Chapter 115

Boreala

The sun shone down on the world recently named Boreala brightly. Shining like a beacon of hope, the ancient city ship Borealis stood proudly on the calm sea. From the balcony atop the center control tower could be seen jumpers traveling to and from the mainland. Looking down on the city's piers could be seen expedition members jogging while off duty, enjoying the sunshine, or fishing as several had taken to doing in their off time.

Behind the deeply stained glass windows leading into the conference room a meeting was taking place. Section chiefs of the Borealis expedition were seated with the two newest arrivals to the city. For the last hour a heated question and answer session had raged on.

"I'm telling you the math checks out" protested Eli.

"And I'm telling you it's not that simple. I've been down this road and my math checked out too, and it didn't go as I planned at all" argued McKay.

"Blowing up a solar system isn't good for the hairline" smirked Eli.

"Funny, real funny. Look junior; you don't know what you're messing with in this project. That's all I'm trying to say" countered Rodney.

"Daniel Jackson, I believe Rodney McKay appears apprehensive towards this project out of professional jealousy" whispered Teal'c.

"Wouldn't be the first time" Daniel whispered in return.

"Doctor McKay, let me assure you the design will function as we have described. The failure of Arcturus was due to a lack of understanding. Those dynamics are now fully understood and the current design takes that into consideration" stated Janus soothingly.

"So says the ascended guy" McKay huffed.

"Rodney, calm down" warned Daniel.

"If you're so certain this is going then please explain to us why you are testing this in Pegasus instead of the Milky Way boy genius" challenged Rodney with a self satisfying smirk on his face.

"We settled on testing the design in this galaxy as we believed it would assist in the war with the Wraith. Once validation is complete the working prototype will be turned over for use as you see fit" answered Janus.

"Do you have a site in mind or do we need to find a suitable location in the database" asked Daniel.

"We've got that covered also" replied Eli.

"Just have every angle covered don't you" grumbled McKay.

"Rodney" replied an exasperated Daniel.

"On the planet of Athos one of our cities still stands. We called it Emege, and it meets all of our needs and requirements. The added benefit of building the system there is that once complete teams of your people can easily move in and inhabit the city" replied Janus.

"Actually the city was occupied by the Athosian's after the ancient's departure, they may want it back. I'm sure an agreement of some sort can be reached in that regard" answered Daniel.

"I will assign on of our off world teams to provide security during your stay on Athos. They should be pleased to be in your company Eli Wallace" added Teal'c.

"With your blessing I would also like to send a team to explore the city and gain deeper insight into its history" said Daniel.

"Of course Dr. Jackson. I will provide some notes on points of interest within Emege" answered Janus.

"Ok then it's settled. We'll prep the teams that will be accompanying you and their gear. One of our vessels will remain in the system to ensure you're not rudely interrupted" finished Jackson.

With that the meeting came to an end. Knowing that McKay's feathers had been ruffled Janus approached him with a gift in consolation. From out of thin air he produced a small metal box, with a clear top. Within the box were two pinwheel like object that spun at random while bright points of light flashed within the enclosure. Along the side was a read out panel displaying scrolling characters in the ancient language.

"What exactly does it do" asked McKay.

"I thought it would be of interest to you in your spare time. The device greatly accelerates particles and collides them at incredible velocity. The readings you see displayed on the side panel are measurements of fermions acquiring mass via spontaneous symmetry breaking of the gauge symmetry" explained Janus.

"This is a Higgs Mechanism? This is incredible! Now I can write a paper with validity on the Higgs Boson particle. I can't thank you enough" said a very grateful McKay.

Eli and Janus watched as McKay walked away, his eyes transfixed on the device held in his hand. Once Rodney was out of earshot Eli turned to Janus.

"You just handed him a Higgs Boson detector? That's going to fuel his ego more than you expect" sighed Eli.

"It really shouldn't, but he doesn't know that" smiled Janus.

"Why's that" asked Eli.

"When my race walked the halls of this city that device was a child's toy to introduce them to science. He'll never know the difference though and it keeps him out of our hair" answered Janus.