AN: This is a precursor to a much greater adventure, a flex of my world building muscles, and vaguely AU, but a story I deeply wanted to write to push Sheppard and his team as far as I can, so if it feels I have given too great detail, please be aware that this fic is something of a necessary prologue.
Wandering through the halls of Atlantis, Sheppard sighed. With the amount of time AR-1 had been spending off-world recently, as they scoured the galaxy for any sign of the missing Athosians, Sheppard and his team had been running themselves into the ground, and none more so than Teyla. It hadn't taken long for Doctor Keller to figure out what was going on, and she had promptly gone to Colonel Carter, who ordered the team to stand down in the name of having a day off to rest.
John couldn't wrap his head around it, and had argued the point long and hard with Carter. After all, back in the first year, when the entire expedition had been at risk as the Wraith hives bore down on Atlantis, they had been working non-stop, to the point of needing stimulants to keep them going.
"There were less personnel, now we have the man power to balance work with rest," Colonel Carter had said in a tone that brooked no arguments, and yet, Sheppard couldn't help but wonder if Sam thought the Athosians weren't important. He hated thinking it, but while he'd heard tales of the great Samantha Carter from the SGC veterans, she had only been their commander for a short amount of time.
Unable to sway her, Sheppard had settled into sorting through the mountain of paper work that had been building up. Though he had tried to be productive, he found little reason to justify the seemingly inane work. Feeling like he was shirking his responsibilities to the Athosians, he gave up and tracked Teyla down, figuring she could use some company.
He tried his best to keep her engaged, to occupy her mind with something other than the all-consuming worry he saw in her eyes. While she made it clear she appreciated the effort, she had also been unusually snarky, and insistent she wished only to meditate.
John left her in peace, and sought out Ronon, who, as usual, was in the gym. Poking his head through the door, Sheppard stuck around just long enough to see one of the marines take a beating as Ronon vented on anything and everything in the gym, and decided to give him a wide berth, which really only left-
"Rodney!" the Colonel yelled, causing McKay to squeak and topple sideways off his chair.
"What the hell was that for?" Rodney whined as he picked himself up off the floor and righted his chair.
"Just checking you were ready for an emergency," Sheppard said innocently, walking through the door to the physicist's lab.
"Oh, great, yeah, thanks." McKay sat back on his chair, going back to staring at his laptop screen. "I love drills. Especially when I have no forewarning, and even more so when they are complete and utter bull-"
"Real emergencies give no forewarning," John chastised him, "that's why they're emergencies."
"What do you want?" Rodney snapped, "I actually have work outside of missions, work that has seriously backed up over the last few weeks, so while you might get to enjoy having a day off, some of us are actually busy."
"Get off it; if you had no work to catch up on, you'd invent some. You're a regular workaholic McKay."
"You know what? You're right. If I had no work to do, I'd finally be able to start some of the experiments and other projects a scientist of such a calibre as I am is duty-bound to."
"Heh, you said doody."
"Grow up," McKay said, rolling his eyes as he lifted his head to glare condescendingly at John. "'Duty' only sounds like 'doody' when you Americans pronounce it. If you didn't all slur your words so much-"
"Canada sucks."
Rodney's glare went dead. "If all you're going to do is annoy me then-"
"What are you working on? Anything need activating?"
"Are you-" the physicist paused, suspicion written on his face. "Are you volunteering to play Ancient light-switch?"
"Sheesh, Rodney, you're not usually this slow on the uptake," Sheppard said. "Yes, I'm offering to help with the ATA tech."
"Uhhh..." Rodney deliberated. "I'm not really working on any of that at the moment. I'm actually trying to hunt down a hidden weapons platform built in the later years of the Ancients' war with the Wraith... It has to be here, in the Database, somewhere, but the Ancients seem to have had no concept of a directory, or even something that resembles a user interface." He gave a gusty sigh.
"A weapons platform?"
"And there you go, eyes lit up like Christmas."
Sheppard bristled. "Incase you didn't notice, our enemies are starting to pile up there. We need all the firepower we can get right now."
"No, I've had my head stuck in the sand for the last three years, of course I'm aware! That's why I'm trying to find it," McKay snapped. They stared each other down before their glares softened, becoming apologetic.
"Look, there's a few devices on the desk over there," McKay threw a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the cluttered desk behind him. "They've been cleared, but no-one can turn them on, why don't you see-?"
"On it." John wandered over to the desk in question, dragging a stool along with him. Sitting down and picking up the first device that caught his eye, he started running through a few variations of the 'on' mental command. Some of these devices they had found were eccentric, and would only activate if you asked nicely, while others needed to be bullied into submission. It gave him something to do, an illusion of productivity.
John supposed he should have made an effort to learn to at least read Ancient by now, so he could help with the Database searches, but he never seemed to have the time. He knew enough to get by, of course, but not enough to navigate the Database. Chances were, Rodney could spend years searching through the damn thing and not-
"I think I've got it." The disbelief in Rodney's voice was palpable, or maybe that was just the incredulity John felt.
"A shielded planet- no, wait, I think it's called Shield, in the outer reaches of Pegasus, home to an advanced weapons cache, or installation, one of the last hold-outs against the Wraith. It says here that they were unsure if the enemy ever found it, even though they lost communication shortly after they decided to evacuate Pegasus."
"Got a 'gate address?" Sheppard asked, feeling a vague hope as he stood and came to look at Rodney's screen.
"No," McKay said, crushing that hope.
Sheppard cursed.
"Actually, it seems this... Shield world never had a stargate. It was relatively close to Atlantis at the time, before we moved the city, so they figured keeping it out of the gate system would make it unlikely the Wraith would ever find it. They were so confident they could keep it hidden they allowed a large human population in the city they built. The weapons platform...s circled the city, and were able to fire on orbital targets. Apparently the cannons they created had firepower to rival that of Project Arcturus'." Rodney turned wide eyes to John. "We have got to go to this planet."
Colonel Carter looked up from her tablet as Sheppard entered her office, McKay right behind him.
"Colonel, if you're here to start up again about the Athosians-"
Sheppard raised a hand, stalling her. "Actually, Rodney found something you need to see."
Carter's eyebrows rose as she accepted Rodney's laptop. She barely had a second to look at the screen before McKay launched into an explanation.
"I found a reference to this Shield world a few days ago, while I was doing some reading before bed, but I didn't have the time to chase it up then. Obviously I knew how important this could be so when we were told yesterday to stand down I immediately got started trying to track the relevant data. Now, I know there's no 'gate address, but the Daedalus is due to arrive at the end of the week; it's out of the way compared to where we are now but the potential information we could find on this weapons platform makes it more than worth the trip. Imagine if we could get that kind of orbital defence for Atlantis! I mean, yes, the drones are powerful but they are limited to whatever stores of them we have on hand. The reference to Arcturus makes me think that it would be energy-based, possibly on level with the Ancient Satellite we used during the siege. Depending on the energy source and size of the platforms, we could bring them here. Even one cannon of that magnitude would be of massive benefit should the Wraith or Asurans track us down. There's no real question about it- Sam, we have to go there."
Carter was quiet as her eyes flicked across the screen, reading the database's entry for herself.
"So, we have a go?" Rodney asked impatiently.
"Hold up," Carter said, looking up at the two men; Rodney hovering next to her desk, Sheppard standing in the doorway, ready to bolt the moment she said 'go'. "Wasn't Project Arcturus the one that led Rodney to blow up a solar system?"
"Didn't you blow up a sun once?" McKay asked defensively.
"That was on purpose, and is beside the point, Rodney," Carter retorted.
"McKay has learned from his mistake," Sheppard answered, "and if this Shield world turns out anything like Arcturus, I'll drag him out of there myself."
Colonel Carter rested her head on her fingertips, clearly in thought. "I'll have to talk to Colonel Caldwell about this before I can say one hundred percent, but I agree with you both." She stood, handing McKay's laptop back. "Let's make the call."
They headed out across the gangway, into the control room, where Rodney commandeered the communications station.
"You know he's gonna want his guys to take this one the moment you tell him about it," Sheppard said in an undertone to Carter as McKay set up the subspace connection.
"That's too bad, McKay found this one, it's his," Carter replied with a small smile. "The concept of 'finders, keepers' is basically law within the scientific community."
"Got it," McKay said as the Earth screen lit up, displaying Colonel Caldwell on the bridge of the Daedalus.
"Colonel Carter, Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay," the ship commander said, acknowledging their hail. "What can I do for you?"
"Colonel Caldwell, good to see you." Carter smiled. "Doctor McKay has found the coordinates to a gateless planet the Ancients were using to develop weapons technology without harassment from the Wraith. The entry about it in the Ancient Database suggests this could be a Latchkey discovery on par with that of Project Arcturus, but AR-1 needs a lift to get there."
Caldwell hesitated, "It would probably be easier for us to stop off on the way. I'm sure my people can handle a basic exploration, and if they find anything beyond their abilities to deal with-"
"That won't be a problem," Carter said happily. "The coordinates are close to Atlantis' previous planet, so you might as well stop here and offload our supplies. Sheppard's team can accompany you to the planet, that way if you need Rodney, he'll already be on hand. We don't want to make too many unnecessary jumps out here in Pegasus, or it'll be a long limp back to Earth's shipyards."
Nodding, Caldwell conceded. "Alright," he said unhappily, "we'll see you at 0800 in three days' time. Caldwell out." The connection severed, and the screen returned to the idle display of Atlantis.
"It's scary how easily you manage him," Rodney commented.
Sam shrugged. "He's not a bad guy, he's just more used to the strict regimen of military life. The relaxed protocol on Atlantis confuses him. We've never had a problem with him back at the SGC."
"So I suppose it's the Colonel's fault, then," McKay said while Sheppard feigned hurt.
Carter considered this a for moment, as they headed back to her office. "No," she finally said, "I don't think this base could work any other way. The civilian population wouldn't be able to mesh properly with the military personnel if they were snapping salutes every time Colonel Sheppard or I walked past." She sat down at her desk. "Alright, I don't want your team to be alone there, especially if the human population the Database talks about is still there."
"Lorne's team is rostered on standby for the week, they'd be available to come along," Sheppard suggested.
Sam nodded. "Rodney, do you think you'll need any backup from your scientists?"
"I guess I'll bring Zelenka along, he could use a bit more field experience."
"Then I suggest you start deciding what to bring. Caldwell won't appreciate having to wait around, so it's best if you're packed and ready before he gets here."
Nodding to himself, then clicking his fingers, McKay darted off.
"I'll go let Major Lorne know," Sheppard said, giving Carter a brief nod before departing himself. This wouldn't bring the Athosians back, but it might give them the tools to prevent anyone else from disappearing.
