Prologue: A Bad Dream

O God! I could be bounded in a nut-shell,

and count myself the king of infinite space,

were it not that I have bad dreams.

-William Shakespeare

The Gateship zoomed out of the shimmering blue puddle that was a wormhole and sped across the landscape. The passenger and pilot alike looked at the brightly colored wildflowers growing on the gently rolling hills. A cool breeze made the flora sway to and fro, while this world's warm yellow sun and cloudless azure sky completed the picturesque scene below.

The ship slowed as it neared its destination: a small cave in the side of a remote mountain on a middle-of-nowhere planet that was about to become one of the most important places in the universe. It touched down about 20 yards from the cave's entrance, where a small group of people awaited the arrival of its important passenger: the military leader of Atlantis.

The cluster of excited technicians made polite greetings as the tall, dark-haired man clad in the standard Lantean military uniform stepped down the ramp of the Gateship and made his way to the cave, making brief glances at the datapads that some scientists presented to him. Most of the stuff was way over his head and didn't mean jack to him, but he still nodded and made noncommittal grunts as he waded through the scientists, looking for their leader, the Chief geek and one of the heads of the Atlantis science department.

He found his quarry surrounded by a mountain of screens and various technological paraphernalia, berating some poor technician about "his colossal screw-up that could cost all of Atlantis with his idiocy" and suggested that he go do something to himself. The commander smiled and walked over to the genius, who was still muttering curses under his breath.

He waited till he was just feet from the oblivious man now underneath a console before he spoke. "So, everything's running smoothly I take it?"

The thirty year old scientist gave a small high-pitch shriek as he instinctively jumped and banged his head on the lip of the console. "For crying out loud, Tertius, don't scare me like that! You might give me cardiac arrest and force me to Ascend before my time!"

Asellus Tertius, the armed forces leader of Atlantis, laughed as his childhood friend crawled from under the console and stood, massaging the back of his head. "Well, I wouldn't want t deprive the last free humans of their greatest mind, would I? Of course, the greatest next to Janis…"

Riel Mimosa snorted. "You're comparing me to the deranged hermit who's spending all his time tinkering in some dark corner of Atlantis, bent on creating a device that, even if it beats all odds and actually does more than waste our precious resources, is completely pointless." He held up his hands. "Let's see, on one hand, me, a head of the science section of the greatest city humanity has ever known and, as you so eloquently put it, our only hope for survival… or on the other hand, the mad scientist who cares only about his precious time machine. Yes, I can see the similarities: one useful and the other totally useless. Great comparison."

Asellus laughed. "You know me, Mr. Observant." They both chuckled again, but gathered themselves. "Now, onto important stuff." He gestured to the text scattered on the screens. "So, how's it going?"

The Lantean scientist glance at some readouts on the screen and replied, "Pretty well, surprisingly. So far, this place has still been undetected by the Wraith and things are running pretty smoothly, for the most part. The AI hologram has been nearly completed, and the, uh, tests, are being triple checked, but there are blue lights all around. All of our experimental technology and the 'tracker', for lack of a better word, have been place at the end."

"Explain something to me. How are we going to keep anybody from just walking in here and taking it?"

"Did you even read the project file?" Asellus didn't say anything. "I'll take that as a 'no'. In order to gain access to the 'treasure' if you will, a person must meet five preset qualifications: they must possess our unique gene, cunning, mercy, valor, and faith. The AI and holograms we have installed inside will create realistic scenarios by linking the holograms directly into the said person through their gene. The holograms will automatically cease the virtual reality once it determines if the person has passed or failed. If the person 'wins', they get the grand prize: surviving, and getting possibly some of our best works, most of which are mine, of course."

Tertius stood quietly for a moment, absorbing the information. "The five qualifications, aren't those the same requirements for Ascension?"

"So I see you do live up to your name, O King of the Blatantly Obvious. You're right, they are. That way we know that the one who gets their hands on this technology will most likely use it for good purposes, rather than more nefarious ones."

Asellus grunted in the affirmative, and fell silent once more. At last, the commander sighed. "You're preparing this like no one is coming for a while." The last part was an obvious question, but he said it like it was a statement.

The scientist sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "As much as I hate to admit it, yes, I am. There are few civilizations in this galaxy that are even close to comprehending our technology, and now that they have fallen to the Wraith, I sincerely doubt that they will be coming here anytime soon. In our home galaxy there's a greater chance, but without zero-point energy, there's no way here. From where we stand now, I don't see how anyone person come here again for thousands of years. It's just not possible." He paused, sensing his friend's disturbance.

"It's not me I worried for; it's the future generations of humans of this galaxy that will have to live under the shadow of the Wraith, without hope of a better future, or of a long life. Regardless of what the Council says, I still think we should stay here and fight for the billions of humans here, despite the odds. I'd almost rather that Atlantis would fall than turn tail and run, abandoning these people to certain death." He made a forced bitter laugh. "I almost wish we could see what will happen thousands of years from now, just to know that all of this is worth it. Maybe Janis isn't so crazy about that time machine of his."

"Perhaps. But Asellus, remember that by doing a 'strategic retreat' we have hope that someone out there will come up with a solution. Maybe they'll even use what we put in the Cave. But nothing, not even a time-travel device, could tell you that." The friends and leaders of their people stood like statues in the summer sun lost in their own thoughts, as people moved in a flurry around them.

Asellus faced the entrance of the cave, watching the hustle and bustle taking place in front of it, when a dark-haired woman wearing white suddenly appeared there, looking right at him. Scientists passed right by her, unseeing. The commander walked toward her as if called, and the world around him grew silent and still.

It was then, when he stood in front of her, that her name came unbidden to his mind.

"Chaya."

The Ascended Being smiled sadly and replied, "Hello." She glanced behind her, and the Ancient's widened with fear. Chaya spoke so fast it was near frantic. "I showed this to you because it contains information that is vital to the survival of Atlantis. You must come here, to this world, and reach the end of the Cave." As she was speaking, she began to glow faintly. He could see Chaya breathing heavily; she was panicking. "Tell no one of this!" With that, she dissolved into white light.

In that same instant, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard bolted up in his bed suddenly that he can almost hear an audible snap! He sat there gulping air, his skin covered with a thin sheen of sweat. He raised a quivering hand and ran it through his hair. He quickly glanced around the room to make sure that this was his quarters in Atlantis in AD 2006. Seeing nothing but shadows and the large Johnny Cash poster on his wall, he finally relaxed and fell back onto his bed, staring at the dark ceiling.

"That was… different." John's mind was spinning and he knew he wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon.

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