Hope by Dawn Cunningham None of the characters in this story belong to me. I'm using them without permission and receiving no monetary gain. Do not post or publish this story anywhere else, without my express permission. Feel free to share it with others as long as the disclaimers remain intact. Permission is granted to post this story on the 7th Dimension Highlander fiction archive Warnings: This is the second story of my Farscape/Highlander universe. It probably won't make much sense unless you've read the first one 'The Farscape Project'. You can find it on my website below, or the 7th Dimension Highlander Fanfic archive. I've also added another universe to this story - Stargate: SG-1. While I'm not a big fan of stories that cross over multiple universes, it was necessary. Characters: >From Highlander: Duncan MacLeod, and Connor MacLeod >From Farscape: Jack Crichton >From Stargate SG-1: Most of the main characters Acknowledgments: Once again, Melanie gets the credit for trying to fix all my typos. I keep adding more in though. She always improves my stories. Judy gets the credit for making sure I got the Stargate characters right. Comments are always welcome at Dawn341@aol.com If you wish to read any of my Highlander stories, they are archived at: http://members.aol.com/dawn341/fiction.html. My other universe stories can be found at: http://members.aol.com/dawn341/fiction2.html ******* Hope by Dawn Cunningham. A Highlander/Farscape/Stargate SG-1 crossover. Time line: 3.5 years after the disappearance of the Farscape module "How much longer?" Connor MacLeod demanded, angrily. "How much money are you willing to throw away on this wild goose chase?" Duncan MacLeod turned back from the windows where he'd been staring out onto the launch pad. "I don't know." He sighed heavily as he sat down at the head of the conference table. "Every time I think we should give it up, I think of Richie. How can I condemn him to an eternity of death?" "Duncan, if I thought there was the slightest chance, I'd keep going, too. But we haven't been able to duplicate the conditions after six different launches. And even if we did, there's still no guarantee that we would survive going through a wormhole. We could end up in the same condition as Richie." Duncan scrubbed at his face with both hands. "You're right. It's time to pull the plug, but this is going to kill Jack Crichton." "It's time for him to accept the fact that his son is probably dead." Connor knew he was sounding harsh, but it was time for everyone to move on. He stood up and went over to the windows. "We both know that there was little chance that John Crichton would have survived. We've been doing this for Richie. And giving false hope to Jack Crichton. It's got to stop." "I'll talk to Jack," Duncan promised. "Although, knowing him as well as I do now, I doubt he'll give up. He'll just go looking for funding from someone else." "That's his choice." ***** Colonel Jack O'Neill led the SG-1 team through the Stargate onto P3A- 209. He quickly scanned the landscape beyond the gate, his automatic weapon ready for any trouble. While the MALP had not indicated any sign of life, it never hurt to be vigilant. Seeing nothing, he motioned to his team to spread out as they advanced. They kept each other in sight as they moved forward. Both Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson were taking various readings with their hand-held scanners, while Teal'c kept his staff weapon ready for any danger. Carter had one hand on her automatic weapon, and O'Neill knew she'd be ready to fight at the first hint of danger. The same couldn't be said for Jackson, but they were all used to that. "No life signs at all," Carter reported. "No energy signatures, either," Jackson added. "The temple ruins should be this direction." He pointed toward the north. "Let's go," O'Neill agreed as he headed into the almost virgin forest that surrounded the Stargate. An hour later, they emerged out onto a wide plain. O'Neill had to admit it was a beautiful planet. Plenty of water, trees, wide open spaces, and, hopefully, no bad surprises in store for them. "Sir," Carter called out. "You'd better have a look at this." O'Neill realized that Carter had wandered off a little, and he quickly moved over to join her. The last thing he expected to see were seven rough crosses. Carter held out something that dangled from a chain. He took it from her and studied it. "Commander David Brant, IASA. How the hell did this get here?" Carted had moved from one cross to the next, although she didn't remove any more dogtags. "They're all IASA dogtags," she said. "Wasn't Brant the shuttle commander for the Collaroy? The one that supposedly blew up in space?" O'Neill nodded. "Then how did he get buried here?" He studied the graves. "And who buried them?" "Could there have been survivors?" Jackson asked. "Then where are they?" O'Neill demanded. "Well, there's no sign of the shuttle, either," Carter pointed out. "Maybe the survivors took off, trying to get back home." "Maybe. Carter, take down the names, and we'll find out how many possible survivors there were when we finish this mission." Carter quickly followed instructions, then they continued toward the temple ruins. ***** General Hammond studied the SG-1 team as they took seats around the conference table. When they were settled, he opened the folder in front of him. "According to IASA, there are two missing crew members from the Collaroy shuttle. The first is Commander John Crichton. The other was a civilian, Richard Ryan. They were both accomplished pilots, and Crichton was considered something of a genius. It is quite possible that they were able to modify and fly the Collaroy off the planet." "What are they going to do about the rest of the crew?" Carter asked. "After much discussion, it's been decided that the bodies will be disinterred and brought home for burial." "How are they going to explain this to the families? We can't exactly tell them about the Stargate," O'Neill pointed out. "The official story will be that the shuttle was recovered after all." Hammond turned to another page. "The problem area is the family of the two missing crew members. Commander Crichton's father was also an astronaut and in the military, so they are working on a security check on him. He will probably be told the truth." Jackson frowned. "Wasn't there something in the paper about Crichton trying to prove his son wasn't dead? That he got private financing to do his own space launches to try to recreate what happened?" "That's right," Hammond said. "However, his financial backers have apparently backed out." "And the other one?" Teal'c asked. "What will his family be told?" "That's the difficult one. Ryan has no family, but they can't just ignore him. Someone will question why he wasn't recovered - even if it's just reporters. The same is true for Crichton. Therefore, there will be a closed casket funeral for both of them." "And if Crichton's father isn't cleared to know about the Stargate project, he won't know the casket is empty," O'Neill cynically stated. Hammond didn't like the idea either. "Sometimes it's necessary to do... unpleasant things in the name of national security. Let's just hope that Jack Crichton does pass his security clearance. I'll keep you informed." Recognizing the end of the meeting, the SG-1 team stood up and left the room. ***** When Jack Crichton opened his front door in response to the doorbell, he didn't expect to find a member of the military standing on his doorstep. "Colonel Crichton, I'm General George Hammond. May I come in?" Crichton stepped back, and motioned the other man into his house. He led the way to the living room. "How can I help you, General?" "There's no easy way to say this. I have information that leads us to believe that your son may still be alive." Crichton practically collapsed into the chair behind him. Just when he'd practically been forced to give up his search, this happened! "What kind of information?" General Hammond sat down on the couch, and launched into his tale. When he was done, Jack Crichton just stared at General Hammond in disbelief. "I find this so hard to believe - that you've been exploring alien worlds using wormholes for years without anyone knowing about it. Especially since we've spent the last three years trying to create a wormhole to do the very same thing." He shook his head slowly. "And it's even harder to believe that you would end up on the very planet where the crew of the Collaroy are buried." "Except for your son and Richard Ryan. Somehow, they must have survived." "What is the military doing to find John and Richie?" Jack demanded. "We've contacted our allies to be on the lookout for the shuttle, but that's about all we can do. It's a big universe out there, and we don't have the technical expertise to go searching for them. However, we've set up a monitoring post on the planet in case they should come back there. If they do, we'll be able to bring them home." "How many people are going to be told about this?" "You are the only one. For obvious reasons, we can't let the Stargate program become public. It was only your security clearance that allowed us to tell you the truth. In a few days, the other families of the shuttle crew will be told that the shuttle was finally recovered, and the bodies will be turned over to them for burial. Due to the length of time since their death, all the funerals will need to have closed caskets. We would like you to hold a similar funeral for your son. Without that, the press will eat you alive wanting to know why your son's body wasn't recovered." "They'll eat us alive anyway," Crichton cynically said. "After the shuttle disappeared, I couldn't even walk out of my house without being practically attacked." General Hammond nodded. "It's an unfortunate truth. However, we will do everything in our power to ensure the funerals of these brave souls are not overrun by reporters." Crichton sighed. "I just hate the thought of lying to John's friends - letting them think he's dead when he isn't." "We don't know if he's alive or not," Hammond pointed out. "All we know is that he's not buried with the rest of the crew." Crichton refused to let go of his hope. He truly believed his son was still alive, and was trying to get home somehow. And Ryan was right there helping him out. "What about Ryan's friends? Duncan MacLeod was practically a father to Ryan. He should be told the truth, too." "I'm afraid that won't happen. We did try to get security clearance for him, once we found out how close he was to Ryan, but there were some discrepancies in his background check that made it impossible. He'll be told that Ryan died along with the rest." Crichton didn't like that at all. He'd gotten to like and respect Duncan MacLeod in the last three years. He hadn't been able to blame the man for pulling his financial backing after six failures. Nor would he regret letting John's best friend, D.K., believe that John was dead. It was time for D.K. to move on with his life. "I don't like it or agree with it, but I'll keep quiet," he promised. ***** It took just seconds for Duncan to pick the lock of the morgue. Connor followed him inside, clicking on a flashlight as soon as the door was closed behind them. It had been less than twenty-four hours since they'd been notified that the bodies from the Collaroy had been retrieved. Tomorrow the bodies of all the crewmembers were to be sent to funeral homes across the country for burial. "I can't believe Richie hasn't come back to life yet," Duncan said as they searched for information on which morgue drawer held his friend's body. "Knowing Ryan's timing, he'd probably do it right in the middle of the funeral. Wouldn't that shake everyone up?" Connor grinned at his clansman. "Don't even think about it!" Duncan almost groaned. They finally found the drawer with Ryan's name on it. Duncan wasted no time opening it, and pulling out the slide. He quickly unzipped the body bag, but instead of a body, he found another bag that was the approximate weight of Richie. "Maybe he came back already, and got out," Connor suggested. "I don't know. Where would he have found this bag? Why wouldn't he have just left? Something's wrong here. Let's find Crichton's." Connor moved down the row. "Here it is." He opened the drawer. Once again, there was no body. They quickly checked the rest of the crewmembers. In all cases, a badly decomposed body was found. "What is going on?" Connor demanded. "Was Crichton a pre-Immortal?" "I don't know - I never met him. Richie never indicated he was. And Jack Crichton has never said anything to make me think that John was adopted. I think we need to go talk to Crichton." ***** "You knew, didn't you?" Duncan asked, grabbing hold of Jack Crichton's shirt to pull him closer. "You knew their bodies weren't going to be there!" Jack Crichton struggled to free himself, then gave a sigh of relief as Connor pulled Duncan back. He looked at the two very angry MacLeods, and tried to figure out what was he going to do. "You're right," he finally admitted. "I knew. I can't tell you anything more than that. It's a national security issue." "Are they still alive? Are they being held somewhere to be studied by the military?" Duncan demanded. "I'm not going to stand by and let them torture Richie while they try to figure out why he's still alive." "What? Why would the military torture Richie?" Jack couldn't believe these two men would think that he would condone that. "And what about your son? Are they holding him, too? Maybe the military is using him to buy your silence. Are you part of the cover-up?" "Calm down, Duncan," Connor warned his clansman when he reached for Jack Crichton again. "This isn't getting us anywhere." "The military doesn't have them - at least I'm pretty certain they don't. The story they told me was too wild to believe they were trying to cover up something, but I can't explain any further. What I don't understand is why you searched the morgue. What did you expect to find?" Duncan and Connor exchanged glances. "We didn't buy the story about them finding the space shuttle," Connor explained quietly. "They made too big of an issue over the closed caskets, and the fact that the bodies would be prepared for burial by a military morgue. It sounded like they were covering up something." "And we were right," Duncan added. "But not in the way you think. I truly believe what I've been told, but I still can't tell you everything I know. Let's just say there's proof that there are other planets out there that will support human life. Don't ask me for any more information." He could tell by the looks on their faces that they weren't happy. "I will do everything I can to keep you informed. I don't know how I'll do it, but I'll get you in on this," Jack vowed. "Even if I have to blackmail people to do it." "Thank you," Duncan said. "We'll get our boys home. I know we will." He reached out his hand, palm down. Connor quickly placed his on top, then Jack followed suit. "Together," Crichton said. ***** It took almost six months before Duncan was cleared to know about the Stargate project. He and Connor had discussed it, and decided it would be better to concentrate on getting one of them involved at a time. Jack Crichton had pressured old friends who were high in the military and in politics. What he didn't know was that Joe Dawson had also applied pressure as well. The Watcher organization had the means to pull strings in high places. Jack Crichton had also been busy, even though he hadn't been able to tell Duncan what he was doing. One month after receiving his clearance, the Scot found himself standing on an alien planet, along with Crichton, and the SG-1 team. Colonel O'Neill led them to the area where the graves had been found. The scene had totally changed from that day. Several buildings had been erected, and technicians were busy working on a radio transmitter. "Welcome to your home away from home," O'Neill said. "No phone, no pool, no pets, but it's the best place in town." "I'm sure it will be fine," Duncan replied, heading for the transmitter. "This is the most powerful transmitter ever built on earth," Carter explained as they reached it. "It will be set up to continuously transmit a message on the standard IASA frequency. Hopefully, it will be heard by Ryan or Crichton, and they'll return here." "And we'll be waiting for them," Jack Crichton promised. "You won't have to wait alone," O'Neill explained. "There is a full archaeological dig going on here, as well. They'll be sharing your quarters here. Colonel Sandborn will be in charge. If you need anything, just ask him." He paused for a moment, then said, "I hope this works." "So do we," Jack Crichton replied for himself and MacLeod. Hope was all they had right now. To be continued... Okay... don't expect the Stargate people to keep showing up. I just needed the Stargate to get other characters out into the Farscape universe. As for Richie and John, well, they're busy getting into trouble... Their story will be next.