A/N: I don't own Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, or anything related to any of them. I merely borrowed them. This is the sequel to Stargate Atlantis: Inner Demons, by me. This story takes place before the Fourth Horseman and basically diverges off the beaten path from there. Beta'd by Angw.

A Prophecy

By Cpt. Ritter

Colonel Cameron Mitchell glanced back towards the control room.

"Chevron 1 encoded." Walter stated over the loudspeaker.

It had never gotten old. He loved this job. He was serving on the front lines with the best of the best, SG-1. He remembered the first time he'd set foot in the gate room. All he had been able to think about was how big it was. That was before he'd actually seen it in action.

"Chevron 2 encoded."

He'd been awe struck. The massive bubble had surged out like nothing he'd ever seen before. Even now, after he'd set foot through it so many times he'd lost count, he still felt the feeling of pure bliss as it opened.

"Chevron 3 encoded."

It had been a long haul to get SG-1 back together. First Daniel had to be bonded against his will to Vala, and then Teal'c had become more of an outcast on Dakara. Finally, Sam had been reassigned, courtesy of one General Jack O'Neill. He glanced at the patch on Sam's arm.

"Chevron 4 encoded."

He flashed his team his most boyish grin. Teal'c raised an eyebrow, Sam smiled, and Daniel gave him a looked that asked, "You have fun with this?"

"Chevron 5 encoded."

He reached down and checked the GDO on his arm. It rested on his right wrist. He glanced at the display. It read fully charged. Good. He'd remembered to change the batteries.

"Chevron 6 encoded."

"SG-1, you'll have a go as soon as it's open." General Landry said from the control room.

"Chevron 7 locked."

The bubble shot out to the end of the ramp and then collapsed back into gate. Cameron glanced at his team, then they all stepped forward and through the gate.

P3F-998 was a tropical world. Cameron immediately regretted wearing the full black jacket that he had on, in addition to the flak jacket. The stargate was situated in a large clear surrounded by trees. He turned to Daniel. "So where to?"

Daniel absently regarded Cameron's comment and glanced at his compass. "The MALP said that the ancient structure was to the north."

"Lead the way." Cameron motioned for Daniel to take the lead.

Daniel started walking, not looking up. To this day, it still surprised Cameron how the archaeologist managed not to trip over his own feet while he was following a compass.

Cameron fell into step with Teal'c. "Any news from Dakara?"

Teal'c's expression became grim. "The Jaffa are not the noble warriors we once were. Gerak has gained an increasing amount of power. His advocation for the Jaffa to adopt Origin as their religion is..." Teal'c paused. "...unsettling."

"I'll say. Wasn't he the one who advocated for Jaffa to be their own masters?"

"Indeed. I fear that Gerak is truly afraid without beliefs. He tried to challenge the Ori. Now, just like the Goa'uld, he will bow down before them."

"If only so he can slit their throats later, right?"

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded. "Gerak is treacherous. I fear he will continue to be so."

"Well, I'm glad to have you on our side."

Daniel reached the compound first. It was walled. The most surprising part was that it was still completely intact. Inside the walls was a trio of large domed structures. Their roofs were completely transparent, with no hint of frames or anything.

"Alright, fan out." Cameron said.

Along the outer wall, there was nothing but writing. It was all in the characteristic script of the ancients. Cameron poked his head into one of the structures. Inside was a raised platform and several control panels.

Sam followed him in. "Wow. This is really good."

"I'll say." Cameron replied. "Think you can make it do whatever it does?"

"I can definitely try." Sam set her backpack down and pulled out her laptop.

Cameron wandered back outside the dome. He briefly glanced inside the other domes. They were all constructed identically. He returned to bother Daniel, who was frantically scribbling down notes in his journal.

"Find anything interesting Jackson?" He asked.

"Oh yeah." Daniel replied. "There's lots of mention of a transporter to other galaxies, as in the Star Trek kind."

"Cool!" Cameron smiled. "Does that mean I can say beam me up Scotty and it'll actually work."

"I doubt it's actually that simple. The most interesting thing I've found so far is that the last recorded entry is..." Daniel trailed off, looking intently at the writing. "from, what I'm guessing to be, six hundred years ago."

Cameron raised a hand to stop Daniel from continuing. "Wait a minute. Isn't most of the stuff that we find of the ancients is supposed to be a couple million years old."

"Yeah."

"So why did these ancients survive? For that matter…where?" He gestured to the surrounding forest. "There's nothing but forest as far as I can see."

"He must've lived somewhere. Why don't you and Teal'c have a look around?"

Cameron raised an eyebrow then tapped his radio. "Teal'c, meet me by the entrance. Jackson wants us to go on a scavenger hunt. Stay put Jackson," he pointed to the ground, "and keep an eye on Sam." He gestured to the dome Sam was working in.

Cameron turned around and walked back towards the opening. Teal'c was waiting for him. "Jackson wants us to look for a place where the ancient who lived here might have stayed."

Teal'c nodded and motioned for Cameron to take the lead.

Cameron figured that it would be best to circle the outside of the compound. He walked slowly through the bushes, looking out towards the forest. The ancient would probably have had a home somewhere nearby, that much made sense. Cameron hadn't been kidding Daniel when he said all there was around the compound were trees.

Off to the far side of the compound, the forest trailed up the side of a mountain. The mountain's top was shrouded by the clouds. Cameron smiled as he was draw into a teenage memory of mountain climbing. The rest of the land was fairly flat.

"Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c stated suddenly.

Cameron spun around. "What's up?"

Teal'c pointed to the ground at his feet. "The growth here is newer than the other areas."

"As in six hundred years old instead of several million?"

"Indeed."

Cameron motioned for Teal'c to lead the way. "Lead the way Teal'c."

Teal'c walked slowly through the forest. He frequently stopped to listen and analyze the trail. As they walked further, the trail seemed to get less and less clearer. Cameron began to notice little things. The trees became taller. The weeds grew rampant. His aunt wouldn't have liked that.

Teal'c stopped in a small clearing. The transporter compound was barely visible in the distance. "The path ends here." Teal'c stated.

Cameron looked around briefly. The small clearing was surrounded by three trees. He noticed that one tree had a small indentation on it. He turned on his flashlight and shined it into the indentation. "Hey Teal'c, what do you make of this?"

Before Teal'c could reply, they were transported into a small room. Cameron dropped into a combat ready stance and quickly scanned the room. He backed up so that he and Teal'c were back to back. "See anything?" He asked.

"I do not." Teal'c replied quietly.

Cameron tapped his radio. "Sam?" Nothing. "Jackson?" Nothing. "Okay, we need to find out where we are."

"I believe we were transported down here."

"Must've had something to do with when I shined my flashlight into that hole in the tree."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"What? Did you do anything?"

"No."
"See, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout. Now, there's gotta be some sort of control panel or something around here somewhere."

Cameron began to slowly look around the room with his flashlight. The room was small, and it did have control panels on either side. There was also a door on one side of the room. It was a simple wooden door on a swinging hinge. Cameron pushed it open.

Inside was what looked like an apartment. To one side were cooking utensils, though they were coated with a thick coat of dust. There was a bed in the opposite corner. Cameron spotted a large glowing button on the wall near the bed. He reached out and touched it.

Immediately, the room lit up brightly. Cameron closed his eyes against the sudden light and then slowly reopened them. The room was adorned with a single painting, inscribed on the wall. It looked like a flying saucer abducting people from a planet. He was sure there was some deeper meaning to it, but he wasn't the person to do it.

"I believe I have found the exit." Teal'c said from the other room.

Cameron walked back into the other room. Teal'c was examining one of the control consoles. In the center of the room was a pile of dirt and grass. "What'd you find?"

Teal'c pointed to a large red button. "This button will return us to the surface."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because it will move the grass and dirt back and forth."

"Cool!" Cameron stepped to the center of the room. "Let's go."

Teal'c tapped the button then jogged to stand next to Cameron. Only a moment later, and they were both beamed back to the small clearing they'd found.

"Let's get back to Sam and Jackson and tell them what we've found." Cameron could barely contain his excitement. This was what he was talking about.

XXX

Daniel had made little progress when Cameron ran up to him excitedly. "We found his home Jackson."

Daniel didn't look up from his translation. "Really?"

"Aren't you the least bit excited. This is fun."

"I've managed to translate a large portion of the text." Daniel sounded distracted. "It appears that the ancient who operated the transporter ascended around six hundred years ago."

"Wondering if you met him?"

"No. I can't really remember anything from when I was ascended. That's not the point. This installation will be able to transport us instantaneously to any spot in any galaxy the ancients visited."

"Does this include the Ori galaxy?"

"I'd assume it does."

"Then why haven't the Ori used it to invade our galaxy?"

"Who knows? Maybe they programmed the system to not allow the Ori to use it."

"We can't activate it." Sam said as she walked up to the group of guys. "We need an ancient to initialize the system before I can even begin to use it."

"Why does it have to be initialized?" Cameron asked.

"It was a safety mechanism developed by the ancients. Haven't you read the Atlantis mission reports?"

"No. I've only gotten through half of the SGC's reports." He shook his head. "Anyway, we're off topic. What do we have to do to get the system initialized?"

"We need Jack."

"You mean General O'Neill, right?"

Sam nodded.

Cameron shook his head. "Alright, I'll go give him a call. Teal'c, stay here with them."