If Amazon won't do it...

Hi Alex,

Yeah, the weekend is here. The dust is continuing to settle over here, which is finally giving me some time to think. So the plans that were brewing before are now crystalizing into something solid. And without further ado, moving on to....

 

 Stargate Fan Fiction (Nova Roma)

I figure most of the people reading this already know, but for any newbies.....Before the Amazon-MGM deal, I wrote a lot of Stargate fan fiction. My stories were a continuation that finished the story of Stargate: Universe.  

 

After that tale was told, I introduced a new enemy that threatened both the Milky Way and the Pegasus galaxy. (Making life miserable for the SGC and the Atlantis expedition). Meanwhile, the Goa'uld had packed up and moved to a new galaxy, where an Earth outpost led by Colonel Telford had landed the job of stopping their evil plans...

 

That was the story I was planning to tell when the Amazon-MGM came through. I figured that this meant that a new canon TV/Streaming show would soon appear on our screens. (Wiping all of my stories from existence.) So I pulled the plug and threw away my notes-slash plans. But it's been ages and we've heard nothing, zip, zilch ! 

So, I figure....well, if Amazon won't do it, I will.....sure, it won't be canon. But it'll be fun. (And as a bonus, it'll keep my Twitter account from getting too dusty.) There is on minor hiccup. Like I said, I threw out my notes. So I'll have to do some homework before I get back to it. In the meantime, the has come to move on to...

Professional Writing

 

My professional writing has been stuck behind an old-fashioned writer's block. Fortunately, I had already written a large chunk of my next project before I ran into it. And I write my first draft the old fashioned way, with pen and paper. So I have plenty of typing to do, which will hopefully give me the run-up I need to break through the block and get back into the zone.

And that's all I have for today,

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

Bits and Pieces Vol. 9

Hello Alex,

How are things going on your end ? Things have been wonderfully average here. It is easy to complain about the average-ness of your life, but I am cherishing it right now. No dramas, no major problems and no war. How fragile things are in life. Moving on to...

Robservations

I used to write-in to Robert Meyer Burnett and his Robservations show (on YouTube). But I have decided to stop. Mr. Burnett made some changes that made it impossible for me to watch his shows life. Which turned a fun activity into a chore. (Partially because it locked me out of the chat.) It also ruined the Discord chat for me. So I left and wrote Mr. Burnett a letter saying that I was out. Speaking of writing...

Rewriting

I finished the corrections on Chess Games in Cairo. The good news is that they take as didn't long as I expected. The bad news is that they covered only a third of the novel. So now I'm trying to get my editor to give me notes on the rest of it. (I don't have an official editor, just a friend who did me a favor. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll have time to read the rest.)

MGM/Amazon Deal

Meanwhile, it turned out that my decision to stop writing Stargate fan-fiction was indeed well-timed. The MGM/Amazon deal was approved by the EU this week and the Federal Trade Commission led the deadline for acting action lapse. The thing is.....they were missing a member. 

This is because his appointment is deadlocked in some committee. So they didn't really have a choice. For once, bureaucracy and political infighting actually worked in favor of a fandom. So I am not complaining. Now all the fans - including yours truly - have to do, is poke Amazon into making new Stargate. 

And that's all I have for today,

Best Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

Bits and Pieces Vol. 8

Hello Alex,

It's been a while since I've written a letter. February has been short, but also stormy. And that has been in more ways then one. The Netherlands was hit by three storms in the early days of the month. Fortunately, my apartment came through in one piece. But the current "storm" unfolding in the Ukraine is far worse and darker. Which brings me to...

My Day Job

I normally don't bore people with my day job. I pay the rent and other bills with euros earned at Cycloon Post. In the morning, I push paper and my afternoon is spent doing work with the sorting team. First I do set-up and then I pitch in. Anyway, we stopped sending packages to Russia and Ukraine this week. And something tells me that this is just the start of the war leaking in...

Fan Fiction and other writing

Tomorrow, I'll start the Chess Games in Cairo rewrite. Today, I'm going to enjoy some down time playing Mass Effect 3. I'm almost done, so I'm hoping that I should be able to finish it today. 

On the fan fiction front, I have finished Stargate: Dark Empire and replaced it by Space: 2029 - Earthbound. 

But with the rewrite taking up most on my time, this new project will be on the back burner.

Next Letter

And that's all I have for now. I do have some things in the incubator in the back of my mind. They're not ready to discuss yet. But with a bit of luck, it won't be another month before my next letter/entry is written.

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

More Stormy Weather for Trek

Hello Alex, 

A while back, I told you how Star Trek was in major trouble. Guess what, things are not getting better. So, what has been happening on that front ? Well, here is what I can tell you...

Halo Show

 

The Halo show has begun putting out trailers and if the show is half as good as the trailer(s), the Star Trek: Discovery is in major trouble. Because Halo is SO going to bury Disco when it comes to ratings and reviews. Speaking of trouble....

Quantum Leap

Peacock is not doing well, so NBC needs a big show. And maybe, just maybe that is why they gave approval for a Quantum Leap reboot. Right now, they have only opened the door for a pilot. But if it gets an season order, that's another competitor for Star Trek. Meanwhile, over at the BBC...

Doctor Who

There is an odd rumor going around that David Tennant - aka, the 10th doctor - is going to come back and become the 14th doctor after Jodie Whitaker leaves. I don't think it's going to happen, but it's the first time in ages that Dr. Who has had a positive buzz going on. Which proves that it can still happen. And if Russell T. Davis plays his cards right, Doctor Who is going to be a serious threat to Trek.

The CW/Discovery+

Circling back to streaming services not doing well, this includes the CW and Discovery+. Discovery+ is Warner and the CW is half Warner-and half CBS. This seems like a problem for the Babylon 5 reboot, but it might not be as bad as you think. Because the B5 reboot is still in development. 

And because Warner owns the rights, there is nothing to keep them from selling their shares in the CW and then simply putting B5 on HBO Max instead. (As their new Science Fiction heavy hitter.) They could even use the money from selling the shares to pay for Babylon 5 (and its start-up costs).

Also, if I was pushing the buttons at Warner, I would fold Discovery+ into HBO Max to fatten up its catalogue of shows and take everything successful from the CW, while cancelling Naomi and Batwoman. (Which are both suffering horrible ratings and reviews.) 

All in all, with the right manager behind the driving wheel, Babylon 5 is far from out of the picture. What is out of the picture, is....

Star Trek: Picard

After Season 3, Picard is done. They make it sound like this was the plan all along, but I'm not buying it. You see, a while back, Netflix sued Secret Hideout for the right to send them packing after Discovery Season 3. They won the lawsuit and did just that. 

So CBS had no other choice but to buyback the right to Discovery and move it to Paramount+ But after they did so, they tried to spin it as if it was part of their plans for Paramount+ But it wasn't. They HAD to do that. 

Hence, I don't buy this "It was always planned" bit for a second. I think Amazon Prime followed Netflix's example and send them packing. I think they are replacing Trek by either Mass Effect, (new) Stargate or both (at the same time).

And that's where my update ends.

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

New Chapters....

 ...Ready to Go

Yeah ! So....it took several months, but I've finally finished my update to Stargate: Dark Empire. 

Six months after the return of the Destiny Expedition, Stargate Command finds itself facing a new enemy...

And its a whopper. Five chapters, good for over ten-thousands words. As for why it took so long...well, I've been suffering from dry spell. That, and my computer game spree. Fortunately, now it's over. 

And that's all for today,

Ruben A. Hilbers

Dark Empire (Update)

Hello World,

Don't worry, I am not planning to take over the world. Way too much paperwork. Instead, I've update my Stargate fan-fiction story with FIVE new chapters. Here's the link:

Dark Empire

And that is where the good news end. At least for the Stargate fans. I'd love to continue writing more Dark Empire, but I need to focus on getting Chess Games in Cairo published. I also need to do a serious Public Relations push. Which I will admit, I totally suck at. It's the reason why I have only sold copies of my earlier books to family members so far. On the bright side, I do have a few ideas. 

But that's for another day and another post. For today, I'm outta here. Have a nice day.

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers

Dusting this puppy off....

 ...after several months of inactivity

 To begin with.....

 

TRUMP

 

Sanity and loyalty have prevailed in the US. Donald Trump can deny it until he's blue in the face, but he LOST the election and that is that. He's been losing one legal case after the other, simply because all this fraud claim are bogus. 

And that is probably just the beginning of his (legal) troubles. Before he was elected, Trump was at the receiving end of a ton of accusations. Soon, he will no longer have the White House to shield him from these and he will have to deal with them. Sucks to be him. Anyhoo, moving on to....

STARGATE UNIVERSE AND SPACE: 2029

My fan fiction continuation of Stargate Universe is done. And nope....I am not saying what the signal hidden in Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation means. You'll just have to go and read it on Fanfiction.net. As for what is now swallowing up my time....

 

Space 2029 is a reimaging of Space: 1999. I'm not going to redo the whole show, just the pilot - Breakaway - and the first regular episode - Earthbound - with each being an entry/story in the Fanfiction.net database. 

As an experiment, I'm began writing Breakaway in a different format as usual. Instead of using the Play-by E-Mail (RPG) format that I usually use, it is written as a television script. Which IMHO is REALLY  annoying. So for Earthbound, I am going to back to the PbEM format. So, why finish Breakaway in the television format ? Because I'm seriously considering sending it...somewhere, to somebody....

 

(I haven't figured out where/to who that would be, so stay tuned for that....) I figure that the worst (and most likely) thing that could/will happen, is that it ends in somebody's paper shredder. Finally, there is....

Space 2029 Casting

Scarlett Johansson as Commander Joan Koenig

Why a female Commander Koenig ? Simple, I heard behind the scenes stories that Martin Landau was an enormous pain-in-the ass during the making of Space: 1999. The dude had a HUGE EGO. So I was looking for somebody who was the polar opposite of that. And while I was brewing up the idea of Space: 2029 I saw an interview with Scarlett Johansson. Which made me think....yep, that's the kind of actress this project needs.

George Clooney as Captain Alan Carter

Ian McKellen as Doctor Victor Bergman

Hello, we're talking George Clooney and Ian McKellen here. Enough said. And finally....

Sean Bean as Commissioner Simmons

Have a character that you are going kill off ? Maybe in some gruesome fashion ? At or near the start of the series ? Cast Sean Bean. Who else are you going to cast ? And....

 

...That's all I have for now,

Ruben Hilbers

Still alive and kicking

Hello World,

Let's get this show on the road...

Corona Virus

To begin with, I am very happy to report that so far, I have not gotten sick. Knocks on wood. And my day job is still going strong. Which has helped me keep sane in these crazy times. And the less said about it, the better. So, moving on to....

Chess Games in Cairo

My third novel was stuck for some time. But recently, I was able to get things moving again. And today, I was able to type a large chunk of it. Call me old-fashioned, but I write my story on paper first and then I type it into my computer. I've also create a list of scenes that I want to write next, so with a bit of luck - crosses fingers - I should be able to write the next chunk as well. Speaking of writing, I am also working on....

Stargate Universe

Season Five has begun. I have posted Chapter 1 through 5 a while back. And I'm working on the next big chunk of the story to publish. Which will be Chapters 6 through 10. After that, I intend to go back to publishing one chapter at a time. Until I reach Chapter 15, which will be the mid-season cliffhanger.

I've also figured out what the signal means, but I am not saying. You'll just have to read my fan-fiction to discover the conclusion of Destiny's adventures.

And that's all I have for today.
Stay safe,

Ruben A. Hilbers

Removing dust....

....And Doing Research

Novels

So, my novel has not been going forward for a while. Until now, the only research material I've had was a map of Cairo. So on Monday I went to a local bookstore and got a travel guide on Egypt with a big chapter on Cairo.

And today I dusted off my YouTube account and began gathering documentaries on Cairo. Which also gave me an excuse to upgrade my 'about' page on the site. So I did. Anyhoo, moving on to....

Stargate Nova Roma (Stargate Universe Continuation)

Last week, I ran a poll on Twitter. Stargate Universe was originally meant to be five seasons long. And I have written both Season Three and Season Four. So I asked if I should stick to the original plan or not. Only four people voted, but three of them voted for sticking with the original plan. Hence, sticking with the original plan it is.

And that raised the question....how to wrap things up in one season ? Fortunately, I had some ideas floating around. And today, I anchored all of those on paper. So I am now ready to get to work on write Chapter One of Season Five.

And that's all for today.

Regards,

Ruben Hilbers

New Year, New Post....

And hopefully a fresh batch of inspiration

Hello World,

To begin with....Happy New Year !

Novel

My novel inspiration has been in the pits for the last quarter of 2019, but I did manage to write a few pages. Which I added to the manuscript today. (I know that it's old-fashioned, but I prefer to write pen and paper first and then turn that into a Word file.) So there is forward motion. Not much, but I'll take what I can get. What has been going forward at warp speed, however is....

Stargate Nova Roma (Universe Continuation)

November and December have been really busy of this front. Between the two of them, I have written Chapters 21 through 30. This means that Stargate Universe Season 4 is now complete. So the plan is for Stargate to go on hiatus and see if I can get my novel going again. Speaking of lack of inspiration...

Star Trek Pathfinder

....has not been going that fast as well either. Hopefully, things will pick up soon.

And that's all, folks,

Ruben A. Hilbers

Still kicking

Hello World,

So, it's been ages since I've written anything on my blog. Things have been kind of slow and there has not been much to tell. So, scraping the bottom of the barrel...

Novels

Because of people being on vacation, trying to promote my novels in August - yeah, the irony wasn't lost on me - and September was going nowhere fast. Fortunately, things have been slowly been getting back into motion now. I've send paperback copies out to some papers and organization to fish for reviews. It's a long shot, but sometimes that's all you've got.

As for writing, my (novel) inspiration decided that it wanted a vacation of its own. So that came to a screeched halt. But now it's slowly starting to flex its muscles again. And it was not all bad....

Stargate and Star Trek

...because when the one inspiration went for some sun, the other one grabbed the wheel. Star Trek Pathfinder has been going strong, as has Stargate Universe Season Four. The last time we saw Spera and her intrepid crew, I was at Chapter 11. Now, Chapter 18 is up on Fanfiction.net and Chapter 19 and 20 are in the works.

And that's all folks,

Ruben Hilbers

Stargates and sales

Hello world,

So to begin with, the sales bit of the title. Alas, said sales have not been all that impressive. I sold some copies, but I am still stuck in the single-digit segment of the count. On the bright side, things have been happening on the Stargate side of the equation....

Stargate Nova Roma

Back in 2016, I had finished my Battlestar Xanthi fan-fiction and I was not very happy with the fact that MGM studios was not doing anything with Stargate franchise. So, just for fun, I started writing my own Stargate Universe continuation. I figured that my chances of getting noticed if I posted it on Fanfiction.net were zero (or less), so I created a blog called 128 to post it on.

The plan was to write other fan-fiction and thus create my own collection. But because other projects swallowed all of my free time, the other fan-fiction never crystallized. And lets been honest, this blog is currently still a dark, forgotten corner of the internet. And 128 is even darker and more forgotten.

So, I had zero readers. I even forgot about the story, for like....all of 2018 and a chunk of 2017. This year, however, has seen Stargate Nova Roma moving ahead again.

Moving to Fanfiction,net

Since I had zero readers, I figured that there was nowhere to go, except up. So I published Stargate Nova Roma on Fanfiction.net. I combined Season One and Season Two of Stargate Nova Roma to become Stargate Universe Season Three. The plan is for Season Three of Nova Roma to become the first half of Stargate Universe Season Four.

And, if I make that far, Season Four of Nova Roma to become the rear half. After that ?....euhm....let's just get there first. Finally, I want to discuss....

Removing some dust (and sneaky promotion)

When I was checking the traffic numbers on my Fanfiction.net page, I realized that my profile page was three years old, which is Ancient (see what I did there ?😛) by internet standards. So I rewrote said page.

And it was not the only thing that was getting dusty. My signature on the Gateworld Forums was the next to get a make-over. I update it with links to my Stargate story at Fanfiction.net and sneaked in some links to promote my book.

That done, all I needed was to update my blog and then to Twitter about it.

And that is all I wrote,

Ruben Hilbers

Developments / Onwikkelingen

Hallo Lezers,

Het is enkele dagen geleden dat mijn twee boeken gepubliceerd zijn. In de dagen daarna ben ik druk bezig geweest met het promoten van mijn boeken. Als deel van deze onderneming heb ik enkele persberichten naar lokale (Nederlandse) kranten gestuurd. Hopelijk leidt dit er toe dat medewerkers van deze kranten deze site bezoeken.

Daarom leek het mij gepast een stukje Nederlands tekst te schrijven, in plaats van het Engels waarin ik normaal schrijf. Verder heb ik de links gereorganiseerd om ze meer overzichtelijk te maken.

Ten slotte wilde ik melden dat hoofdstuk 11 van Stargate Nova Roma nu on-line te lezen is. Stargate Nova Roma is een vervolg van Stargate Universe. (Stargate Universe is een serie gemaakt door MGM, over een groep mensen die per ongeluk stranden op Destiny, een buitenaards schip)

Een fijne dag gewenst,

Ruben A. Hilbers

-------

Hello World,

It has been a couple of days since the publication of A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer, along with Buried Secrets. In those days, I have been busy promoting the novels. This included sending a press release to several local newspapers.

If everything goes as planned, this will lead to employees of those newspapers visiting this site. Hence, the piece of dutch text above.

Another thing I did as part of this campaign was to reorganize the links on this blog. Hopefully, this makes them look more professional and makes them easier to use.

And finally, Chapter Eleven of Stargate Nova Roma (of season 2) is up and available. I changed the link name from 128 to Stargate Universe, because I expect it will be a while before the blog where I post it will contain other fan fiction stories.

And that is all I have for today,

Ruben A. Hilbers

Getting going again

Hello world,

So....it's been a while since I've written anything for my blog. Between a period that I wasn't feeling so hot and a much needed vacation to the beautiful island of Rhodes, several weeks have passed. But now,  I'm back. So, getting down to business...

Novels

Both A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer and Buried Secrets are ready to go. And the chances of publication in July are looking good. The only thing that still needs to be done, is planning the promotional campaign. I only have a small amount of money to work with, so I need to figure out how to get the most bang for my buck.

Star Trek: Pathfinder

The Pathfinder relaunch is now in full swing. The amount of e-mails has gone up to a healthy number, and we've gotten a new member. Of course, more is better. So, if love Star Trek, and you're looking for a Play-by-E-mail RPG see:  https://www.usspathinder.com/

Stargate Nova Roma

Chapter 9 and 10 of Stargate Nova Roma / Stargate Universe Season 3.5 are now available:

As tension between Earth and the Lucian Alliance come to a head, the fates of both sides and the Milky Way Galaxy as a whole will be changed forever....

That's all for today,

Edmond Dantes

Shameless Self-Promotion

Hello world,

So....

It's been ages, but I've been working on reviving my Stargate fan-fiction. I also wanted to dust off my NCIS fan story...but my muse is only in the mood for Stargate, so that is not happening. Instead, I'm going to start work on Chapter 2.5. It (probably) won't be done today, but I'll take what I can get.

Also, the theme was getting a bit dusty, so I changed it. On top of that, I need to take a closer look at my 128 Blog and see if I can turn it into more of proper website. Finally, a warning, my fan fiction is not short. Season 1 - which is actually Season 3.0 of Universe - comes in at 17 Chapters and just over 36,000 words. Season 2 - aka Universe 3.5 - is now at 4 chapters and 7,000-ish words.

Anyhoo, back to work....

Edmond Dantes

Managing Expectations

Hi world,

I rarely write two blog entries on a day, but I felt that - for the sake of clarity - I needed to write a short addendum. Here goes...

Like I said, I won't be spending time on the manuscript this week. The thing I forgot to add, is that - even if I did - my novels would not be published right away. Why not ? Well, because I would need time to design - for lack of a better term - the commercial campaign.

I have nailed down some things - such as writing an announcement on this blog and using my LinkedIn page and twitter account to send word out - but there is still plenty for me to figure out.

For instance, this blog has zero readers. So writing an announcement is nice, but rather useless. Long story short, there are still indeed issues for me to fix.

(And in case anybody wonders why I keep writing this blog, if nobody reads it anyway. Well, I like doing it. And it keeps my write muscles practiced when the Pathfinder is slow going. And if I do - somehow - manage to rope in readers later, it can't hurt to have a back catalogue for people to read between new entries.)

Edmond Dantes

Met RDA for real

Hi all,

I met Richard Dean Anderson for real today. Well, met is a big word. I bought a ticket and took a photo with him at Dutch Comic Con (in Utrecht). I also pulled a bit of a stunt and gave him my business card and told him that I had ten page plan for season three of Stargate Universe. Which I do.

Of course, I know that Mister Anderson was simply being polite when he took my card, so my expectation are....zip, zero, zilch. But RDA is a really nice guy. Also....earlier in the day, he did a Q and A. It was fun. 👍

The Comic Con was great as well. Got some great stuff.  Oops....almost forgot, what about the actual photo ? Well, it turned out horrible. Mister Anderson is fine. But yours truly was totally starstruck. I look like a dear in headlights, with a face full of Botox.

Anyway,

That's all

Edmond Dantes

Stargate: Time to make a move....

...and go old school ?

Hello World,

So, it's been a while. Which is because I've been enjoying a much needed vacation on the lovely island of Crete. Good weather, lovely nature and wonderful people. Alas, that is now all over and the time has come to get the gears of work going again. Including my blog. So here goes...

Stargate

One of the things I have been pondering is the Stargate (Franchise) and it's future. In case you haven't read my previous posts: It's looking pretty bleak. And how MGM has been interacting with the fan base. It hasn't. And - of course - what the fans have done to try to get MGM to make a statement...ANY statement about said future.

And the simple fact is that the fans have tried everything. Well....except for a letter writing campaign. But...isn't that really old fashioned ? I mean, even Joseph Mallozzi said that ' the time of letter writing campaigns has past'. The thing is......that is probably true. But what is there to lose ? Some stamps ? Some paper ? Things can't really get worse, can they ? So...

Le Plan

Write a letter, write a postcard, write on a napkin....who cares ? Just tell MGM you like Stargate and want more. And send it to:

Mark Burnett
MGM Studios Inc.
245 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
United States of America

MGM and Stargate

Hello World,

So the dust has settled and.....as expected....my Pitch for SGU 2.0 has (come and) gone completely ignored. While I could throw a fit about this, doing so would not do anybody any good. I will, however, point out that this is part of a pattern. (I did this in the letter that came with my pitch, but I see no reason not to do so again.)

For over the years (since the end of SGU), there was been many attempts to bring back Stargate. Petitions, twitterstorms and even a kickstarter campaign. All to no avail. And all (completely) ignored by MGM.

So....what has MGM been doing with Stargate ? The answer is....not much. There was, of course, the disastrous reboot movie plan. Well, disastrous for the studio. I suspect that many a Gater secretly celebrated when the proposed trilogy collapsed following the train wreck that was ID4: Regurgitated Plot. Since then, MGM has been trying to keep the fans pleased by occasionally throwing them a bone...

The bad result: The Back to Destiny comics.  The good result: Stargate Origins.

Alas, this does not spell anything good for the future of Stargate Origins. Because the silence on the Stargate front makes it feel like SGO was nothing more then a stunt. But this is simply my opinion. And I right or wrong ? Decide for yourself.

Edmond Dantes

Technobabble that (might) prove(s) Spera should exist in SGU....

.....because IMHO otherwise there's not only a whopping inconsistency, but the whole Ancient Destiny Project would be useless rubbish.

Basic Timeline

1)       Destiny launches
2)       Atlantis leaves for the Pegasus Galaxy
3)       Atlantis abandoned
4)       Goa’uld arrive
5)       Antarctic Gate Buried
6)       Ra places Egyptian Gate
7)       Uprising (Egyptian Gate Buried, Earth abandoned by Goa’uld)
8)       Stargate Program

One:  Point of Origin Paradox

Every Stargate in the network has a unique Point of Origin symbol. In the episode Solitudes (SG-1, season 1, episode 18) where the Antarctic Gate is discovered, not only is this clearly visible, it is a necessary plot point. If the Antarctic Gate had the same Point of Origin as the Egyptian One, Samantha Carter and Colonel O’Neill would have realized that they were on Earth. Further underlining this argument is the fact that in the episode Small Victories (SG-1, season 4, episode 1) it takes a week to install the Antarctic Gate and get it operational. While the reason for this is never specified – being referred to as ‘technical problems’ – it is likely that the difference in Point of Origin was the source of these problems.

(My reasoning for this is as follows: In the lore of the show, all the Stargates within the Milky Way galaxy are identical, with the Point of Origin being the only difference between individual gates. Furthermore, the Air Force technicians whom originally installed the Egyptian Stargate would have made detailed notes, providing the team installing the Antarctic Gate with a paint-by-numbers. If the team follows the notes, the Gate should have been plug-and-play. Unless the different Point-of-Origin gums up the works…)

This, however, creates a paradox. In the episodes Rising (Atlantis, season 1, episode 1) and Air (Universe, season 1, episode 1) it is established that both Atlantis and Destiny have long-range dialing locks. These prevent long-range dialing of both locations from any other planet then Earth. But both were launched millions of years before the Antarctic Gate was buried, so both should be programmed to only accept a Gate address ending with the Antarctic Gate’s Point-of-Origin symbol. Yet, both locations were successfully dialed.

Resolution of the Paradox: To compensate for Stellar Drift and keep the Stargate addresses up-to-date, the Ancients (the alien race whom created these devices)  installed the Correlative Updates System. (SG-1, Avenger 2.0, season 7, episode 9) However, without an additional power source, a Stargate can only dial locations within its home galaxy. These updates are therefore limited to each galaxy. However, if the Ancients were able to connect both Destiny and Atlantis to the Correlative Updates System for the Milky Way Galaxy, the paradox is resolved. This raises the question…

How does the signal get from the Milky Way to both locations ? Inside the galaxy (or galaxies), the Stargate network itself can serve as relays. The major issue is crossing the voids between galaxies. (This especially true in the case of Destiny, since the subspace transceiver that comes with their model of Stargate is extremely short range in universal terms.)

Two: The Ancients were planning to man Destiny

In the episode Air, Doctor Nicholas Rush says that the Ancients were never aboard Destiny. However, he also says that the Ancients were planning to arrive once the ship was far enough out. This, however, leaves us with a simple problem. How would the Ancients know when to dial to Destiny ? This statement only makes sense if the Ancient were tracking the ship’s progress.

And the simplest way to do that, is to have Destiny transmit its location (and possibly other information) back to Earth (or possibly Atlantis). Possible further evidence to support this is provided in same episode, when it is established that the Pegasus Galaxy is amongst the galaxies previously visited by Destiny.

While this alone may not seemed significant, this changes when combined with information from the episode Rising. In the scene where Dr. Beckett uses the holographic projection room, the history of Atlantis is explained. The female holographic projection explains that the Ancients arrived in the Pegasus Galaxy to seed life in a galaxy that appeared to have none. And that raises the question…how did the Ancients know that the Pegasus Galaxy was lifeless ? It seems very impractical that they would select a random galaxy, and then spend years surveying it - conclude that the galaxy was lifeless – and only then get to work seeding the galaxy. What if the galaxy turned out to be unsuitable ? This seems to me like a waste of time and resources.

In my opinion, a much practical and realistic solution would be that the Ancients put together a set of parameters for their target. They then accessed the Destiny telemetry they had received and selected the galaxy that matched the parameter the best. And thus, they selected the Pegasus Galaxy. However, this line of thinking once again requires that the Ancients have the telemetry. And thus, communication between Destiny and Earth.

Finally, we musk ask one simple question. How does Destiny know to slam on the brakes (aka drop out of FTL) when somebody dials in ? The easiest solution is that she receives some kind of signal from the Gate network telling her to do so. (But more about that later.)

Three:  The Ancients and Safety

From Atlantis – both the show as a whole and the city-ship itself (as described within the lore) – we know that the Ancients designed their technology with considerable safeties and redundancies. Yet, here we have the Ancients’ most important project, and the key piece of technology – namely Destiny itself – has no redundancy ?

This seriousness of this design flaw in the project is underscored by a scene between Nicholas Rush and Chloe Armstrong in the Stargate Universe finale Gauntlet. Chloe points out to Rush that if Destiny is destroyed by the berserker drones, the whole project will have been for nothing.

To summarize, not only are we talking about a major design flaw in the Destiny Project, this is a plot point that is completely against the character of the Ancients as previously established within the lore.

The Ninth Chevron (aka one last piece of technobabble).

My proposal is to reveal in this season that there is – technically – no such thing as a nine chevron address. In order to dial Destiny, you have to feed the power to Gate in a special way (which is what Eli figured out in Air). My idea is that when you combine this input method with the first chevron off the address, it works like a keyboard shortcut in the Gate’s protocols. The Gate (Network) then sends a signal up the chain Spera build, all the way to Destiny.

Destiny then drops out of FTL and transmits her actual location back to dialing Stargate. At the same time, however, she also asks for an eight digit access code. Which is the rest of the address. (Chevron two through nine.) This solves the question of how Destiny knows how to drop of FTL, but leaves the Point-of-Origin Paradox intact. Because when the Gates were switched, the last digit of the access code changed. And it means Eli was still (kind of) right about the Gate address. (In the episode Air, he helps Rush successfully get a nine chevron lock by suggesting that the Gate will only work if they use Earth as the point-of-origin. He even says ‘like a code’. Which it was, just in a different way.)

Edmond Dantes