Chapter Five: Make New Friends
Disclaimer—Don't own, but man I wish I did!! That would be SO cool.
The team exited the gate and stopped to observe the planet around them. The sun shone brightly, giving off warmth to every corner indicating a warm climate. Sheppard pulled out his sunglasses and put them on as McKay proceeded to complain about how he left his sunscreen in his lab on accident—earning a collective sigh from the rest of the team.
The gate, set in the middle of a circular stone patio, had four pathways branching out from it. To the west and east all they could see were rows and rows of crops. To the south there looked to be a forest of some kind. And to the north they could make out a structure of some kind. Each pathway was enshrouded with trees, providing shade from the sweltering heat—giving off the air of a well manicured and thoughtful society. In the distance, some figures working stood out, but did not make to approach them.
"Not much into the whole welcoming committee are they?" Sheppard noted, nodding in their direction.
"We should probably head towards the structure, as that might be the monastery that was mentioned by my contact. It is possible that people we could speak with reside there," replied Teyla in her matter of fact manner.
"Huh, I am picking up some interesting power readings from the North and South." Rodney interjected.
"Well, the structure is north so why do we not try there first. Perhaps we can find someone who can explain things better," said Teyla.
John nodded and said, "Well, let's get this over with then shall we?" leading the way up the northern path, directly shooting out from the gate.
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As they walked Rodney seemed to grow more and more rattled. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "Uhh, guys? Have you noticed what they seem to be growing a lot of here?" He asked hesitantly.
Ronon replied, "Melons and fruit. So what?"
An audible 'oh' escaped from Sheppard before he said, "Fruit that looks suspiciously like," evil grin, "Lemons?" He reached up and picked one off the trees lining the path before lobbing it in McKay's general direction. McKay freaked out and jumped out of the way, moving faster than the team witnessed in some time.
"Don't..do…that!" whined McKay, getting more upset by the moment.
"Relax Rodney, they look like they have other stuff out there. Nobody is going to make you eat them or anything. People can't live off of lemons, so they probably have other stuff to trade." Sheppard said as they reached the foot of the stairs to a really old looking building that seemed slightly familiar in design. "Looks like we're here anyway, so too late to turn back."
"You, you," spluttered Rodney, "Great now I'm stuck here. Oww!"
Teyla gently nudged him in the ribs, and nodded toward a figure in all white that approached them from the top of the stairs. Well-built and strong looking, they observed his relatively young age—perhaps late twenties. Brilliant blond hair, accented by a circlet of gold, shone in the bright sun, and a face full of laughter greeted them.
"Ah, welcome, welcome to our monastery," the man said beaming, "I am Lord Damian, head of the high council of monks."
John nodded to him and started the introductions. "Yeah, hi. This is Dr. Rodney McKay," Rodney waved and gave an uneasy smile. "Teyla Emmagan," She nodded to him. "Ronon Dex," Ronon just looked at him as if he were sizing him up. "And I'm Colonel John Sheppard."
The bright green eyes of Lord Damian flickered with emotion for a split second with the conclusion of the introductions but quickly regained their sparkle. "Well, what can I do for you?"
Teyla replied, "I have heard from one of my Athosian contacts that the monks of this monastery are master farmers, yet they seek potential trading partners for things that they cannot grow themselves. We come in reply to this as we are seeking food, but have much to offer in return in regards to farming techniques and methods."
"Well, why don't we head inside and you all can talk to the rest of the council, and perhaps we can come to an agreement of some sort. I know that good trading partners are always beneficial," said Damian as he ushered them through the tall doors of the complex.
The monastery, unique and visually appealing, struck them as familiar because the whole advancement of the building was on par with Atlantis. As Damian led them through the main entrance and corridors, they observed distinct similarities in architecture and the features of the complex. The doors were the same; rooms that they could see into were also set up similar to some of the labs of their own, and even the control crystals to activate the doors looked oddly familiar.
Rodney, unable to contain his inquisitive thoughts, asked first, "Did, the ancients build this? Because it seems to be very much of their style."
Damian replied, "If by ancients, you mean the ancestors, then yes, it was build by them. Our brotherhood found this place several thousand years ago after fleeing a wraith culling. They claimed it as their home, living here ever since. It is a unique and special place. Our brothers have made many discoveries here that have furthered our knowledge, and we believe that it was perhaps a small research facility built for some unknown purpose, but it is self-sufficient so we live quite comfortably. However maintaining adequate power remains a constant in recent years, and we have shut down many of the functions. Someday, we hope to get it running to its full capacity. How is it that you recognized the style?"
The team shifted uncomfortably, so Sheppard replied vaguely, "Well, we uh come from a place also built by the ancients."
Rodney burst in, "Plus when we got here I picked up beaucoup power readings coming from the north and south, meaning something of significance lay here."
Damian raised an eyebrow, "Did you now? Well the old ruins lie in the forest to the south, and us here. But we only have the simple things running in this place. My people lead a simple life for the most part, farming and such, however we do look into the ways of the ancestors."
While walking, John attempted to connect with the complex—assuming those with strong genes could aptly tap into the city, like with Atlantis. While Rodney tended to joke about John being the city's favorite, some truth lay with the matter—Atlantis did like him for some reason. She tended to hum in his head wherever he went, not to mention obeying every little whim of his in regards to system controls.
Yet this place did not take to him so readily. He sensed that there someone else already occupied the role of the "favorite" of the complex, and took immense control because the complex emanated surprise at his mental prodding, immediately turning defensive. John realized that someone here contained strong ATA genes that perhaps rivaled his own, because they deliberately kept the city in check.
This worried John, as he considered the potential power of someone who so actively controlled the city. He hoped that he was just paranoid about this whole thing, because if this didn't go so well, the complex would probably align itself with its current favorite—proving a tough obstacle to overcome. For now he simply tried to bide his time and remain alert without ruining the chance to align them with these monks—after all another strong gene could prove useful.
Damian led them to a chamber that vaguely resembled their own conference room on Atlantis. The doors automatically opened at their approach, resulting in Rodney shooting an accusatory look in John's direction. He did not respond as Damian showed them in saying, "I hope you will be comfortable waiting in here. The council must be assembled to meet with you; unfortunately some of its members are out doing their daily duties so please excuse me if it takes a moment or two."
After the high monk left, the team began to survey the room. While structurally the room was comparable to Atlantis, the decorating left much to be desired. Several plush couches and chairs formed a semi-circle in the center of the room, serving as a meeting area. Yet, shelves lined every inch of wall space, and scrolls overflowed from the bookcases. The room resembled a library more than a conference room.
Simply to confirm that they were indeed alone, Sheppard checked his LSD to confirm, before asking McKay, "So, Rodney, any mention of other places like this in the database that you ever came across but forgot to mention?"
"No, believe me I would have told you if I knew," he retorted snarkily.
"This place is uncannily like Atlantis in design, but the layout is of course much different and it is much smaller as well," commented Teyla sitting down on one of the plush floor pillows. Rodney thought it vaguely resembled a bean bag.
"I wonder what they are using to power it though. That lord, oh, what's his face, said that they had to shut down a lot of systems. But how does he know that?" wondered Rodney out loud, asking the question on everyone's mind.
"Yeah, and what did he mean when he said they were interesting in the work of the ancients?" asked Ronon completing a sweep of the room for any threats, "I thought they Teyla's contact said they were simple farmers."
"Those are damn good questions. These monks must be more than just simple farmers if they have that much interest and control over this place," started John, "However, there is one thing really bugging me. I tried to connect with the place, since it was so similar to Atlantis, and the complex didn't really like me."
Rodney snorted, "Oh, so you can't be every ancient city's favorite. Ha you were rejected by a city. That's pretty pathetic Kirk."
John rolled his eyes and continued, "Anyway my point is, is that someone else must be connected pretty closely with the city for it to reject me so fast. And to do that, they would have to have a pretty darn strong ATA gene wouldn't you say?"
"Oh, my," responded Rodney considering the idea, "You actually may have a point there Sheppard."
Teyla spoke up to clarify, "So there is someone here who has a gene almost or as strong as John?"
"Seems like it," said Rodney, nodding, "Wait, so it wasn't you who opened the doors to this room. I mean that Lord thingy didn't touch anything, so he must have the gene too. I wonder how many of these monks actually have it because I don't want a repeat of what happened on that planet with the Lord Protector and who was she…….," snapped his fingers a couple of times, "Ah yes, Mara."
John glare shot daggers at Rodney.
"Let's just keep a low profile," added Ronon.
"Yeah, boys and girl, I agree that we play nice, but stay sharp incase they aren't what they seem," replied John seriously, "And, be ready to make a quick getaway. Just in case."
Teyla nodded saying, "Perhaps we have just found ourselves some powerful allies, and we are just a little paranoid due to what happened with our last encounter dealing with people who carried the gene."
"How about this?" asked Rodney looking up from his data pad, "I will try and tap into their system and run a diagnostic to see what's going on with this place. This way, we at least know something about what we are up against."
"Can you find out what kind of weapons they have? Like if they have a chair room or not, because that would be good to know," questioned John.
Rodney, already on it, waved his hand in dismissal, "Yeah, yeah give me ten minutes and I'll give you 'old ancient research facility' for dummies 2.0."
With that they fell silent to let Rodney work, and to ponder what they had just gotten themselves into. Perhaps paranoia was simply playing tricks on them, or perhaps the strange feeling in the back of their minds was accurate.
o0o
Subterranean Complex:
Kolya had been talking with a few of his remaining men who had been spying off world when he got an interesting message from his friend.
'Well, I have some interesting visitors who showed up on my doorstep this afternoon. You might be interested to peek at the surveillance photos. I think you may know them, one in particular. Whatever you do, do NOT leave your quarters and reveal yourself yet. We must stick to the plan. Patience is a virtue my friend and all will come in good time. Don't screw this up; you might not have another chance that is this good. I will be by to talk with you about this further later on in the day. LD.
He left his men where they were and went straight to the control room by the gate. This was where all of the surveillance was transmitted from the monastery. He pulled up the pictures from about an hour ago from the camera by the gate. A quartet had gated in, and in the midst of them was none other than the man whom Kolya would do anything to eliminate, Colonel John Sheppard. A smile lit up his face, ah sweet revenge, there would be no escape this time; he would make sure of it.
--TBC--