commander William Riker.

"Captain Sisko," Captain Picard greeted.

"Captain Picard," Captain Sisko replied a bit reserved. He still had problem with the Enterprise's captain. It was he that the Borg converted to lead the attack at Wolf 359 where Sisko lost his wife. But over the years, he had come to forgive the captain.

"Starfleet Command is most interested in your findings." Captain Picard said. "Is this it?" He asked pointing at the room three stories beneath them.

"Yes, it is."

"Do we know what it is?" Commander Riker asked.

"Not yet," Captain Sisko replied. "Mr. O'Brian is still having trouble overriding the encryption on the computers."

"That hardly seems possible." Commander Laforge, chief engineer, observed.

"See for yourself, Commander," Captain Sisko said. "The Defiant's computers were not designed to deal with this much data."

"How much data are we talking about?" Picard asked.

"A few hundred Exabytes,"

"WHAT?" Riker exclaimed stunned.

"I know, Commander. Believe me we were just as stunned." Captain Sisko replied. "We discovered several rooms filled with computers. Each of them has diamond isolinear chips."

"Diamond?"

"Diamonds are known to store enormous amounts of information and offer faster…"

"Yes, Mr. Data, we are aware of the diamonds properties." Captain Picard interrupted before Commander Data could give them a very long lecture about it.

"We also found…um… and that is the rather stunning part," Captain Sisko continued. "We found organic computers."

"What?"

"Yes, organic technology,"

"But that makes no sense. Organic technology was never used by Earth. We have never developed in that area."

"I understand your surprise, Commander but there it is. Apparently they have and we never knew about it."

"Are we certain it were people of Earth?"

"Oh, yes, we are! Come with me!" Captain Sisko replied and led the way.

They came into a room several floors beneath. It looked like an office. It had a very dirty and pale flag of the United States of America and a coat of arms on the wall on which read: United States Air Force. Before it, there was a wooden desk with very pale looking folders that still contained paper files. The files themselves were unreadable.

"That's impossible!" Commander Riker exclaimed.

"It would be difficult to explain why aliens would reproduce an office used by the Air Force." Captain Sisko observed.

"I agree. It would be very difficult." Captain Picard said.

"Even if we believed it, Captain," Riker said. "How did they get here? This planet is sixty light years away. Earth did not have crafts capable of interstellar travel at that time period."

"Well, this is one of the many questions to this puzzle, Commander Riker." Captain Sisko said.

"I still have reservations about this." Riker shared. "This information came from the Q."

"If it was only the Q we know then I would agree with you, Commander, but it came from all of them and they were genuinely scarred. I cannot imagine anything that would make the Continuum scared this much."

"Starfleet agrees on that too and so do I." Picard said. "Somthing rattled them and we have to discover the reason."

"What else have we learnt?" Riker asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid. I'm having people go over the years the Q mentioned. So far, we found nothing." Captain Sisko replied. It was obvious he felt very frustrated and it was perfectly understandable. It was not easy to hide something of this big.

"We'll reach the bottom of this." Captain Picard said firmly. He found this unusual as well. No one can hide such a large and important part of Earth's history without leaving a trace.

Far away from that planet, at the edge of the galaxy, a gleaming in grey and protected by a shield, a massive city cleaved through space. Its main tower overlooked the buildings below separated in four parts.

On a balcony, almost at mid level of the tower stood a young woman dressed in black leather jacket on whose right shoulder there was a coat of arm in the form of the letter A but with a small circle above it. Her vivid green eyes scanned the space and stars in the distance.

"Colonel Sheppard," A voice interrupted the young woman's focus.

"Yes?"

"We are receiving an encrypted communiqué from Lieutenant Johansen."

"I'll be right there." Commandant Teyla Sheppard replied. She took her eyes off the emptiness of space and moved inside.

The inside was of dark metal with lights coming from the floor and the walls. It had several bridges linking the different rooms on this level. It was the control level of the city and at its far end a familiar shape stood. It was a disk, which consisted of two concentric rings inscribed with alien symbols.

Colonel Sheppard walked past the main controls and stopped at a screen. "Open the channel!" She ordered.

The screen activated and a very distressed looking Lieutenant Johansen appeared on it.

"Colonel," He saluted.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" She asked calmly.

"The USS Enterprise just arrived in orbit of P6W 397. Its computer core is powerful enough to bypass the encryption. They will soon know."

"Do not worry yourself, Lieutenant." Colonel Sheppard said. "They will know something not all. We have the most important information encrypted by the algorithm used once by the Ancients to protect the command master code on the Destiny. Dr. Nicolas Rush, God bless him, made sure of that. Don't worry. They will not break it this easily. They have no idea what to look for."

"I sure hope so, Colonel."

"Is there any development on Earth?"

"Our operatives are in place. We await only your command."

"Good," Colonel Teyla Sheppard said satisfied. Many things were about to change. The children of the Stargate were coming home. "Our time is coming and this galaxy will know the power of Earth soon enough."

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