Chapter 165

Pluto

Outside the Arkos shipyard, two large hyperspace windows opened. Exiting these tears into normal space were two of the powerful O'Neill class Asgard vessels. Under tow behind them was the Hala and the Athena. Scarred and battered, the two vessels would soon be repaired; Athena, within the place of her construction, while Hala would return to the Asgard home world. Following instructions from within Arkos, the two O'Neill's halted their advance towards the station to allow exit of a much larger craft.

Emerging from the safety of Arkos station, on her maiden deployment, was the Videum. Newly completed and fresh from her shakedown cruise, Videum glided through the energy field protecting the interior of Arkos. Matching the newly modified configurations of her sister sh.i.p.s Atlantis and Borealis, Videum differed in her capabilities. Constructed to utilize the Arcturus device as her primary power source in lieu of traditional zpm's, Videum was much stronger than her ancient and famed sisters. Gliding past the four vessels outside of Arkos, the newest city ship of the Tauri fleet easily dwarfed those awaiting entry.

Complying with instructions received before their arrival, the Asgard beamed Doctor Lee from the Athena aboard the Videum. Her interim commander, Colonel Reynolds, seeing his lead scientist aboard, instructed the city sh.i.p.s crew to take their stations for departure. Issuing his commands to the avatar of the city ship, Videum powered its star drive and leapt into hyperspace.

As the Asgard released their tractor beam's hold over Athena, Arkos took possession of the vessel with the stations own tractor beams. Locking on to the heavily damaged warship, Athena was drawn ever nearer to the massive energy shield protecting the shipyards interior. Passing through the shield, interior tractor beams locked on and guided the ship to its docking point. Already arachnid like repair robots were standing by to commence repairs. Powering up one of the few undamaged systems aboard, a majority her crew was beamed from within the Athena to the stations debriefing theater.

Having stayed behind, Colonel Eckhart stood in the shipboard mess hall drinking his coffee and going over the sh.i.p.s damage report displayed on his Ipad. Looking at the number of key systems in dire need of repair, the Colonel couldn't help but sigh. Seeing his ship damaged was similar to how a parent must feel with a child in the emergency room. It wasn't a good feeling at all. The only thing making the Colonel feel good at all was the knowledge that she would be repaired soon. So consumed in these thoughts was the Colonel, that he failed to hear someone enter the mess hall.

"She's a bit of a fixer upper right now, but with a little elbow grease she'll be good as new." General O'Neill began.

"Welcome aboard sir! Forgive my pity party." Colonel Eckhart answered.

"You know, if I had a dollar for every time the Asgard asked me to save their little grey butts, well, I would have a few dollars anyway." Jack joked.

"Let's just hope we don't have to do that again any time soon." Eckhart said with a laugh.

"One can always hope. Level with me, how did it go?" Jack asked.

"It wasn't fun. I would say their new ship is on par with the Athena. What made the difference was the Arcturus device. That's the good part. The bad part is the Arcturus device managed to damage just about every key system aboard. Doctor Lee warned me it was possible, so I shouldn't be so surprised." Eckhart replied.

"I talked to the geniuses at the SGC before gating here. The telemetry sensors aboard you ship transmitted the entire time during your chase and attack. They are certain enough was learned to make the system safe for use aboard the sh.i.p.s in the fleet without breaking them. So I'm told anyway." Jack offered.

"Good to know sir." Eckhart answered weakly.

For a brief moment silence filled the mess hall. Eckhart continued to stare at his cup of coffee, while General O'Neill looked around. Unsure of what he was looking at on the far wall, O'Neill squinted, hoping for a clearer view. Looking from the items sitting on the shelf in the distance to the sh.i.p.s commander, O'Neill's mind began to wonder. Not wanting to be left in wonder, Jack cleared his throat.

"At my house I have plenty of unmentionables. Some of the things lying around might even shock me, if they weren't mine. I've got to ask Colonel, what's with the shelf over there? I see three toy robots, a toilet made of Lego's, a vampire with a NASA sticker, and an alien bobble head." Jack said in a suspicious voice.

"Didn't you ever keep score when you were on SG-1? It's the crew's idea, and it's good for moral. That's how they keep track of our kills. Fighter pilots just paint a mark on the side of the aircraft, but we can't exactly do that in this case. The robots are drone sh.i.p.s, the space vampire is Wraith, the toilet is Ori, and the alien bobble head is Asgard." Eckhart explained with a smile.

"No such thing as politically correct here. Thor might see the humor in it, but something tells me the rest of the Asgard wouldn't. I always thought Ori sh.i.p.s looked like giant toilets!" Jack offered with a laugh.

"They really do!" Eckhart replied, also laughing.

"You can joke with me like that, but don't let anyone else here you say that about our allies. A sense of humor doesn't fit in well once you've got a star on your shoulder board." Jack hinted.

"Sir?" Eckhart questioned.

"Catch the hint Colonel. Soon you're going to be driving a desk, just like me. Let's get out of here and grab some lunch." Jack suggested.