Chapter 55

Cheyenne Mountain SGC

Heading down the corridor on level 26 was General Hank Landry. After a brief conversation over the phone with the IOA his marching orders were delivered. Knowing he was about to send people under his command into a potentially dangerous situation the General thought it best to find out more about what they were to deliver. Turning into the lab of Doctor Lindsey Novak all the General could do was hope the good doctor didn't pick this moment to let her hiccup problem make a return.

"General, what can I do for you" asked Novak upon seeing Hank enter.

"Doctor, I've been given a green light to deploy your project, but I would appreciate it if you would explain just what it is before I do so" said Landry.

"Your people are deploying a program I developed called Hermiod. It's an advanced persistent threat program. I named it Hermiod after the Asgard we had aboard Daedalus. It looks benign and helpful but is silently cursing at you under its breath" laughed Novak.

"I doubt the Asgard would appreciate that doctor. Now, what does it do exactly and how does it work" asked Landry trying to contain his annoyance.

"Hermiod is loaded onto this crystal, which is also loaded with standard software found on all Goa'uld origin craft. Since other software is contained on the crystal the presence of Hermiod is masked. Upon uploading the program creates a microsecond long subspace burst that transmits coordinates and past navigational data. Once implanted on a single vessel in a large fleet Hermiod can transmit itself to all other vessels that have communicated in the past with the infected ship. In simulations Hermiod displayed he ability to infect a fleet of thousands of sh.i.p.s in a matter of days" proudly stated Novak.

"So you're telling me this will tag and track any vessel it comes into contact with? We'll have the ability to track the Lucian Alliance fleet" asked Landry.

"Yes General. The one concern I have is Lucian Alliance fleets like Jaffa fleets are all captured Goa'uld vessels. If the two nations vessels have communicated with each other at anytime since their construction Hermiod will jump to the other nations vessels and spread quickly. That was the one weakness I outlined in my report to the IOA" answered Novak.

"After what the Jaffa have done the need to track their vessels also is probably what the IOA found so attractive" stated Landry.

"I heard about that. Scary people" agreed Novak.

"You're absolutely certain this program can't be detected and traced back to us right" asked Landry.

"Hermiod is undetectable since it is a base engineering directive program. In tests even with knowledge of the program and where it was still resulted in a zero detection threshold" confidently stated Novak.

"I really hope you're right" said Landry while walking out of the scientist's office.

With answers in hand Landry quickly made his way to the control room. Walking in to the nerve center of the SGC Landry quickly approached the Sergeant manning the dialing computer.

"Sergeant, dial the alpha site and tell them Vala has a go" ordered Landry.

"Right away Sir" responded the Sergeant.

Destiny

In the several days that past after seating in the interface chair Eli had taken to wandering the hallways aboard Destiny. His only company during these frequent and often long walks was his Ipad. Furiously the young man jotted down notes. With a growing sense of alarm Scott had decided to finally intervene thinking that the solitary wanderings were doing more harm than good to his friend. Finding him in a corridor near the front of the ship Scott approached him.

"Eli, can I talk to you" asked Scott.

"Did you need help with something" asked Eli in response.

"Are you ok? Look Eli, when you lost Ginn you were like this and we gave you space and time to come to terms with it. Since you sat in that chair you've kind of withdrawn from all of us. All we see you do is wander the ship alone with your Ipad. Something is wrong and you can talk to me" said Scott.

"Nothing is wrong at all. When I'm running something over in my mind I walk around. It's my process" conceded Eli.

"Chloe and I are both concerned since we never see you in the mess hall anymore" retorted Scott.

"What do you want me to say? I'm just thinking of things I've never thought of before and it just takes time" said Eli in a conciliatory tone.

"You've got friends here. We all care about you. Just tell us what is going on. I know something is wrong" said Scott.

"That's not it at all. Everything has never been more right in my life. I see things now with such amazing clarity. I've wandered through life wishing I had the answers and now I do" stated Eli.

"What are you talking about? You aren't making any sense" said Scott pointedly.

"When I got here I was just some kid that never finished college. I've had so much potential but never managed to live up to it. Can you imagine what that's like you whole life? I've been given a gift that can make a difference and for the first time I'm not going to waste my gifts" responded Eli.

"You're probably the smartest guy I've ever known in my life Eli. You haven't wasted your gifts. You're just young is all. Heck, I'm young too. Don't be so hard on yourself" urged Scott.

"I'm not being hard on myself and pouting by myself. I've been busy working" replied Eli.

"Care to share what you've been working on" asked Scott.

"I've been working on a way to improve the main weapon. I think I've figured out a way to channel raw power from the ship into the weapon. With a few modifications to the weapon capacitors and energy conduits I believe I can make it possible to fire a three second continuous beam that will fuse to any surface it comes in contact with including shields" proudly stated Eli.

"So you've thought up a fusion beam? Is that what you're telling me" asked Scott.

"Not exactly. By channeling raw energy into the weapon you're unleashing incredible amounts of power. A sh.i.p.s shield is just a field of highly charges ions structured into a rigid form of your design. If it works my changes to the weapon will allow for the shot to fuse to these ions and not just collapse them but incorporate them into the strength of the beam. Imagine a one shot kill. Would have come in handy a few times" said Eli.

"And the chair gave you this idea" asked Scott.

"No, I got the idea from a video game I used to play. Kind of a cool idea if you ask me. The chair just gave me the tools to make the idea a reality" answered Eli.

"Um cool I guess" said Scott at a loss for words.

"If it matters I also take these walks so I don't have to deal with Rush" conceded Eli.

"I hear that! He's been driving everyone crazy. I didn't think the guy could get any stranger but after sitting in the chair all he's done is guzzle coffee and go over things in the database. Too bad Destiny couldn't download a better mood for him" sighed Scott.

"He'll never change. He's got a nasty little god complex. I still can't figure out what Amanda Perry ever saw in him" stated Eli.

"Well come on, its burgers and tater tots in the mess. I know how you love your tater tots. Chloe is waiting for us. Let's go grab some lunch" suggested Scott.

"Sounds good to me" said Eli.

"All this walking has done you good. You look like you've been working out" said Scott.

"Shut it" laughed Eli.