A/N: It's over a year since last update! Omg, I'm so touched that new people is finding this project of mine. It breaks my heart that I don't update it more often. It's not a very long chapter. But at least it's a chapter!
Thank you!
Chapter 10 Part 1
"Skylock?"
"Welcome to Verania. The planets largest city."
"A city! An actual city! Can you believe it?!"
"This is…"
"Is this what your home is like?" Teyla asked as her eyes searched the end of the city.
She saw mountains far off, but not open land. A river cut through the city, appearing in between buildings and disappearing to the right. The city stretched out seemingly endlessly. She had only seen ruins of such cities before.
Vera's eyes still hadn't left the captain. She didn't experience the same amazement as the others. To her civilisation had only been lost for a few months. They were all stunned for their different reasons. Teyla had never lived in a larger city, Ronon hadn't seen one in a long time, and not with this level of thechnology. But both felt the same uncomfort, especially Ronon. Large populations never lasted long, the Wraith always found them. While McKay and Sheppard was amazed to find something that resembled earth's large cities.
"This is an off-world base." Vera stated to the captain, keeping her tone low so the others wouldn't pick up on the conversation.
"Yes." Khalid admitted. "It was in construction phase when Atlantis was being… evacuated." He clearly didn't agree with the word, hinting at his disagreement of the action taken 10 000 years ago.
He motioned towards the consoles and panels of the room with his right arm. "The control centre was finished, there is a Chair, but not much of the weaponry could be produced. And no Lantean ships are hangered here."
"But there are hangars. With military class vehicles."
"Yes." He admitted proudly.
Something caught Sheppards eye and his brow furrowed.
"What did you call this city?" He turned and asked.
"Verania." The captain repeated with the hint of a smile, clearly pleased with it. "It is the largest city on the planet, population wise at least."
"I think you should see this." He said as he looked at Vera.
She met his eyes, gave the captain a brief look and then walked over to the windows.
"Look, over there."
He pointed towards a square where several roads joined into a large roundabout. It was located a few blocks away. One of the buildings, a skyscraper with at least 50 floors, had a large screen. Projected on it was an image of a woman. Of light blond hair, fair skin and blue eyes. Veras eyes widened.
"The city is named after you. That's your picture, isn't it?"
She was younger in the picture, but it was definitely her, it couldn't be mistaken.
Vera turned so fast her braid lifted from her chest and swung to her back.
"When we arrived, we were greeted by people in robes. They kneeled after I gave a password which spread is very limited. The woman you called Melissa has a very close resemblance to myself, and was dressed as some sort of priestess. And now I see my image projected on a skyscraper!"
Everyone had fallen silent and was watching her. Vera was fuming and slowly moving towards the man. Sheppard was now certain they had never seen the woman angry before.
"Well-"
"This is religion!" She snapped at the captain. "Melissa, who was she?"
"She plays the part of the Herald." He explained, now not as enthusiastic having been yelled at.
"Of what?"
"Of the… Liberator." He said hesitantly. If possible, Vera's eyes darkened even more.
"What exactly is this Liberator?" Teyla asked.
The captain chose to look at her instead of the furious lantean as he answered.
"She is a sort of herald."
"It's not religion." A voice sounded from across the room. They all turned towards it. "Well, it's not like many other religions that we have seen develop on our planet."
"Who are you?" Shepard asked, his hand unconsciously seeking toward the trigger of his weapon.
"This is Kiran." The captain said.
"I am one of the few people on this planet that still carries the genetic marker required to operate this technology."
"Explain yourself."
The man had walked up to them, he was dressed in white. In a uniform that seemed similar to the one Vera had worn on the image projected outside. His hair was dark, eyes brown as well as his skin. He also had a smile that told of his self-confidence.
"Your image has carried us through thousands of years." He walked up to the panoramic window and gestured with his hand towards the image. "Civilisations has risen and fallen under your watchful eyes."
"If you are trying to make sense, you are failing."
"When the evacuation of Atlantis took place, there were those who disagreed." Captain Khalid started to explain, perhaps realizing that they would make no progress until the story was told. "For some time, this base had been under construction. There were those who wanted it to become the Combat central for the stand against the Wraith. As you might have figured out, only the ground work was made. There are no weapons here. When the evacuation was decided there were little to be done. But it was also decided not to wake up the Admiral. So, to give you a fighting chance, a group of people placed a small means for you to at least make your own decision as what to do when you finally woke up."
"The crystals could easily be hidden within the main building. Leaving them there for my retrieval. Yet here we are. With thousands gathering below that picture." She pointed to the image herself, still not letting him go with her eyes.
"The people of the planet were already deeply involved in the process of building the combat centre. Your people felt they owed them, I suppose." Kiran continued. "The three ESC's was left in their care and originally they were all kept together, here in this centre."
"ESC's?" McKay asked.
"Energy Storage Containers."
"That's not-"
"Not now McKay." Sheppard hushed between clenched teeth.
"But-"
"Shut up."
"At any rate." Kiran was still smiling, still looking at Vera with eyes of… was it adoration? No, maybe expectation. "We have one of them here. One is on the other face of the earth and the third was lost as sea about… 2000 years ago." He said after some pondering.
"Lost?" Sheppard frowned.
"I don't care about the energy resources right now." Vera cut in, steadily keeping Kiran's eyes in hers. "I need to understand what's happening."
"The people does not worship you." He said with emphasis on the last word. "They worship what you can do."
"Stop dancing around."
"They expect you to open the Skylock."
"Skylock?"
"There is a shield in the-" He stopped himself as Khalid made a face. "Actually, I think the captain can explain this one better.
"It's not, by definition, a shield. It is an energy field that surrounds the entire planet. Held up by drones that creates an octagonal net. It keeps the planet invisible from scanners, no signals are let out so it cannot be discovered by accident. The only way to learn of this planets existence from space is my physically coming here and visually see it."
"The wraith doesn't know it exist." Teyla said with a certain reverence in her voice. This was a haven. A paradise island in an ocean of enemies.
"Exactly." The captain nodded towards her.
"What?" Kiran almost snorted a laugh. "Are you trying to say that old wives' tale has some truth to it?" Six pairs of eyes turned to him with nothing but soberness in them.
"The wraith was the reason this base was built. I am guessing they are also the reason as to why you are here now?" The captain asked.
"You have no idea how lucky you are." Ronon said with a dark voice.
"Captain. Will my command code deactivate the field?" Vera asked.
"Yes."
"Why would you do that?" Teyla asked, almost desperate.
"Why wouldn't she?!" Kiran raised his voice now, clearly passionate. "We are trapped here. Never have we been to space. Do you understand how many of us that dream of the stars? How many times we have seen rockets destroyed upon reaching the Skylock?"
"I understand." Vera said, seemingly calmer now.
"You can't seriously consider deactivating such a shield!?"
"It will be their choice." She said, considering Kiran's eyes. He relaxed and got a hopeful look on his face. "But there is information you do not have. Until I am absolutely sure that your people understand the situation, and what risks they take, I will not deactivate it."
"And when they do, we will see the Skylock fall."
"You have no idea what stands against you." Ronon's voice was, if possible, darker than usual.
"I would speak with my companions alone now, if I may."
"Of course." The captain confirmed and looked at Kiran and motioned for him to take the lead.
"I will announce your arrival and decision." He said before turning and the two of them walked out.
Vera instantly turned towards the panels and walked up to one of them. Placing her hand on a flat surface and entering a code when prompted to, navigating through menus, reading and lastly standing up.
During this time Teyla, MacKay, Ronon and Sheppard all tried to tell her how amazing this technology were and shouldn't be deactivated. They all had their own arguments. Teyla wanted the protection, Ronon wanted the ability to strike back, McKay spoke about technology and Sheppard seemed to be more interested in the city and its resources.
Vera didn't listen. She focused on the panel in front of her and straightened her back when she was done. The others fell silent.
"Nadezjda." Vera said, looking up at an image now projected in front of them. It showed large structure imbedded in the mountain. The most profound part of it was the large white tower that reached out like a beacon, it's very top shining with a bright blue light. Like a star.
"What did you say?" Sheppard asked, looking at the image and then at her facial expression, which he couldn't properly read. Was it pride? Longing?
"Nadezjda." She repeated. "It's the name of this base."
She allowed them to stand in silence as the camera zoomed in on the structure. The base was built into the surrounding mountain. It said nothing about how much of the mountain it had claimed. How large it really was. She had an idea of it's potential, but how far had the construction come before thay had to abandon it and leave for earth?
The blue 'star' suddenly pulsed with renewed light and Shepperds radio crackled to life with Dr Weir's voice.
"Did you just dial Atlantis?" He asked before answering the radio.
"I thought you might want to leave a report."
He didn't break eye contact as he answered. "This is Sheppard."
"We weren't expecting you to report back this early." Elisabeth said. "What's your situation."
"You wouldn't believe what we found."
He proceeded to tell Atlantis everything that had happened and what he had found. Vera explained the function of the Skylock and about her own role in their prophecy.
"This is amazing." She breathed.
"Problem is, they seem to be very eager to take this barrier down."
"Do they understand what that might mean?"
"They do not." Teyla answered. "They seem to believe the Wraith is a made-up entity to keep them grounded on the planet."
"For what reason?"
"Look, the problem here is that we all know this is a bad idea. Vera told them that she wouldn't allow them to make their decision before they understand the situation. So the question is, how do we do that?"
"We have material. Movies, reports, eyewitnesses." McKay stated enthusiastic.
"Is it, though?" Everyone fell silent and looked at her.
"What is?" Weird asked.
"A bad idea." She met Sheppards eyes. Mainly because he was the military leader of the Atlantis crew from earth, but also because she wanted to see his reaction. "Say the shield is opened and the wraith finds this planet. This rich harvest would have the wraith occupied for a long time before they would need to find your Earth. If they ever would need it."
"Are you saying-"
"I'm saying you should take all possible scenarios into account."
There was a profound silence, it only lasted for seconds but it felt like something shifted. Could she really be that cold? It was Dr Weir who broke the spell.
"That's not an option. We would never make such a sacrifice."
"This is not a decision you will make. It's for the people of this planet to decide. And it will not happen within the day. I intent to demand all three energy modules before I even consider deactivating the shield."
"They're not there?" You could almost hear the frowning on Elizabeth's voice.
"According to search." Vera turned to the panel and pulled up a map of what seemed to be the entire world. Three dots started glowing, spread across the map.
"Don't tell me…"
"Only one seems to be kept in this city. One is in the middle of an ocean and the third is on anther continent."
"Icons of power divided between countries?"
"Perhaps. At any rate it seems we will have to cooperate with these people."
"Alright, report back when you've made progress."
"Will do."
They ended the transmission and turned towards the map. For now Sheppard wouldn't discuss the fact that Vera had suggested the sacrifice about the entire planet, he wanted to talk to her about that in private.
"So where do we go from here?" Ronon leaned over the console looking at the map.
"We need to demand the devices, let's start with that."
"You will need to make an appearance." Teyla cut in. "They called you a liberator. Religion or not, you need to show yourself to them."
Vera sighed and looked away, knowing full well that she was right. It was also something that needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
"Captain." Vera called out and he appeared behind the group, across from Vera.
"Yes Admiral?"
While McKay, Teyla and Sheppard was startled, Ronon grabbed his gun and charged it, aiming for the man's head.
"Relax." Vera called out in a hard voice. "Did you believe he was a real person?" She had surprise in her voice. "It's a VI with a personality imprint."
"But he… He looks solid." Sheppard stated. Ronon still kept his weapon ready, McKay was trying to figure out where the projection came from.
"I assure you." The captain answered himself. "I will have died several thousands of years ago."
"Captain." Vera interrupted again. "I supposed I will need to make an appearance."
"Of course." He nodded with a smile. "I believe you will only need to step out of the base on ground level. Should I notify the others?"
"Please do."
The captain nodded and disappeared this time, not walking out the door as he had done before. Ronon lowered his gun, trying not to frown at the tech. Vera turned to Sheppard before McKay could start asking questions.
"I believe it would be best if you joined me. All of you." She swept her eyes across the team. "It's more of a chance that they'll see me as something divine if they see me alone. With you there I'll look more human."
"Shouldn't we use it?" McKay asked, slightly surprised. "If they see you as divine-"
"Out of the question."
"But-"
"I refuse to do it, McKay." Her hard eyes silenced him.
"Of course we'll be there with you." Teyla said.
Teyla met Vera's eyes with a nod and then watched Sheppard. Knowing that he probably was of the same opinion as McKay she captured his eyes and shook her head. But he gave her a 'what did I do?' look.
A door opened, and they were escorted throughout the building
It was an ocean of people. She supposed she should have expected it. Her heart didn't flutter, she wasn't nervous. After all she was an Admiral, used to speaking to a whole fleet when it was needed. It was the looks in peoples faces that worried her. Their expectations of what she was. The closest line was only two meters away, and behind her there where large screens projectiong her image to those in the back. Behind her McKay and Teyla stood on one side, Sheppard and Ronon on the other. Neither of them carrying weapons.
There were thousands, maybe tens of thousands. And how many was listening from afar? Probably the whole planet. Alright, maybe she should choose her words a little more careful than ususal.
"My name is Vera. I come from a people called the lanteans and I have travelled here through a device we call a Stargate." She paused, looking over her audience. Letting the words sink in. "You call me the Liberator. Someone who has come to set you free from the shield which grounds you to this planet. Perhaps in this you have made me out to be something more than I am. I am simply a lantean, a human, like yourselves. What gives me the ability to release this shield you call the Skylock is simply a command code tagged to my DNA."
She was careful not to end any sentences that could cause the crowd to cheer. That was not the effect she was after. This was an important question. They need to understand that.
"But keeping you in isn't the shields only function. There are dangers out in this galaxy and that shield is keeping you safe from them." She pointed upwards while her eyes were still aimed towards the people. "I will not disable this shield until you are fully aware of what you risk. And the people of Atlantis, my people, will educate you in this the coming days. My second demand." Her voice heavier now. And she could see some of the faces changing in front of her. This was not what they expected.
"Is that you will fulfil your part of the agreement. I will have the three crystals."
She toned every word of the last sentence, her eyes fixed on the spot she had been told the camera was. Then she turned, without another word and headed straight into the building again. Leaving her audience silent and confused.
A/N: I know how to continue this! Rest assure the update will come... eventually x)
Have a good 2018!