Inheritance
Turquoise.
The sky was a perfect shade of light blue. Like a piece of turquoise without any matrix to mar the pure beauty of the stone. Not a single cloud dotted the curving expanse. Moira O'Meara shielded her eyes from the glaring sun as the afternoon light cascaded down through the trees. Falling from the bright blue overhead to shimmer like golden rain in the greenery.
Lowering her gaze she eyed the small deer moving furtively in the distance. Seeking the cover of the denser foliage. "Not muntjac. Definitely a deer, a pygmy. Megaloceros caxioti. Interesting. Evolution under insularity, reducing the size of the species to fit the environment."
"Same here," Katie Brown observed. She was crouching among a group of ferns and scarlet rhododendrons. The flowers were a stark contrast against the milder greenery. "These forms are also dwarfed. Botanical reductions are unusual, given this terrain, but I bet these are unique adaptations to the insect life."
"Geologically the region is quite new," Julie Armstrong stated., checking her scans as she brushed back her blond hair. "The mountainous range to the left is only ten thousand years old. It must have formed during the climatic surge when the city was submerged."
"I'm detecting a low energy reading," Louise Otero noted with a scowl. "Weird. It's giving off a low EM pulse. Is there anything like that here?"
The women eyed each other, shrugged. Moira stepped to the shade. Evan Lorne lounged on a large boulder, P90 cradled leisurely as he watched the four women. An expression of boredom marring his handsome face. Moira smiled. "Hey, Evan, wake up."
He smiled. "I'm awake, Moira. Believe me. Escorting a team composed of four women is keeping me on my toes."
She laughed. "I'm sorry, Evan. I don't know why John insisted on you as an escort. Or even an escort at all."
"You don't? I suspect he chose me because of that lover boy comment, I'm sure. The only reason he's not here is because he had to go on that trading mission. Besides, it's SOP to have a military escort on any mission, even one to the mainland."
"Maybe," she agreed, but smiled. "I bet it was that comment that secured you this duty. Although I don't think John would want this duty either." They laughed. Moira thought of John. Two weeks had passed while they were waiting for his back to heal. Two weeks in which the waiting had turned into a teasing competition, a flirtatious game to see who would crack first. Who would give into denied desire first.
"Moira? Did you need something?"
"What? Oh." She met his amused gaze. "Louise has detected a low EM pulse. Do you know of anything that would cause that?"
"Around here?" Evan stood, glanced round. Trees towered. A breeze whispered in the leaves. "No. The Jumper's powered down. Five klicks back. Can she trace it?"
"Hell if I know," Moira grumbled. Not to happy at having that particular woman included in their expedition. Ever since she had caused a scene in the cafeteria over Moira seeing John. She led him to the women, gestured.
"You're detecting an energy reading?" Evan asked, glancing at Julie for a moment as the breeze blew her blond hair around her face.
"Yes, major. It's low, but doable." She sneered, glancing at Moira. The implied insult all too apparent. "Isn't that what Colonel Sheppard says to you, Moira.?" She smiled sweetly.
"Repeatedly," Moira snapped, causing Evan to laugh.
Julie smirked. "Can you lead him to this alleged energy source?"
"Yes! And it's not alleged! It's real! Through the trees!" Louise said. Began to march into the greenery. Red hair glowing with the sunlight.
"Do we need to accompany you, Major Lorne?" Julie asked. Sounding annoyed. "We have work to do here while Louise can take you to that–"
"Afraid not, Doctor Armstrong. We stay together."
"We're not on your team, major. You're only here because the military is paranoid and over-cautious and feels the need to control everything," Julie argued.
Evan glanced at Moira but it was Katie who replied, "With good reason. Remember where we are, Julie. Look, we can all go and return when we're done. Moira?"
Moira nodded, glancing at Evan. "Yes, we should stay together. It's SOP. Julie, we can come back afterwards."
Evan smiled. Gestured. "I'll take the six. Doctors, lead on."
Julie scowled, but headed after the rapidly disappearing form of Louise. Her red hair was like a beacon in the shadowed overgrowth. Katie shrugged, followed. Moira patted Evan's arm, strolled with him. "Is this your dream team, Evan?" she teased. "A team entirely composed of women?"
Evan snorted. "Women? Yes. Scientists? No." They laughed.
"Major Lorne! Major Lorne!" Louise called. Exchanging a glance Moira and Evan hastened out of the trees into a clearing. Stopped. Stared.
A strange-looking object protruded from the ground at an angle. It was metallic. A dull gray streaked with dirt and rust. Strong lines marked its rugged surface. A very faint hum could be discerned emanating from it. It tapered towards the end, narrowing as it pointed towards the sky.
"It's still emitting a low EM pulse...almost like it's on...standby," Louise stated. She circled the object, scanning it with her equipment. All serious and professional.
"It looks Lantean. The architectural details remind me of the towers," Katie remarked.
"What the hell is it?" Julie asked, impatient. Glanced at her watch.
Moira and Evan circled it. "Do you see any writing? Any kind of controls?" she asked.
"No. It's most definitely Lantean. It almost reminds me of a gunnery sta–" He never completed the word as the ground shook.
Violent rumbles knocked the team off their feet. A wave of sound threw them backwards, momentarily causing deafness. Evan scrambled to cover Moira as the ground rose beneath them. The machine was rising. Rising. Revealing a platform.
"Keep down!" Evan needlessly shouted.
Dirt and rocks flew. Hurled upwards only to shower back down. Julie cried out, struck by a falling rock. Katie crouched in the ferns, covering her head. Louise was sprawled on her back and struggled to stand, to grab her fallen equipment. Moira found herself crouched under Evan as he shielded her from the falling debris. Finally the shaking stopped. A hum filled the air.
Shakily the team rose. Katie ran to Julie who was holding a hand to her cut cheek. Louise staggered to her feet, shaking her head. Moira and Evan stood.
"Stay back! Status?" Evan asked, staring at the now taller and more prominent object.
"It's...it's powering up! The power is growing! It's energy readings are climbing but not dangerous."
"Powering for what?" Moira asked, moving next to Evan as he stared. A control panel had been revealed. Two rods amid glowing lights. Blinking. A screen that flared with numbers, grids. Sequences. "Evan?"
"A gunnery station," he completed his sentence at last. "I'll be damned. This looks like the city's screens...grids for navigation, or targeting." He touched the keypad. The hum increased. Blinking lights flared, reacting to his ATA gene. The gun pivoted. Dirt flew. "Oh oh...I didn't do that. The ATA gene...shit."
"Can you power it down?" Moira asked. Glancing up into the spotless sky to see nothing.
"I don't know! There's no switch! You'd think an advanced civilization like the Ancients would at least have the common sense to put in an on-off switch, now wouldn't you? I don't see any controls like we have in the city."
"Power levels increasing to fifty percent. Sixty," Louise intoned.
"Shit! It's a weapon! An automated targeting system," he realized. Viewed the screen. "This is an attack grid. It's locked onto something!"
"But what? I don't see anything!" Moira said, glancing again at the blue sky.
"Atlantis, copy!" Evan tapped his earpiece, his radio. "This is Lorne! Shield the city! Repeat, shield the city! We have an unknown variable prepping for attack!" he shouted. "Copy?" He pulled Moira back as the gun pivoted again. Swung upwards. Fired.
A greenish laser shot into the blue sky.
"What's it targeting?" Moira asked. Exchanged a worried glance with Evan.
*************************************************************************
John Sheppard flew the Jumper lazily towards the planet. Entered the atmosphere. "Well, that was a colossal waste of time," he complained.
"I wholeheartedly agree!" Rodney McKay stated.
Ronon Dex laughed. "Likewise."
Teyla Emmagan sighed. "The Sanerians are a simple people, colonel. I told you that. We have successfully acquired trading relations for food and homespun linens."
"Whoopee," John commented. The men laughed at his bored tone. "Can't get enough of those homespun linens," he ruefully noted, causing more merriment.
"And that great cone of power they were waxing ecstatically about?" Rodney added, irritated at the memory. "Not a ZPM. Just a hollowed out rock with a phosphorescent moss."
"Like I said. Whoopee," John repeated.
Teyla laughed. "Fair enough, Rodney. But they are good, honest people."
"But so boring," Ronon noted. Sighed.
"Admit it. The whole mission was a waste of time. No weapons, no intel, nothing pert...pertinent," John smoothly continued, "for the mission." He repeated the word in his mind. Pertinent. Pert. Like Moira's pert little ass she deliberately swayed ahead of him to tease. To flirt. Two weeks without any sexual or even romantic contact and John was ready to concede. Except the mission had intervened.
"Sheppard, do I have to repeat it?" Rodney snapped, sighed.
"Repeat what?" John asked.
"I'm detecting a strange energy reading and whoa. It's headed straight for us!"
"What is? Crap." John swerved the Jumper as a greenish bolt flew unerringly towards them. He veered, pivoted and fired to eliminate the threat. "What the hell was–"
"Atlantis, copy? Hey, they're shielded!" Rodney announced, shocked.
"Atlantis, this is Sheppard! What's going on down there?" His hands moved over the controls. He brought the HUD to life. Readings scrolled.
"Is it the Wraith?" Teyla asked. Apprehensive.
"John, do not enter the city," Elizabeth Weir's calm voice spoke out of the comm. "There's something on the mainland. Major Lorne has encountered a Lantean weapon."
"So have we," John quipped. "Wait? A weapon on the mainland?" John thought back to that alternate reality, that alternate Atlantis. "Like a gunnery station?"
"Look out!" Rodney shouted.
Another greenish bolt was aiming straight for them, streaking across the blue sky. John swore, flew wildly, juking to avoid it. Flew away from the city across the ocean. "Damn! I can't shake it! Shielding! There, we–"
The hit rocked the ship. The shield flared, but held. John rolled with the blast, plummeting towards the ocean but pulling up at the last possible second as alarms shrieked.
"Sublight is holding but that drive pod isn't happy!" Rodney informed. "How did that get through the shielding? Drive pod one has sustained damage on the–"
"Crap, not that again, we just fixed it," John complained. "Major Lorne, report!" John snapped, flying towards the mainland. "Why are you firing upon us? Major Lorne?"
***********************************************************************
The gun pivoted again. Evan snatched the controls, trying to guide it. He hit the panel. "Where's the off switch? Damn it! It's not responding!"
"Pull the crystals out! Do something!" Julie suggested.
"There are no crystals, at least not above ground," Louise noted.
"Can you control it?" Moira asked.
"Major Lorne, why are you firing on us?" John's voice came over the radio.
"Colonel Sheppard? It's not me!" Evan replied. "Moira found a fully automated weapon station that somehow became operational and–"
"Moira? What the hell is she doing there...oh yeah...the estrogen mission," John remembered.
"Hilarious, John!" Moira scolded over the radio. "You need to get out of here!"
"You think?" he quipped. "Shut that thing down. Now!"
"We can't, sir. It's not–"
"I'm on my way!" Rodney interjected. "Lorne, is it a fully automated targeting system?"
"Yes, Rodney! With a triangular grid and sensor ranges. The controls are not responding and there are no crystals to pull!" Evan informed. The ground rocked. The gun swerved. "Outgoing, sir!" A bolt flew from the gun into the sky.
John flew violently to the left as another green bolt barely missed them. He accelerated, higher. Higher. Wishing there was some cloud cover but there was nothing but blue sky. "Son of a bitch! Shut it down now! Shoot it, no belay that order!"
"What?" Teyla exclaimed.
"We might need this weapon if we can control it," John explained.
"If! That's a big if, John! As in if it doesn't shoot us down first!" Rodney stammered.
"John, can you out fly it?" Moira asked over the radio.
"Trying to, but it's damn accurate," he answered. "Major, try to control it. It's activated by the ATA gene. Like the Chair! Use your mind to shut it down!"
"I'll try, sir, but it's automated!" Nevertheless Evan grabbed the controls. Closed his eyes.
"It won't work," Rodney glumly noted. "If it's truly automated the ATA gene will only enhance its power. Not control it."
"Now you tell me?" John snapped.
Moira grasped Evan's shoulder. "Concentrate, Evan," she urged, but the gun swung again. The controls veered in his hands.
"I'm trying! It's...it's fighting me!" Evan exclaimed. "I can feel it."
Another greenish bolt flew into the sky. John saw it coming as alarms blared. He veered and swooped but the weapon hit. The shield fluttered, faded. Resumed but another alarm sounded.
"The hull's been compromised! I told you!" Rodney shouted. "It's more powerful with him at the controls!"
"And if he lets go there's no control at all!" John argued. Diving towards the land. Swerved and flew wildly. "I'm losing lateral controls, Lorne!"
"It's fighting me, sir!" Evan shouted. The strain evident in his voice. In his stance as he clung to the controls. Muscles tensed as he tried to move the twin rods.
"It may have a limited AI, being fully functional without any human interference," Rodney reasoned. "Actually it sounds like a quite ingenious and fascinating device."
"Yeah, if it wasn't trying to kill us," Ronon quipped.
The Jumper appeared in the bright blue sky, wobbling on one side. Smoke streaming from one drive pod. Another buildup of power hummed. The ground shook. The gun pivoted, almost knocking Evan from the platform.
"No! No! John, get out of here!" Moira warned.
"We're losing speed and altitude. We can't go higher," John grimly noted.
"Power's surging," Rodney warned. Looked at John who shook his head. "Shields can't take another direct hit. We're–"
"Sitting ducks," John finished for him. "Lorne?"
"Sorry, sir...it's strong...too..." Evan's voice verged on exhaustion.
"It's about to fire!" Rodney warned, staring at the land growing closer, closer. He braced himself for impact.
"Moira..." John juked awkwardly. "Moira, let Moira at the controls!"
"Sir?"
"Moira, take over!" John realized. Hoped. "Your ATA is stronger. Take over and power it down, or at least direct the shot away from us!"
"John!" Moira pulled Evan aside. He staggered, catching his breath. Releasing his hold of the controls. She grasped the twin rods tightly. Closed her eyes. Felt the power surging. The platform rocking. She visualized the Jumper. John. The green bolt.
"Incoming! Fast! Super fast!" Rodney warned. He gripped the sides of his chair. "John..."
"Hang on!" John saw it coming. Straight for the viewport. A green glow against the blue sky. He swung low. It mimicked him. He veered left. It mimicked him again. "Moira," he urged, juking right at an angle that nearly toppled his passengers. The bolt veered right, heading for the exposed underbelly. But flew overhead. Barely missed them.
A cheer erupted in the Jumper. "You did it, Moira! Now power it down! Moira?" John asked.
Moira was glued to the platform. Hands clenched on the controls. The rods jerked her left and right but she held onto them, fighting them. Eyes scrunched closed. "John..." she whispered, voice strained.
Evan caught her shoulder. "Hold on, Moira! Let's power it down."
"Moira, power it down," John urged. "Picture the systems powering down. The lights fading. The hum fading. Take down all systems." He guided the ship towards the land, trying to slow the suddenly rapid speed of descent. "You can do it, Moira," he encouraged.
Rodney anxiously viewed the HUD. "It's...it's working! It's powering down. Slowly. It's fighting but she's doing it! Moira, you're doing it! I could kiss you!"
John smirked. "I don't think so. Moira, keep it going...are you okay?"
"Busy concentrating, John," she quipped, her voice a breathless whisper.
"Can you land the ship?" Teyla asked.
"Yes. Let's locate them. Land near...there! Hold on. It's going to be bumpy."
"Like your usual landings, then," Rodney jested. John glared at him as laughter ensued.
"As long as we get down in one piece I don't care!" Ronon stated.
Evan's hand relaxed on Moira's shoulder. "That's it. Doctor Otero?"
Louise scanned the device. "All powered down, major. At the moment. I very much doubt it will last."
"Okay, Moira, you can let go. Moira?"
Moira opened her eyes, released the breath she had been holding. "Are you sure? Rodney, can I let go?"
"Moira? Yes. You should be fine. I'll be there in a few minutes. Once you release it the device should revert back to its–" Rodney's voice was interrupted by crackling static as the ship landed. Hard. Bounced on the ground before resting at an angle in the dirt.
Moira unclenched her hands, stepped off the platform. Staggered but Evan caught her. She wiggled her fingers. "Damn! That was hard! And weird! It was like fighting another person in there!"
"Limited AI," Rodney's voice resumed. "Probably a nano technology like other Lantean systems." He looked at John as he powered down the ship. "How did you know she could do that?"
"I didn't," John admitted. "I mean, I know she has a strong ATA gene."
"Oh..." Rodney stared.
"If anyone would bring Sheppard safely home it would be Moira," Ronon explained. Exchanged a smile with Teyla.
"Why? Oh...oh..." Rodney nodded.
John merely smiled. But as he stood he released the breath he had been holding. Knew what a near thing it had been.