Here is my second chapter I know they are short, but as I get going I hope to make them longer.

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1 Day after arriving on Atlantis

For the last twenty 24 hours the members of the expedition had been restricted to the gate room and a few floors above and below within the central tower. At first there had been some panic among the members when they were unable to explore any farther or dial the gate. Many of their fears were alleviated when after several failed attempts hack into the systems locking them out Avalon projected John's voice through the tower.

"Elizabeth the reason that everyone's movements are being restricted is because there are many potential dangers throughout the city. Avalon does not wish to see any of her new inhabitants harmed so we are working together to seal the rooms that present a danger until we understand enough about what resided within to safely enter. We are currently working the rooms closest to the central tower so that everyone can find suitable housing until we finish our task."

Elizabeth-"Colonel Sheppard"

John-"Sorry Elizabeth can't talk now Atlantis is explaining why the Ancients fled and the city was sank to the ocean floor"

Rodney-"Well at least we are gaining valuable information and the city seems to helpful, though I am annoyed that we are being limited on what we will be able to experiment with."

Elizabeth-"I am actually quite relieved Dr. McKay who knows what dangers lay slumbering within these walls"

13 Days later

The shield around the chair finally dissipates and John jumps up as though he had only been sitting there for 14 minutes not 14 days shocking several who had been rotating through the room waiting for John to wake up and begin his explanations.

John-"I need to see Elizabeth, Dr. McKay, Major Lorne, and Colonel Sumner in negotiations room one floor above the gate room.

Twenty minutes later the specified group had been gathered and everyone looked pleased that they would be getting answers they were looking for. As soon everyone was seated the doors closed and the room was sealed the others looking to John for an answer just saw him smile. John-"well I am sure you all have questions, but allow me to explain what I have learned over the last two weeks."

So John told them of how he heard the voices of the city, how they led him to the chair, of the Wraith, some about the leviathans, and his position as keeper and what it meant. He explained that the gate was locked out so that they did not get themselves killed exploring new planets by either running into the Wraith or by accidentally dialing one of the many space gates that were scattered Pegasus. He explained that several of the gate addressed were also locked out for now until they were able to scan the corresponding planets for potential threats that had existed 10,000 years ago, but may no longer exist.

Having explained most of what was needed John began to initiate the plans that he created with Atlantis and Avalon. "This city is starving. They need energy and the ores and minerals that are harvested through mining operations. There is currently a mobile drilling station on the bottom of the ocean. The station operates using geothermal energy and generates approximately 20% of the energy that a ZPM produces. We are going take down several power cells to store the energy not consumed in mining, harvesting, and refining processes. Once fully charges they will be brought back to the city they will not replace the ZPMs but they will be able to power several essential systems until we gain the ability to recharge the ZPMs we currently posses. There is another mobile mining facility currently on the mainland however it was damaged during the siege on the city before the Ancients fled back to Earth."

John turned to Sumner "Colonel assemble a team we will be traveling to the facilities within the next week and I want to do a full sweep before any scientists enter to ensure that the Ancients did not leave anything behind that could be harmful there was no record as to why the one on the ocean floor was abandoned. I don't want any members of your team to be gene carriers so that during the initial sweep nothing will be accidentally activated before we understand all the systems."

Turning to Lorne he ordered "Major gather your four teams and begin sweeping every room that you are able to access. Have your non gene carriers do full sweeps first then one of the scientists will be allowed to enter. Using one of the tablets that I am going to give Rodney, they are connected to the database and will tell you what the room was used for and if any of the equipment is dangerous before any gene carriers enter so nothing hazardous is accidentally activated."

Turning to Rodney he said "when Lorne and his teams have given the all clear for a room your teams may begin moving into different rooms to start familiarizing themselves with different technology they will be utilizing. After both mining facilities have been cleared I would like a team in both to have them up and running as soon as possible"

Finally turning to Elizabeth "I would like for us to remain on Atlantis for as long as possible before traveling out into the galaxy. I believe that the more time we have to settle in here the better prepared we will be to face what is out there waiting for us. I know that we brought large amounts of seeds for food. There are several hydroponics labs where we will be able to grow fresh fruits and vegetables so we will have a constant and renewable source of food."

Returning his attention to Sumner "Colonel once we are settled in here I would like for you men to begin to explore the mainland there was once an abundance of wildlife that could be used to provide fresh meats for our people and plenty of acreage for growing crops. We will begin by taking one of the gate ships and using their scanners to scan the surface to ensure that it is not populated by anything that would pose a threat to us."

Turning back to address the group as a whole Sheppard asked if there were any questions. "No, good I have a few things to take care of I would appreciate it if each of you would pass along the necessary information to your subordinates." Stated John before taking his leave, while on his way to the gate room John was pleased with the current command structure.

X X X

John was in charge of the security of the city and the protection of all civilians in the expedition meaning that when in the city John was the ranking military officer.

Colonel Sumner was his counterpart and was in charge of all military assets in the field so any military activity outside the city was the responsibility of Colonel Sumner. Now in the event that either man was incapacitated the other could take over which actually worked out really well, because John was newly promoted and while Sumner was an asshole he had three decades of experience to John's one.

Major Lorne was Johns Second in Command or 2IC he was part of the four, four man teams that were responsible for the security of the city and reported only to Colonel Sheppard.

Dr. Rodney McKay he is the Chief Science Adviser and was in charge of Hard sciences much to his delight, and while Rodney is a brilliant man he is extremely hard to work with at times due to his attitude towards others.

That left Dr. Elizabeth Weir she was the diplomat and in charge of the soft sciences. Elizabeth and her team would be going to meet potential allies and trade partners once they were deemed safe enough to iron out alliances and trade deals.