Chapter 1

For a moment Laura Cadman lay with her eyes closed, taking in the incredible silence of Atlantis. Having grown up in a number of different towns and cities, as well as having served in such far-off places as the Gulf back on earth, she was familiar with the idea that there really wasn't anywhere one could go that there was complete silence. Even in the desert on earth there had been the constant sound of the wind and sand. In the cities she had lived in as a child, she had often lain awake like this and listened to the never-silent night. Even late at night there would have been the sound of cars and busses, of people walking by on the street and someone, somewhere playing their music. When her family had moved to the country she had realised that the night there was just as busy as in the city, only with different sounds. At night there would be the sound of wind and the rustle of the leaves on the large tree outside her window. A family of night-time birds had had a nest in that tree and she would hear them sing to one another during the summer months.

But here on Atlantis the silence was complete, almost oppressive. Even though their room was in the spire where a great number of the inhabitants lived, the city slept this time of night. Only a few members of the control-room crew would be awake and they were far enough removed that she would not be able to hear them. Perhaps once, when the city had been home to millions of people had it been possible that the city was never really quiet. But even with the people they had brought from earth and the children from M7G-677 the city was scarcely populated. Also, the city was submerged, which meant she was denied even the sound of the surf and the wind.

After a moment's silent reflection she realised the string of beads she wore in her hair had ended up under her cheek and was making her uncomfortable. With a finger she hooked the string under her face and pulled it out, thankful for the small sound the beads made as they tapped against one another. She was one of the few that already had her entire collection of beads – such as it were for the moment. After the ceremony on the Assembly Pier a few months back, where everyone had chucked their flag patches and ID tags, they needed something else for identification. It was Sophia, the jeweller, who had pointed out that they already had a system in place for such identification. That night on the Assembly Pier everyone had been given a blue crystal bead (which she and her two young assistants had made). Atlantis also had the ability to grow new crystal as well as the ability to program those crystals, seeing as Atlantis ran on crystal technology. So why not grow crystals that can function as ID tags?

This was why Sophia had been busy growing some interesting crystals these past few months. The crystals were grown in a number of different colours, depending on what each person did on Atlantis. Among the first grown were the black crystal beads the off-world teams wore. Those beads not only served as an ID, but also as an IDC and homing beacon when activated. Laura, as one of the women that had been on Athos (the new one) with Torren's party, had a third bead on her string, along with the black team-bead and the blue Atlantis-bead: a glossy brown wooden bead in remembrance of that night. The only problem was that, though she had received her black bead, Laura wasn't allowed off Lantea. After Elizabeth had realised quite a number of her SGA-team members were pregnant, she had taken a very obstinate view: if you're pregnant, you're grounded. And though a number of the SGA-team members had complained to Colonel Sheppard about it, including Laura and Anne Teldy, he had simply folded his arms and told them he was supporting Elizabeth. Already Atlantis was down 3 SGA-teams, but the leaders of their world were adamant. Even Rodney seemed happy about the idea, the traitor!

Turning around, she realised that the spot next to her was empty. Little wonder the silence seemed so complete: Carson was not in bed with her. She loved the man with her whole heart, but she would be the first to admit he was a noisy sleeper. Besides having a constant rumble, he would also at times speak in his sleep. Apparently Duncan did the same and she and Jennifer Keller would often compare notes on those night-time conversations: to the extreme irritation of the Becketts.

Reaching out a hand she felt spot beside her was cold, meaning he had been gone for a while. She wondered why he hadn't wakened her when he had gotten up. With a slight frown she flipped onto her back, these days the only really comfortable position for her anyway. She and Carson might both be responsible for the making of the little bundle of bloody joy, but she was the one with the expanding waistline. She knew that when the baby was born she would love it dearly – even now she was awed by the idea of life inside her. But that was the problem: she was the one with the belly and the morning sickness and the cravings and Elizabeth telling her she wasn't going anywhere until the kid was safely delivered.

Grinning in the darkness, she tried to imagine Carson with a baby in his arms. He was going to make a great dad, she just knew.

Suddenly her empty bed and silent room seemed unbearably lonely. Quickly she got up and put on a track suit. Slipping her feet into soft slippers she made her way to the one place Carson would have gone this time of night.

As she entered the infirmary she saw the rumpled head she had been looking for sitting bent over the bed of the sick woman. For a moment she merely stood looking at him, somehow afraid to interrupt. She knew, though, that he would be grateful for the company, so she silently padded over to where he sat.

"Carson?" she softly whispered as she drew near. The man looked up and around at the soft voice behind him. "Oh, Duncan," she amended. Though she could tell the two men apart even before they had gotten their rather ridiculous tattoos, she had to admit she had to see their faces in order to do so. "Have you seen my husband?" she softly asked her brother-in-law – if indeed that was what he was. Technically he wasn't, but nobody was really sure what else to make of the situation, so thinking of him and Carson as twins seemed the easiest.

Duncan smiled slightly. "He's over in the lab trying something I've already tried," he told her. She returned his small smile. Though Carson and Duncan were technically the same person until about two years ago, they had worked hard on creating some subtle differences. Duncan was the one that would often make the more biting comments. She would often see the same thought had occurred to her husband, but in their very complicated relationship, Carson would bite back the comment the same way Duncan would often refrain from making the nice comment. Duncan was also sometimes given to slight self-doubt. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that he had been left on his own for so long, only to find nobody had been looking for him.

Sometimes Laura wondered exactly how much Carson and Duncan were still the same. Could it be that she and Jennifer loved interchangeable men? She hoped not, but still refused to pursue that thought too far. For now she was happy with the way things were, even if they were very strange. After all, though he shared the same memories as Carson up until about three years back, Duncan was only about two years old. And, according to earth, he did not exist. But then again she did not really blame earth for not understanding. Often she wondered how their strange situation could ever be explained.

As to that, theirs was not really an isolated situation, was it? Lantea was a world packed full of the unexplainable and weird. Their situation was unique, but not rare. There was also Sitnalta, who, though not a clone, had been created through similar technology. The young woman was only a year or so older than Duncan, after all. And of course there was Elizabeth that ran on nanites, Teyla who was part Wraith and Ronon for whom no explanation as of yet has been found. Doctor McKay had almost ascended and once – for a few hours – Colonel Sheppard had lost his hand. Jennifer had almost changed into a Wraith ship (they think) and Laura self had been on Atlantis less than a week when she had been forced to spend a few days inside Rodney's mind. In fact, come to think of it, the only peculiar thing on Lantea was if nothing peculiar hadn't happened to you yet.

Just then her husband of only two days came in, looking tired. He, like the rest of the medical staff, still only wore the single blue bead. Well, except Jennifer, who also had a brown bead. In time, though, they would receive various shades of yellow beads, with the three doctors' the palest shade. Carson brightened when he saw her.

"Hey, love," he greeted her before kissing her lightly on the forehead. "Sorry I didn't wake you, but with the little one you need all the sleep you can get," he tiredly explained her unspoken question of earlier. Worry lines creased his forehead and made him look old. She hated seeing those lines. He was a man only married two days ago. He – and, admittedly, quite a number of the Atlanteans – were supposed to be on their honeymoon. Most of them were. Only Carson, Duncan and their new wives were not off to some remote spot on the mainland. The one behind the idea of the mass wedding had been – of all people – Colonel Sheppard. Lantea's rotation was slightly longer than that of earth, making the Lantean year longer by three days. Before, when they had been worried about going back to earth, they had maintained a synchronous calendar with that planet. Now they had added those three days to February, suddenly making it one of the long months (they no longer celebrated leap year, though). Today, by all calendars, was the 16th of February. A few weeks ago, when Sheppard had realised Valentine's Day was looming on the horison, he had suggested that those who still wanted to get married before the babies arrived could get married on that day. Many had agreed, especially Elizabeth and Teyla. For the past few months the two women had been tasked with marrying people and they had finally reached a point where it was no longer something they wanted to do. A mass wedding had solved that problem. The two Becketts had gotten hitched on that day as well.

"How is she?" she asked her new husband. His eyes seemed to hang even more as he went to stand next to Duncan at the bed.

"We think it might have been something she'd been exposed to in the food at our wedding," he sadly remarked. Gently he stroked the woman's forehead. "We're just happy nobody else got sick," he added.

Laura felt she could burst with biting back the thought that had entered her mind. At the wedding, at the insistence of the Becketts, traditional haggis had been served. If the patient had been anyone else, she would have made some quip about it being that pale gray disgusting dish.

She suddenly realised Carson was looking at her with a slight smile, his head tilted slightly down as if trying to hide that smile. "Oh, you might as well say it," he told her. "Ronon was in here earlier and he'd had no problem telling us it had been the haggis that did it," he explained. "Seeing as nobody else ate of it."

"And I'm sure McKay had started to say the same thing before Sheppard had hit him behind the head," Duncan added with a grin identical to Carson's. Laura smiled at them.

"Well, then I guess I needn't repeat it," she smoothly informed them.

The Becketts frowned at her. "We've tested it, you know, and the poor haggis was innocent," Carson explained. "There was nothing in there that shouldn't be," he added.

Laura wondered at that. She – like many of the inhabitants – had tried the dish before, usually with the familiar buddy-chant of "down, down, down!" Always a sure sign that it had been because of a stupid dare nobody was brave enough not to weasel out of. After just one taste she had been convinced that nothing in that dish actually belonged there.

She looked at the woman on the bed, wondering what was going through the men's minds. She had come to love the lady as much as the men did, but she knew it was different for them.

Finally she looked at them. "If not the haggis, then what?" she wondered.

This time Duncan answered. "We just don't know."