Stargate Universe: Ascension

Chapter 1

As Eli opened his eyes, there was a bright light shining down that prevented him from seeing what or where he was. There was a lot of talking, but he couldn't hear it as he had trouble focusing on what was going on. As he began to focus, he felt like he was home and back on earth. The sky was blue and the sun was out and beaming into his eyes. He could feel the ground on his back as it felt like he was lying down in the middle of a clean cut field of grass. This caused Eli to be very confused as he little idea of where he was or what was going on.

  "He's coming around!" one voice said.

  "Give him some space, let him adjust." another quickly added.

  "How did he get here?" a third asked.

  "Most likely how we all did." another answered, "How he did it alone without our assistance is amazing."

  "He truly is the wonder boy they said he was."

  "Hey, let's not continue that over here." Eli said as he tried to sit up. He didn't have the energy and lay back down.

  "Lay down," the first voice said to him. "Give yourself a chance to adjust and set with your new surroundings."

  "Did it work?" Eli asked as again tried to sit up. With some help from the people around him, he was successful this time. He looked down and realized that his clothes were gone and was replaced by a robe like gown that was white as snow. "What happened to my clothes?" He paused for a moment when something else dawned on him. "I'm not on Destiny anymore, am I?"

"No son." an older looking man said from behind. "You've moved way beyond that."

Eli rubbed his eyes for a moment. "You mean it worked? I actually managed to ascend?"

"No one is more shocked than us, Mr. Wallace." someone else said, "You have earned the respect of a lot of us up here. Usually a human being is unable to ascend without our help. The fact that you managed to reach our plain of existence without that help has impressed us greatly."

"So you're not mad I crashed the party?" Eli asked.

"Quite the opposite, Eli." the woman holding him up answered. "We have been watching you and the people on Destiny for some time. The fact that you are here now gives us a chance to speak and gain even more insight to your amazing journey."

"Sure, I can't see why not." Eli said as he started to stand up. It was a struggle as his legs were wobbly, but the other ancients around him were eager to help him up. As Eli made it to his feet, what he saw next really took him by surprise. There was a small village at the bottom of the small hill he was lying on. It looked very primitive with no technology what so ever but given who he was with, it was clear they didn't need such stuff any more. They slowly began to walk down a small path to the village below and after passing through the gates into town, they slowly walked Eli to a small table and sat him down to rest.

"Can we get you something to drink?" the lady helping him asked.

"Please." Eli said eager to have anything. A few moments later, he was given a tall glass of something that looked like lemonade. After tasting it, he was correct in his guess. "Thank you very much."

"You're quite welcome." Another man said from the other side of the table.

After another awkward silence, the people who surrounded the table to watch Eli drink his lemonade soon parted as someone else was arriving to visit him. From how they parted the waves, Eli could tell this might be the person in charge of everything around here. The man who arrived was older than everyone else, and had a robe that suggested authority as did everyone else's reaction as they all bowed and backed away before his presence. The old man stood there and looked down at Eli. "Eli Wallace." The man said as he looked down at him. "I can clearly say it is a surprise to see you here."

"To be honest." Eli replied with a smile. "I'm just as surprised as you are."

"You have done something that less than half a percent of your race is capable of doing. You are the first person from earth to achieve 'ascension' since the arrival of Dr. Jackson some years ago. I sincerely hope that your stay here will not be as eventful as his was." The old man looked down at Eli with a scowl on his face, hoping for the right answer.

Eli looked at him and at the people around staring at him. "I never had the pleasure of meeing Dr. Jackson. What happened when he came up here?"

"He didn't follow the rules." The elder answered. "He interfered with things that we have sworn not to step in with, that being the natural evolution of the galaxies."

"Hey, I'm all about following the rules." Eli said as he held up his hands. "I promise to be a good boy for as long as I'm allowed to hang around."

A warm smile came across the old man's face. "We are grateful to hear that Mr. Wallace. Welcome to our humble village. We too hope your visit here is a long and productive stay."

Upon hearing their leader say that, everyone in audience began to cheer and clap, welcoming Eli to what was his new home among the ascended ancients.