Stargate Universe: Continuation

History

Orbit of Avalon

62.12 Million Years Ago

Vici was on the bridge of Destiny going over the upload of the command structure for what had proved to be a mission that would take multiple generations to even begin. Their new home Avalon had been decimated by a meteor some 4 million years earlier, and it had destroyed all of the larger animals and predators that would have threatened them.

They had been here for barely a million years now, and their seed ships were finally far enough out into the galaxy it would take nearly 65 million years for them to catch up to the dozens of ships plotting the course for their wonder of science. It would travel the galaxies looking for the evidence that the Universe they knew was indeed created by a being of power they could only dream of one day being able to comprehend.

Her simulation showed if it survived that long, it would be at the extreme edge of its ability to conduct its mission any longer, and would need repairs so extensive it might be easier to rebuild the ship than keep this one flying. She smiled as she knew it would not be her problem in a few days, as she moved onto the next project of her generation.

Their technology had advanced significantly in the years since the Alterrans began this quest, and settled on Avalon to advance themselves once again. They had spent many thousands of years finding the information themselves as they traveled, but knew there was more to life than aboard a ship traveling the cosmos.

"Simulations show the ship is as ready as it can be." Shaw'ti said as his own simulations showed positive results.

"We only have a few more tests to run, and than we can get off this tub before it launches. Have the teams begin the evacuation and you and Iraman conduct final sweep." she said knowing it would take 2 days for the final tests to run and get the various teams finishing their tasks aboard the ship.

"It shall be done." Shaw'ti said bowing slightly.

Vici spent 36 hours straight working through the diagnostics she had to do, when she was notified that all the teams had vacated the ship into the orbital construction platform. She acknowledged the report as Shaw'ti entered the bridge with Iraman.

"Configuring power flow diagnostics and simulation." Iraman said knowing it was one of the last steps they had to perform before they would pilot the ship into the star for charging in a few hours before they would be able to launch it.

"Beginning final computer diagnostic." Shaw'ti reported as he did his own final checks.

"I just started the final engine and navagation diagnostics." Vici said when the lights on the ship shut down for a moment and came back on. Just as it did they heard the docking port disengage, and Vici looked at them.

"Shut down the computer." Iraman said as Shaw'ti began trying to work the controls.

"The computer system is frozen in a diagnostic loop. Attempting to shut down and reestablish control, that however is not the issue." Shaw'ti said as he went quiet and focused on his work as Vici and Iraman began trying to assist him.

"The overload has caused the ship to initiate the launch sequence." Vici said as the engines fired and sent the ship at the star to charge its primary power systems. She was doing everything she could to override the system, irritated that a glitch was slowing the computer down and significantly hampering her efforts. "Reboot the computer." she said hoping it would even be possible.

"I am attempting to do so, however the system is not responding to commands." Shaw'ti said as he tried to perform several different ways to reboot the systems.

"Not to be a pessimist, but how long would we have to go into stasis before Destiny would be able to dial back?" Iraman asked knowing that because of the difference between the Seed Ship Gates and the ones they currently used were significantly different in operation.

"If we cannot stop the launch, 5 years before we reach the next galaxy and could dial home." Shaw'ti said hoping to avoid that result.

"Destiny, this is Avalon Command, we suggest abandoning ship prior to entering the star." the controller said over the radio.

"The shuttle controls are also frozen and doors won't open." Shaw'ti reported as he had already considered and rejected the idea.

"Control, we are attempting a shut down of the computer. An error has caused a glitch that has frozen commands and made evacuation impossible. If unable, we estimate 5 years before we would be able to return home." Vici reported not bothering with proper communication procedures.

"Copy and confirm Destiny. We estimate 15 minutes before entry to the Corona sphere of the star, and 20 minutes later full charge and jump into FTL. How long will a shutdown take?" the flight controller asked as he hit the alert for the mission controller.

Shaw'ti snorted as he looked at Vici. "On a good day I can manage it in 3 hours. Today is not a good day." he answered as he couldn't get past even the first set of glitches that had frozen all of the interface commands. Everything they were trying was wasting time as Shaw'ti finally ran from the bridge and went to the computer core room. "Be ready to take manual control of the flight path." he said over the communication panel once he got to the computer.

"We are 10 minutes away from the corona, how long would a computer restart take?" Victaria asked as she slid into the pilot seat and deployed the ma dual controls.

"Normally I would say shut down alone is going to take an hour. Hopefully however we are restarting inside of a minute. Shut down in 10 seconds." he replied as he held the wire from the power system to the computer core. As soon as his count hit 0 he pulled the cord free, and listened as the computer did indeed shut down. Everything went dark around him, except for what little the lantern he had brought with illuminated around him. He counted to 30 before he installed the wire again, and prayed that it had cleared whatever glitch was going through the computer.

The main display was the first thing to come online, and he had hope for a split second before the automated program kicked in and accelerated them again. "Powers back online and the system is responding, but the automated system is still active." he reported as the bridge saw the same results.

"Can you bypass it?" Iraman asked as the star got bigger in the screen.

"No, it is part of the basic operation. It would take a year to bypass and take control of the systems, minimum." Shaw'ti reported as he was the computer expert aboard.

"Options?" she asked them.

"Finish the remaining diagnostics and ensure the program performs properly, before we go into stasis for the next 5 years." Shaw'ti said knowing this was going to be a major issue with his career plan.

"Can we not evacuate using the shuttle?" Iraman asked confused.

"No. The primary programming has taken effect, and the shuttle is designated mission critical. It is locked down until we arrive inside the first galaxy on a long list of galaxies this ship will be sent to explore. Our best bet is to go into stasis until after the first recharge, and use the Stargate to dial home at that time." Victaria said knowing the contingency plan well.

"I did not sign up for 5 years in suspended animation." Iraman said angrily as they watched the ship plunge into the corona of the star and deploy its collectors for Stellar plasma.

"None of us did, I assure you. We however cannot do much about it before this ship engages its primary drive and launches to speeds that none of our ships can hope to match." she said as the team she was supposed to have joined after this mission was designing and building the next generation of ships her people would use for many years to come.

"We have ships far faster than this one is." Iraman said as he sat down and reinitialized the test he had been performing before this had happened. Victaria pulled up the star map, and showed him exactly what was going to happen.

"You are correct Iraman, we do have ships that are faster than this one is. They however also do not have the range this ship does, and thus cannot reach the point where we are programmed to first come out of FTL. All of our new ships use a different drive system, and this cannot intercept this ship in real time unless we are out of FTL." she said showing him that this ship would travel to the nearest galaxy from the point of departure some 25,000 light years away. Even their best ships were intragalactic, and wouldn't be able to stock enough provisions or power Crystal's in order to make the journey to rescue them. Even with outposts every few thousand light years apart the journey would take their best ship 3 years each way. And the void was 20 thousand light years across which left no bases available to stop and conduct necessary repairs at.

"So we truly are stuck until we reach here. If they are local gates only, how will we dial home?" Iraman asked as he had never traveled by the Stargate before.

"We were able to upgrade the programming of this one to be able to always dial Avalon. Because this system is not based on fixed points like our current one is, it is essentially a code that is dialed instead of the traditional mapping system we use now." Shaw'ti explained as he was an expert on the Stargates.

"So why do we not just dial it now?" Iraman asked. Vici laughed as they had covered this in the briefing.

"In order for it to work we have to be atleast 20,000 light years from Avalon. By the time this ship reaches that distance, it will be in the galactic void, and unable to drop out just so we can dial without drastically effecting its mission." Shaw'ti explained as they each went about their work to get the ship ready.

Current Day

Vici opened her eyes in the arboretum, and hated the fact that their entire lives had been lost to computer glitches. She vowed to herself she would one day learn what happened to those she loved, as soon as she figured out just exactly how they were going to survive this current predicament.