Chapter 71

Vis Uban

After a brief return to Earth and his mother's home Eli had been beamed aboard the Hermes for transport to Vis Uban. Ahead of Eli was an opportunity that had never been presented to anyone before him. At the request of the Council of Great Races Eli was to be mentored under the tutelage of the brightest minds of the combined races. This single thing had thoroughly ruined Rush's return to Earth.

Beaming to the surface Eli found himself standing in a grand receiving chamber of considerable size. Greeting him were members of the combined races both ascended and not. After much fanfare Eli was shown to what would be his quarters. The room looked more like a lab than sleeping quarters. Clearly whoever had selected his quarters had studied Eli well. Putting his luggage down Eli went about unpacking his belongings. Moments later he was startled by a voice behind him.

"Hello Eli" said the voice behind him.

"Crap! Please don't do that, I'm not used to the whole sneak up on me on another planet thing" said a clearly surprised Eli.

"Forgive me for that, it wasn't my intention to frighten you. When I learned of your arrival I thought it best to allow you time to get settled before introducing myself" said the man.

"I'm Eli, but you already know that. Nice to meet you" said Eli while waving awkwardly.

"The pleasure is mine. I am Janus" replied the ascended ancient.

"You're the one who built the time machine! I've totally heard of you" exclaimed Eli.

"I built two actually, but one came to a tragic end. The other I believe is sitting in your Area 51. You and I are going to accomplish amazing things together. In a way it's good that we are now allowed to interact with your people. I would have found a way to work with you anyway, but this way I can't be punished if it's discovered. That pesky noninterference bit is off the table so to speak" mischievously said Janus.

"I really wouldn't want your people mad at me" confided Eli.

"It doesn't take much to irritate them. I've been doing since before we evacuated Atlantis" laughed Janus.

"Scary" was Eli's reply.

"The most rewarding work is typically what they tell you is off limits" confided Janus.

"What is it you and I are going to be working on" asked Eli.

"Many great things, but first we have a project we must complete out of necessity. With this project done your people will have no choice but to take you very seriously. Look at it as an act of purchasing goodwill and autonomy to pursue the work we wish to pursue" hinted Janus.

"That almost sounds Rush like" laughed Eli.

"Oh him" replied Janus with a raised eyebrow.

"It's nice to know that his reputation is known throughout the universe" smiled Eli.

"You and I will be working on a project I spent many years perfecting. It didn't work the first time around, and then your fellow McKay found it and it went from bad to worse. We called it Arcturus" stated Janus.

"I've met McKay. Please tell me he really managed to screw up" laughed Eli.

"If you consider destroying a solar system a screwing up then yes. The science of it was over his head I'm afraid" replied Janus.

"Ok, so what's Arcturus all about" asked Eli.

"Arcturus was conceived to draw vacuum energy from the universe. Had it progressed into a workable system it would have provided unlimited energy. Unfortunately at that time we had no knowledge of the ramifications we would come across. I've solved all of those hurdles. We'll bring it to life, you'll reap the credit with your people, and we'll be free to work on several really interesting ideas" smiled Janus.

"You do know I didn't finish college right" asked Eli.

"Eli, that doesn't matter here. You could have more education than anyone on your world and still not know of the science you're about to delve into. That won't be a problem on Arcturus, but for later pursuits I have a solution. With your consent of course I would like to advance your evolution slightly, nothing too drastic, so you can make use of the knowledge repository" asked Janus.

"I've actually already had a download from Destiny" proudly stated Eli.

"Destiny is many millions of years old. Our knowledge advanced much during that time. The best solution is to simply download all of it to you in one go. I can fill in portions I've learned since I ascended that aren't covered by the repository" replied Janus.

"Let me ask you one question. Is this really going to piss off Rush and McKay" asked Eli.

"Most definitely" replied Janus.

"Then you've got my vote. I'm all for it" laughed Eli.

"A working Arcturus will change your world, your whole civilization. Then we'll move on to things that are more fun" smiled Janus.