New story, now that I'm part of the Stargate: Atlantis fandom. Might not finish this, but I'm pretty far along now, so I thought I'd post it. Takes place shortly after Season 1, probably during Season 2.

. . .

The East dock was flooded with new recruits as a new Earth shipment came into Atlantis. The designated leader of the new soldiers stood aside from the hustle and bustle, speaking to Chuck the technician, whom Elizabeth had asked to oversee the delivery.

"Name," he said, looking down at his tablet.

"Lieutenant Mary Jane Cooper," she said officially.

"Intent."

"I am the senior officer of the new group of soldiers requested for the Atlantis expedition. Until they are given new directives, I am to control their assistance to the project."

"Any new products?" This was a routine task, admittedly boring, and he was supposed to keep himself distant in case problems arose. But he couldn't keep the hopeful tone out of his voice. He'd put in an order for the new power couplings recently discovered by the SGC and already had a million ideas for what to do with them.

Lieutenant Cooper tried to hide her amused grin. "We've brought some food supplies, weapons, and... a bit of new alien tech. You'll want to check with the quartermaster on the Daedalus for a full report."

Chuck nodded, but couldn't help the thrill going through him. "Anything to declare?"

"Ah, yes, the SGC would like it to be said that the Daedalus is not to be used for joy rides." She shrugged at him and he grinned. Both knew of the recent mishap involving the spacecraft and Colonel Caldwell, Cooper having read the report and Chuck having experienced it.

He shook his head. "Duly noted. Shall I take you to see Dr. Weir for a full briefing?"

"That would be much appreciated, sir."

He grinned to himself as he turned to lead her. He was just a scientist, but these military types were trained to be polite as possible and sometimes he felt it gratifying to have people who could kill him with their pinkies calling him "sir."

. . .

"McKay," Sheppard called, entering the labs. He looked around with a frown, seeing only a few scientists engrossed in their work, none of which being the loud-mouthed hypochondriac. "McKay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm right here, quit your squawking," Rodney said irritably, walking into the room with Dr. Zelenka hot on his tail.

"I've just explained it to you, Rodney, the ZPM won't generate enough power for one jumper, much less five. What you're asking is-"

"Not impossible, Zelenka, trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"No, no, I don't think you do, there is nothing in our reach that will generate enough power, you'd need-"

"Twice what we're currently generating, I know, but maybe we don't actually need more power, maybe we just need a way to transfer it from one side to the other."

Zelenka stared at him. "We have nothing that can do that at the speed you're talking about."

"Oh, don't be such a wet blanket, how many times have you told me I can't do something and then I did it, huh? Who's the certified genius in here? Who's done the impossible more times than I can count? Oh, right, that's me."

"No need to get nasty," Sheppard said, seeing the Czech scientist heating up. "I'm sure you'll figure out a solution for... whatever it is you're working on."

"See? Even the Colonel understands," Rodney said pointedly, and Sheppard was fully aware that this wasn't a compliment. Zelenka threw his hands up and stormed away, muttering to himself in Czech as the other scientists watched nervously. Rodney turned to a panel of computers and other devices, snapping his fingers. "What do you want, Colonel, I've got a millions things to do and a lot of incompetent people doing them."

"The Daedalus shipment came in today. I thought you might want to know," he said evenly, already getting tired of McKay's attitude. "But if you're too busy, I can always bring it-"

"No, no, no, don't even think about touching that equipment, I'll be right there," the scientist said quickly, instantly abandoning his work station. "This could be it. If those halfwits shipped what I ordered, this could be the answer to the jumper..." His voice faded as he hurtled down the hallway, leaving Sheppard standing, rather miffed, in the lab.

He looked over at a timid looking Chinese woman and gave an apologetic smile. "Fun times, huh?"

"Not always," Zelenka said, appearing in the room again, this time armed with a tablet.

"Oh, hey, Zelenka, I've been meaning to ask you about something," the colonel said, moving to stand next to Radek as he worked. "Those tablets, have you gotten anything out of them yet?"

Zelenka pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "No, sorry, Colonel. There's been so much work to do here, Elizabeth and I haven't found the time to go over them together. And I have a feeling we might have a better time of it if we saw them in person."

Sheppard sighed, slightly disappointed. "Well, I know how much you hate going off-world, but-"

"No, I'm sorry, but even if that was my only problem, I would still be unable to leave here," he said, genuinely apologetic. "Rodney has about eighty-seven different projects going right now and most of them are important to the city's main functions. We just don't have the time to spare for stone tablets on an uninhabited planet."

The Colonel gave a wry smile. "Ah, well. Worth a shot. Let me know if you get the chance, alright?"

"You'll be the first to know." Then, as Sheppard was taking his leave, he looked up again. "If you don't mind me asking, Colonel, why are you so interested in this, of all things?"

Sheppard thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know. Something just felt weird about them, you know?"

"We're in a different galaxy, Colonel. Everything is bound to feel weird."

He nodded. "I know. Which is why I generally pay attention when things are weirded than usual. I'll let you get back to it, Elizabeth wants to see me."