Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters. This is purely a fan fiction and is not an attempt to steal the intellectual property of MGM.
A/N: This is a fictional episode that takes place during season five. The idea for the story came to my mind and I decided to write out the first part of it, thus creating chapter one. It's my first fic, so comments and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. This episode is not intended to replace any episode from season five in any way. It is entitled "Harmony Day".
"Harmony Day"
"So what are these intriguing items called on your planet?" Teyla asked John, as they traipsed together down a corridor in Atlantis, passing other base personnel in the opposite direction.
"We call 'em pacifiers," Sheppard explained, with a casual wave of his hand. "And they're for babies as a substitute for…" he trailed off, looking awkward.
Teyla raised her eyebrows at him uncomprehendingly.
Sheppard gestured at his chest with his hands, miming grabbing something there he didn't have.
"Ah…" Teyla suddenly understood. "I see…"
"Yeah," Sheppard said, embarrassed. "But they're really useful and babies from our planet love 'em. I'm sure Torren would too."
Teyla smiled at John as they both entered the gate control room.
"Colonel Sheppard," Chuck, the technician, called out from his station at a control panel. He looked up from a display screen in concern. "A ship just dropped out of hyperspace above the planet."
"Cloak the city," Sheppard ordered and Chuck complied.
As the sound of the city's cloak deploying rippled around them, Sheppard activated his radio headset and spoke. "Woolsey, we got a problem."
In minutes, Woolsey had entered the control room, looking alert.
"What's happened?" he asked Sheppard, standing in front of Chuck's console and placing both his hands on it.
"A ship's here. It's taken up orbit around the planet," Sheppard informed him.
"Is it the Wraith?" questioned Woolsey.
"Nope," Chuck answered.
A beeping sound came from Chuck's console.
"Receiving audio transmission," Chuck reported.
"What? How did they know we were here?" Woolsey said in surprise, looking at Sheppard who shrugged and Teyla who shook her head unknowingly.
"Let's find out what they want," Sheppard suggested.
Woolsey nodded at Chuck who pressed a button on his console.
A loud voice, feminine and familiar, rang out. "This is Larrin of the Travellers, It'd be nice if you could decloak your city - we can't see it."
Everyone in the control room was surprised. After a moment, Sheppard nodded to Chuck who opened up a channel.
"What are you doing here, Larrin?" he asked, with a grimace.
"I want to talk."
"That wouldn't happen to involve tying me to a chair now, would it?" Sheppard said, sardonically.
"Funny, I was thinking chains," Larrin snapped, before her voice became serious again. "I've got a proposal for you and your team."
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Later, Sheppard and his team were seated in the conference room with Woolsey and Larrin.
"Our network of spy satellites have been providing us with updates on the infighting amongst the Wraith factions," Larrin reported. "About a week ago, we picked up Intel that eight major factions had called a temporary truce."
"Why?" Ronan asked her.
"To hold talks," Larrin replied briefly.
"They want to pause their little war, just to have a chat?" McKay said cynically.
"What do they want to talk about?" Woolsey asked Larrin.
"About a new threat to them that's rising in this galaxy," Larrin said.
"What kind of threat?" Teyla asked.
"We don't know," Larrin stated. "But if it's big enough to push the major players of the Wraith civil war to call a ceasefire, I'd say it's a pretty dangerous threat to them."
The team exchanged intrigued glances.
"They're going to hold discussions on a neutral planet – here," Larrin raised a remote control and pressed a button. A screen on the wall turned on to display a map of a star system and zoomed in on a planet.
"PX3-205," Woolsey read off the screen.
"The planet's going to be guarded by a fleet of Wraith vessels comprised of ships from each attending faction," Larrin said. "There will also be a heavy force of soldiers regulating Stargate travel, as well even more soldiers to guard the facility where the meeting is taking place."
"What exactly do you want to do?" Sheppard asked.
"We want to listen in on the summit," Larrin revealed.
"Well how the hell are you going to do that?" McKay asked incredulously. "With a load Wraith ships in orbit and the Stargate surrounded by Wraith guards, there's no way you're gonna get on that planet. And we haven't even talked about getting into the summit yet, which you oh so observantly stated, will be guarded by about a hundred more Wraith."
"We can get onto the planet and into the facility easily enough," Larrin said calmly.
"Oh, really?" challenged McKay, sceptical.
"My battleship has cloaking abilities," Larrin informed him. "We can sneak past the Wraith ships without getting detected –"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa," McKay said, holding up his hands to slow her down. "Since when could your ship cloak? You need a ZPM for that…" his eyes widened as Larrin looked back at him coolly, her eyebrows raised, "…unless you already have a ZPM? How did you get one?"
"We found it in one of the labs aboard our ship, a while ago," Larrin said. "At first, we didn't know what it was, but we eventually discovered it was a power source from documentation found in the same lab. Our scientists managed to activate it and get it to provide power to the ship's cloaking system. But they can't get it to power the shields, for some reason."
"Hmmm…" McKay said vaguely, thinking.
"What is it exactly you want us to do?" asked Woolsey.
"We need to smuggle someone into the summit. And the only people who can get into the facility are Wraith. Or at least, people with Wraith DNA." Larrin looked directly at Teyla, as did everyone else in the room.
"You want Teyla to infiltrate this Wraith summit," Woolsey said, after a shocked silence.
"She has Wraith DNA, doesn't she?" Larrin asked.
"That's not the point," Woolsey retorted firmly. "The risk of it would be dangerously high. I mean, there are so many things that could go wrong with this mission –"
"The information we could get from this summit is extremely valuable," Larrin pressed. "For decades, we have been hiding from the Wraith. Now, we can turn the tide of this war against them. We can fight back."
"We're still talking about infiltrating probably the most heavily guarded planet in the galaxy. The chances of success, despite whatever preparations you have made, are still undeniably slim to nothing," Woolsey argued.
"You've dealt with situations faced with much steeper odds than this, before. And on many occasions," Larrin countered.
"Lady's got a point," Sheppard acknowledged fairly, earning himself an irritable glance from Woolsey.
"Look, even if I were to consent, I would only do so if I could be personally assured of my team's safety," Woolsey said robustly. "And that means having one of our ships in on this operation to provide support if necessary. But currently, we have no ships on base."
"The Daedalus is a few days out," McKay remembered aloud.
"When are they holding the summit?" Ronan asked Larrin.
"Tomorrow," she replied. "And the talks will last several days. Your team can leave now with my ship to prepare for the operation and when your ship arrives, you can send it ahead and have it standby to act, should it prove necessary."
Woolsey removed his glasses and polished them with a handkerchief he removed from his pocket. "Teyla," he said, "you're the one who's going to be doing this. What do you think?"
Everyone's heads swivelled in Teyla's direction. Sheppard's expression was neutral, Larrin'; expectant and Woolsey's; patient.
"If it will help lead to the ultimate downfall of the Wraith," Teyla said, "then I will do it."
Woolsey bowed his head in resignation. "Are you quite sure?"
Teyla glanced at John's emotionless expression.
"Yes," she affirmed.
Woolsey heaved a deep sigh. "Very well, then," he said. " You have a go."
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A few minutes later, the team was in the locker room, gearing up for the mission. While Rodney was busy inserting a pistol into his holster and Ronan was testing his blaster by spinning and aiming it at a mirror in various, dramatic fashions, Sheppard quietly pulled Teyla aside.
"Hey," he said and Teyla waited expectantly for him to speak.
Sheppard remained silent for a while, biting his lip and marshalling his thoughts.
"Look," he began. "I just want to be sure that you're okay with this mission."
"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Teyla.
"Well, it's just…" Sheppard trailed off, "…look, you've got a kid to think about as well now, when you do these kinds of things with us. I hope you've made your decisions with Torren's interests in mind, too."
"When I leave him today," Teyla said, "I know there is a very real chance I won't come back to him, or Kanaan. But on the other hand, by doing this, I am helping to shape a better galaxy for him to grow up in, to live in. One that is free of constant fear of the Wraith. And I think that such a future is worth risking everything for. If indeed I do not return, I only hope that when he is old enough to understand, he will know why I made this decision. That I died trying to give him a better future than what I or my ancestors had. And I hope he will forgive me for leaving him to grow up without a mother."
Sheppard nodded. "Okay," he said.
Teyla smiled at him and walked away, while Sheppard watched her go, felling uneasy and, wondering whether if Torren Emmagan was going to grow up without a mother.
