Captain Metcalfe thought about last night with Alex as he walked to the department meeting. Not long after leaving Earth for the last time, they had decided to cohabitate. She moved in with him since his apartment had been bigger and it had interfaces hers did not. A couple of years had passed since that ambitious step. Levi was pleased the relationship had endured the moving in stage with very little conflict. If he were not the captain, they would have moved in long ago. He held out a long time because he was the captain and did not want to make things more difficult for Alex and her relationships with her superiors and coworkers.

As he became closer to the conference room, his thoughts turned to the meeting. Usually, these meetings had reduced to housekeeping topics since leaving Earth. However, the topics today had a more serious flavor. The passengers were getting more restless knowing the sleepers were nearly completed. They were at a point, Levi knew, where things could get a little puckery.

Captain Metcalfe entered the conference room, and everyone stood at attention. "Please, be seated," he instructed. The department heads and a few upper-tier officers took their seats around the large, beautiful oblong table which had been made of real wood. He could have done this as a holo-conference on a secure channel, but it is always better in the flesh. "As you all know, the sleepers are almost finished, and we must start putting people to bed. A discussion at the start of our journey back proposed we could put people into the sleepers as we made them. However, it had been decided we could afford the resources for the new passengers to travel with us while the sleepers were being made. It also took a while to find the space to put half a million sleepers in and get them ready. It was hoped this decision would not come back to bite us."

"After discussing with Sonny off and on over the last couple of years, a phased plan has taken shape. We will start by taking volunteers to go first. This will get us part way. Sonny estimates a quarter to a third will go voluntarily. We will then start a conscription campaign which will progressively turn up the heat to comply with requests for sleepers. Sonny estimates another quarter to a third of their original numbers will go with some hesitation. This leaves a third to half of their numbers electing not to go to the sleepers. Which leaves anywhere from about two to three hundred thousand potential fighters. Sonny has had plenty of time to study every one of the recent members of our little colony and has identified people which could start trouble if there were trouble to start."

"Sonny and I have worked out various contingency plans which can be put into effect as needed. Therefore, I have called the meeting today so we can go over the plans and get everyone on the same page. When the shit hits the fan, I want my crew ready to respond quickly and precisely. The more we bungle this operation, the more lives will be at stake, even the ship itself. Three hundred thousand men can be a real army. In a ship with just a couple of million people in it, it's a huge army. We need to keep perspective when we execute our plans."

"The biggest advantage we will have is Sonny and Alice. They are our eyes and ears of the whole ship. They may not understand just how integrated they are and underestimate what they can do. By themselves, they could put down most of the rebellion. A smart person will see them as a first strike target, and we need to prepare for this. As of this moment, only low-level operations can be made from the newcomers. Sonny."

"Yes, Captain Metcalfe."

"I also want you to run a full diagnostic scan and compare it to a scan before the Earth visit. I want to know of any anomalies."

Sonny responded, "I anticipated your request, and a full scan has been in progress for two days now with no anomalies to report so far Captain."

"Thank you. How long before the diagnostic is complete?"

"Four days, seventeen hours and twelve minutes."

"OK, five days then. Barring any problems with the diagnostic, we will start this campaign in five days. I want to make sure the start of the migration is not the signal to begin a cyber-attack on Alice and Sonny. Anything new in the system now will be suspicious and not likely to succeed."

"They have had plenty of time to develop a cyber-weapon in two years," Sonny said. "However, there is only a small chance someone could do it without my knowledge."

The captain's curiosity piqued. "Is there anyone in that large group which has those skills?"

"There are two," Sonny replied. "Both were lower level coders involved in maintenance and expansion for both myself and Alice back on Earth. Charles Stiles has been a busy fellow since Atlantis had left. He mostly had been traveling from region to region selling his brand of technical service. The Alice minion on Earth explains what he actually does is set a scheme in motion which triggers a meltdown of all their systems at his command. He waited until he had visited most of the governments left on Earth and then he activated his cyber devices. There had been chaos for almost a year. Two Alice minions were lost. It had taken about a year before governments regained the upper hand on Stiles and his smaller army. He had been one of the first to present himself for departure. It is a near certainty he was being hunted down, and this was his only way out."

"The other man, Igoryok Kochetkova, has been Stiles right-hand man. He has principally been responsible for planting much of the cyberware on all those government machines. He is not as clever as Charles Stiles, but he is a good coder. If they have put their heads together for a mutual goal, they could be dangerous. I have been monitoring them. However, if they have imported something from Earth, like what brought those governments to their knees, we will need to be prepared. The real threat is they may make many pieces of the code and will use another program to assemble and execute the weapon at a moment's notice."

Levi whistled, "Yes, that would be bad! Is there any way to detect this kind of activity Sonny?"

"It would be difficult, but not impossible. It would be like reading a random sentence from a book you never read before and trying to identify it. If you come across the right sentence, it could have enough meaning to determine the book's motives. Also, we are talking about a finite number of humans. I will delve into their style of coding and monitor others. If I come across a pattern, I will let you know."

Levi was pleased. "Very good, Sonny. And now we will discuss action plans for various outcomes," the captain turned to his officers. Three hours later, plans had been hashed out, and orders were given. Levi felt more prepared than before. However, he still worried about the potential for a rebellion on his ship.

The fifth day arrived, and the implementation of the plan went into effect. Notices were being sent out to all the newcomers the time had arrived, and they had three days to report to the assigned sleeper station to be tucked in. Alice and Sonny tracked, counted and monitored the whole process. Checking people off one by one. They followed the system like the one utilized in the initial boarding. It took fifteen days to process three hundred, eighty-seven thousand, two hundred, and ninety-two people. This left one hundred, eighty-three thousand, and sixty-five holdouts which needed more convincing according to Sonny. Better than anticipated, but still a big number. Levi was on the bridge when a call from his yeoman indicated a Charles Stiles wished to speak with him at his convenience. Charles Stiles.... Yes, he was one of several men Sonny indicated as coders to worry about. "Tell Mr. Stiles I wish to see him at 1700 hours in the conference room." He wanted to wait a few hours, so he wouldn't look anxious. He was either here to parlay on behalf of the others or to threaten Atlantis with something to back it up

Levi waited for Mr. Stiles to show; his thoughts were interrupted by Sonny. "Captain Metcalfe."

"Yes, Sonny."

"When speaking with Mr. Stiles, you must stay at your seat during the length of the meeting."

"Why? I need to be polite. I need to set a tone."

"It is for your protection. I will have Mr. Stiles's escort seat him at the other end of the table. You can be polite from there."

"As you wish."

"Has it occurred to you, that you are a first strike target also?"

"I can be replaced. You cannot."

Sonny chided. "No time to argue who is more important. He is outside the door now. Stay alert."

At that moment, the escorts used the inner comm implants to notify Captain Metcalfe they were here without the need for speech. "Send him in please," he said. Here we go! He thought. The two security escorts led Stiles through the door and seated him at the other end of the table as Sonny had suggested to them. "Wait outside the door," he silently indicated to the two men.

Most of the information Levi had on him had been before they left Earth. More recent information had been brought to Levi's attention from Sonny and Alice. Stiles looked like any ordinary person. No distinguishing villain features, nor did he look the part of a nerdy coder. Stiles would be fifty-four now and would be starting to show his age. He wore a jumpsuit different from the norm. It was a two-tone diagonal with gold on top and black on the bottom. The most notable thing about it was the red starburst on his left shoulder. Levi wondered about its significance.

"Thank you, Captain, for seeing me so quickly from my request. I confess I expected to be waiting for an audience a lot longer." His voice was strong and full of confidence. He was smiling. Levi never much trusted leaders who smiled. It made him feel they at least thought they had the upper hand. Most likely a poker front.

"No trouble. I found myself with a little free time this afternoon. What can I do for you, Mr. Stiles?"

"Well, I didn't know how much trouble it would be, but I thought you could just surrender the Atlantis to me."

It was Levi's turn to smile, "now I like a man who gets right down to business, but I am not inclined to fulfill your request. I need to be motivated."

Stiles leaned forward, "While it is unlikely you will live, I can guarantee the safety of your crew and sleepers as long as this is a smooth transition."

"How is that supposed to motivate me?" To Sonny he sent, "he mentioned the sleepers. See what is happening."

Sonny reported, "already on it. I have detected small fluctuations in the main power cables. They may be about to sabotage the lines killing over a million sleepers. I have rerouted power to the sleepers. Alice is targeting potential threats. At your command, I suggest executing protocol, Charley."

Levi kept the smile to himself. "I concur and is ironic at the same time!"

Stiles face changed into something like pity. "It's not meant to. I was hoping I could appeal to your altruistic nature. But I see you are like many leaders I have dealt with over the years. They all feel like they're in control while the big dog is in the yard. And they are all quite helpless without them. I have seen it. It is sad really."

Levi pressed for both time and information. "You misunderstand me. What makes you think anyone can walk up to me and ask for the keys to my ship Mr. Stiles? I assume you have something more than words to back up your request, Mr. Stiles?"

"I do, Captain Metcalfe, I do. However, I must be leaving, since I have a lot of work to get done. We are on a schedule, you know."

He slowly stood up and reached into a pocket not there before and produced a small weapon. He quickly aimed and fired right at Levi. The moment Stiles fired, Levi's last thought was OH SHIT!