Stargate: Ascension of the Fifth Race
Chapter Thirty Five
High Speed Race
Milky Way Galaxy – Earth – Stargate Command
The SGC had been repaired since the explosion had ripped through the Gateroom, the room itself had been updated with new armour cladding which matched the design aesthetic of Atlantis and the old concrete walls were hidden. The blast doors were replaced with new doors built of trinium, titanium and naquadah composite, but around each doorway was a shield emitter.
The gate itself was placed in a new ramp which was no longer made of steel mesh but a solid structure into which was the cradle that held the gate and from which the power conduits connected to the gate.
The Stargate Operations Observatory Room was also finally overhauled having been heavily damaged in the explosion. The old computer systems and towers that had been placed within it were now all gone replaced with consoles seen aboard the Valliant complete with the large glass screens, old circuitry and computer components replaced them with crystal technology.
For the first time since its creation the dialling computer was rebuilt into a new console and was much smaller than the original super computer housing of the original, but it still required the rotating of the inner ring to dial out. Homeworld Command preferred for security reasons and they had installed a shield to the gate.
As the old Iris from the gate had been damaged in the explosion and a new one had been forged of the same composite as the blast doors but was used as a backup in case the shield failed or a power outage, it could be manually activated to protect the facility.
Homeworld Command had finance the new upgrades, along with the installation of a new power generation room that utilised a naquadah power core and Subspace capacitor with an auxiliary port to install a zpm should the need arise.
SGC could dial Atlantis directly with the naquadah power core combined with the subspace capacitor but it ate a lot of power to do so, but they at least didn't have to rely on the rare power sources which could be better utilised elsewhere.
An alarm sounded in the base and over the internal speakers a voice was heard.
"Off World Activation."
Newly returned General Landry stood from his desk and made his way through the briefing room and down the stairs to the Observatory Room where Walter was working at the gate controls.
"Who is it Chief?" he asked.
"It is the Nox sir." He replied "They are coming through now."
True to his word the event horizon ripped and outstepped Lya of the Nox.
The security teams were standing as sentries around the room but none had raised a weapon against the woman who was gracefully walking towards them, dressed in her silver dress and foliage like hair.
The blast doors opened and General O'Neill and Daniel Jackson stepped out.
"Lya" Daniel said bowing slightly "It is good to see you again."
"And you as well Daniel Jackson." She replied softly "I have come as you request General O'Neill."
"Thank you Lya." Jack said smoothly "I have a request to make of you if you would be willing?"
"You seek the council of the Nox?" she asked
"In a way." Daniel said escorting her out through the blast doors.
General Landry made his way up stairs to the briefing room which was now set with iced water and organic fruits and snacks, from what he had read the Nox respected nature a great deal.
"You know of our old Alliance." Lya was saying as they walked in "You have come far very quickly."
"We discovered you old meeting place, Heliopolis." Daniel explained "We know that you, the Ancient Alterans, Asgard and Furlings allied yourselves in the pursuit of scientific understanding and mutual benefit."
"That was a long time ago, The Nox are the only remaining members." Lya said sadly "The others have all department from this galaxy and plane of existence."
"So do you actually not interact with the Ancients at all?" Jack asked with interest, "I know they are ascended but your people are spiritual I thought you might commune with them."
"Once long before the plague the Ancients taught my people the secrets of Ascension and we even spoke to some of the oldest of their kind" Lya said "But they imposed rules and soon it was no longer possible. My own people had ascended and returned many times in our history."
"Interesting." Daniel said and he was actually writing everything she said down, "What of the Furling? Where did they fit into the Alliance?"
"The Furling were not from this galaxy, they were known to the Ancients and the Asgard and came from a faraway galaxy and were the youngest of our group in terms of knowledge and history." Lya explained "They were a warrior people, much like yourselves but they caused a huge catastrophe which drew the attention of the Ancients and Asgard and they began to tutor them and show them how to advance their society."
"What happened to them?" Daniel asked, he pulled out a photograph of the spire from Pegasus "We have found this obelisk in the Pegasus galaxy and another billions of light years away, it was found by a team of our people aboard the Ancient ship Destiny."
"You discovered Destiny?" Lya asked shocked "We cautioned the Ancients on their pursuit of the answer to the question, as we did to the Furling but they did not head our warnings and set forth."
"Where are the Furling now?" Daniel asked "Are they in their home galaxy, or pursing the Destiny?"
"Neither." Lya said "Some may still be seeking enlightenment, but most have left this plane. Was this what you wished to ask me?"
"No." Jack said shooting Daniel a look."
"We would like to form an alliance, like that which you created all those years ago."
"The Nox welcome all as friends." Lya said smiling.
"No, we want to create an Alliance of the younger Races." Jack said, "My buddy Thor of the Asgard named us the Fifth Race."
"Fifth?" Lya repeated and shook her head, "You are too young, Potential your race has, but you have not reached a level of development that would mean you could be the Fifth, the Asgard named you too soon."
"Be that as it may." Jack said "We would like to emulate you, we are considering forming an Alliance with you, the Tok'ra, FJN and the Hebridan."
"Why would you ask us?" Lya asked "we have removed ourselves from this galaxy."
"You are one of the four elder races." Jack admitted "Having you there will help promote peace and friendship."
"The Nox will support any meeting of peace and friendship." Lya said "But we will not help you in your wars or any hostile action."
"We can work with that!" Jack said happily.
Pegasus Galaxy – Lantea – Janus Port
The rescue mission of the Satedans had been successful and by the time the Pegasus Defence Fleet had returned, the second rescue team led by Officer Frederick Hartman had already returned, and Daedalus had been sent back to the planet to reclaim the damaged Jumper.
John had flown Teyla, Ronon, Beckett and Larrin to the settlement just as the last of the Satedans were beamed down from Daedalus' storage buffer and they were very confused and frightened, they could see Janus Port in the distance but on the other side of a large river and trees bordered the open stretch of ground they were standing on.
Quickly John has the jumper on the ground and they exited the Jumper and they faced a large number of triple barrelled Satedan riffles, Ronon and Larrin both brought up their magnum pistols at the movements of the Satedans
"You are a Satedan" said an older man walking forward away from the huddles men and women.
"I am." Ronon said but he looked pleased to see his people. "I'm Ronon Dex, this is Teyla Emmagan of Athos, Larrin of the Travellers, John Sheppard and Carson Beckett of the Atlantis."
"I am Ushan Cai. So you are the Lanteans?" The man said blinking in surprise and he looked at each of them in turn "We have heard stories of you all."
"I hope the stories you have heard spoke well of us." Teyla said giving a friendly smile.
"We have heard of you and you mission against the Wraith, it is said you have killed many of their flying ships in battle" Cai said "However rumours have been spoken that the Wraith had destroyed the Ancestral city or that you had fled."
"If you look out that way you will see the remains of a second Ancestral city laying in the ocean, Atlantis is further out in the ocean but is still here." Ronon said pointing, he then looked at John to see if he should keep speaking but John gave him an encouraging look. "When did you return to Sateda?"
"A year ago." Cai said "We are hoping to rebuild our home."
"Mylus said you were looking for another world to build on." Teyla said "He came to Athos seeking us."
Cai shook his head, "The devastation on Sateda is vast, we needed to look into all options. Although the wraith may have now destroyed everything that remained."
John however didn't think so, "No, the Trinity Queens are just travelling system to system culling any planet they can find. You were just unlucky that they passed into your system."
"What do you mean to do with us?" Cai asked "are we you prisoners?"
"No!" John said quickly, "We only acted as we did and pulled you from your world because of the extreme size of the Fleet above your planet. In the next few days the ship that brought you here will return and we can send you back to Sateda.
"While you are all here I would like to give you all a once over." Carson said "I am a doctor on Atlantis, I want to make sure you are all well before we return you."
"Ronon Dex." Cai said looking at him, "I heard tales of your actions from people who have travelled to other worlds seeking trade, they say you were made into a runner."
"I was." Ronon admitted and his people looked at him warily "But the Lanteans found me and helped me, I have been with them ever since."
"So the rumours we have heard of the Lanteans and their flying ships are true?" Cai said breathlessly "Is there any way that we can trade?"
"A trade agreement between our peoples could be made." John agreed, "However at this moment I would rather see that you were settled, fed and looked after."
Above them four Lantean Transport ships flew over them, they contained the old Athosians tents they had once used to build their settlement on the mainland, crews of people from the Lantean society came to help the Satedans
Cai had his people help them get their temporary shelter set up and he took John up on his offer to show him he settlement, he left Teyla and Larrin to organise the care of the Satedan people while he and Ronon flew back over to Janus Port.
"So this is your city?" Cai asked as they walked up from the Jumper docking pad. "I always thought that Ancestral city would be much larger."
"This is not the city." Ronon laughed "This is just the mainland settlement, built to house Athosians, Travellers and some Earth people who do not live on Atlantis."
"The Lantean Society is made up of three separate peoples, the Travellers have their ships which they used to use to roam the galaxy to escape the Wraith, now they help us with logistics and fighting the Wraith." John explained "the Athosians are traders and farmers, they provide Atlantis with food and in exchange we give them protection, they also have Athos where they hold their Free Market."
"And your own people? Where is this Earth you speak of?" Cai asked, "I have never heard of it."
"We are not from this Galaxy." John told him as they passed the schools they had built "We are from the Milky Way which was where the Ancestors came from before they settled here, and it was also where they returned when they left all those years ago."
Cai was shown around the settlement where the three peoples lived happily, they showed him the various stalls and shops which sold all manner of things these days and even the tavern which was serving Kanaans beer and even showed him around one of the newly built houses yet to be assigned to someone.
Eventually they moved back through the settlement and boarded the Jumper and they flew out over the ocean passing Borealis and finally getting within sight of Atlantis. When Cai saw the ancestral city he gasped in awe and basked in its beauty.
John and Ronon exchanged a look of amusement, living in the city it was easy to forget what a sight it was to those who were unused to such and advanced city.
o-0-o
Things were getting worse in the Pegasus Galaxy, after the attack on Sateda their fleet had been sent out on more missions trying to pick off more of the Trinity Fleet but it was getting more hostile, they had two badly damaged Generation ships and had lost one all together in an engagement.
It had been a month since they had returned the Satedans to their world after the failed culling and true to his word John had set up a trade agreement with Cai. Sateda had an abundance of Trinium and Titanium both of which were valuable to Earth and Atlantis, and it was spread over their old cities which now lay in rubble.
John had asked only for these precious metals, in exchange he had agreed to an emergency aid package to be sent to them, from food, medicine, clothing and amenities. He also lent them twenty of his engineers for a week to help them get some of the city excavated and get some of the buildings stabilised.
Many had thought that Ronon would leave Atlantis, John and Teyla had both approached their burly friend to tell him that they would understand if his priorities had changed. Ronon however had told them that he was better suited to helping his people by staying on Atlantis than he could be potentially working in the forming government.
Both has been shocked by this, especially now that they were rebuilding their Homeworld but they respected his decision and they would not force the issue but support their friend in whichever way they could.
For some time, John had been suffering with dreams plagued by nightmares and dark feelings which were getting worse, he saw the fall of Earth, the destruction of Atlantis and the death of his friends, and one image he saw often was a single Wraith ship, one larger than the zpm augmented one that had attacked Earth and a feeling of dread filled him after each dream involving it.
The dreaming made him fear falling asleep and he continued to look more ragged, sometimes he woke after dreaming of Elizabeth who was screaming at him for his help but he was powerless to help her and he would wake with a start and could still hear her shouting his name.
His romantic relationship with Larrin had ended amicably, he didn't have the energy for it to continue and she had moved on from him to another, not that he cared he had merely liked her as a distraction.
Lantean society would not last, of this he was certain. The Travellers had not been happy with the destruction of one of their ships and the repair station was in the process of building them a new one but the damage had been done. And as for the Athosians, Teyla had discovered she had been excluded from a number of elder meetings and had found that more were being swayed towards leaving Lantea.
O'Neill had been appraised of the possibility that the society could potentially collapse and he had been disappointed but had agreed should that happen Lantean would honour the alliance between their peoples but the terms of which would need to change.
So instead John had held a meeting with Rodney as head Scientist and Christopher Du bois the head engineer and some of the workers and architects, their job was to find a way to get Atlantis's self-sufficiency upgraded, if they lost the Athosians they would lose the farming. So as a countermeasure HWC would be supplying them with more relief, sending them farming machines to be constructed and improved with new technologies and also providing them with some cattle and agricultural development produce.
Jack was also having more engineers from the ATF sent to Lantea on the next support ship sent, all of which would be put to work on the repair station and getting a new construction berth built. The damaged aurora-class fleet was now a very high priority.
However today was not a day for the breaking of the New Lantean Society, today was a day where the Lanteans visited Maldovarium and get to see the race Larrin had introduced them to.
Colonel Sheppard was in his room getting ready, in his wardrobe there was only a meagre amount of clothing, a number of standard Atlantis uniforms, some training clothes, his Airforce Service Dress Uniform and his High Lantean white robes.
The clothing itself was made of a micro-fibre, an advanced fabric developed by the Ancient Lanteans and contained bio-technologies woven into it which kept their temperature regulated and provided a level of protection.
John often found the uniform to be a little odd but had grown to like it, especially for formal occasions of Lantean State. He of course wore the Ancient Lantean gauntlets and wore a belt containing a personal shield emitter, guns were not permitted on the Maldovarium but he was not going defenceless.
Once he was presentable and he had taken two strong painkillers for his pounding head, his dreams were getting more vivid and he dreamt of battles between the Wraith and Ancient Lanteans more and often he could now remember them, other times he dreamt of a particular Wraith, one who terrified the Wraith and Ancient Lanteans.
But in his dream that night he had seen a man, a man with a devilish grin and brown hair. He had appeared within a dream where the Ancient Lanteans were developing a weapon for the war, a weapon that was controversial.
"It is time John Sheppard." The Ancient had said to him, "She is returning, but when she does you must be ready, they have found the spears location, you must stop them."
John had woken up after that, and the dream had shaken him to the core, he didn't know what it was he experience but it was enough to make his head hurt and cause his temper to fray.
However the Travellers knowing how skilled a pilot he was, even those aboard the roaming ships knew of his skills, had built with the help of Atlantis engineers built a speeder for the event and had asked John to race it.
Pegasus Galaxy – Maldovarium – Generational Ship Judia
Beth was watching through one of the windows near the ship infirmary where she worked with Phelan, they were approaching Maldovarium which was a small world brown world and as Judia began to descend into its atmosphere she saw vast mountains and canyons and a huge desert.
"Impressive isn't it." Phelan said joining her and they saw seven other ships flying through the skies all of them on a path for the large mountains. "According to the captain many different races of being will be here."
"Like the Tok'ra and Jaffa?" Beth asked still looking out the window and she saw another Generational ship appear from the upper atmosphere.
"Tok'ra and Jaffa?" Phelan asked confused "I have not heard of these peoples."
"You wouldn't." Beth said frowning "They will not be here."
How she could know such a thing was still something she couldn't understand, but her dreams were getting more frequent and she had begun to dream of something shouldn't couldn't remember, but she knew there was something she must do.
"This is Litilia" the captain said over the internal communication system "We will be setting down in five minutes."
"Do we get to have a look?" She asked Phelan.
"I think we will." He said and he looked pained "I will remain here however."
"But…" Beth went to say but chose to remain silent, Phelan was a good physician but he didn't like meeting new people.
"Beth." Said the captain walking up behind them "You will accompany me."
"Do you mean to participate in this event?" she asked the captain. "I have heard tales that your people have competed before."
"We are here to trade only this time, but the event is a great thing to watch." Litilia said "However the Uonos has a Speeder they will be using to participate."
"Have you ever won?" Beth asked "And what is the prize?"
"It differs" Litilia said "We have won the event four times in our people's history."
The ship shuddered slightly as they landed and Beth followed the captain through the corridors and they arrived at the starboard hatch where a set of steps had been raised to meet them.
"Captain Litilia!" said a deep voice from the bottom of the steps "It has been too long since we last saw you."
There was a man in front of them, he was rather tall but bald but what was most different about the man was that he was dark blue with red eyes.
"Locknah" Litilia said smiling "It is good to see you too, I hope things have been going well?"
"Of course." The man said bowing, "The Wraith do not venture out here and our defences have not been tested for four generations."
They walked out of the circular bay they hand landed in which was made of stone and interlaced with artificial structures which spoke of advanced technologies. Once out of the bay however they boarded a shuttle which sped them through the vast mountains Beth had seen when they were descending but when they emerged five minutes later she was open mouthed.
Maldovarium may have been a desert world but within the mountains was a vast oasis, and ad advanced looking city built of sparkling crystalline structures, interlaced through the city were rivers and trees and it was very green.
"Oh my." Beth said aloud.
"The reactions of many who first set eyes on Maldovar." Locknah said "We are lucky our ancestors found this place."
"You are not its builders?" Beth asked.
"No." Locknah said chuckling, "This was built by the Ancient Ancestors of your people as a place of relaxation, my people are native to this world, when they discovered our existence they negotiated a peace with us, they built this city and often came but then they were at war and never returned."
"It is not like other Ancestral cities." Beth noted.
"According to our histories it was built using a crystalline based technology, and chose to base the city on our own architectural designs." Locknah explained, "We have learnt a great deal from this city."
"Why is it you hold this event?" Beth asked with interest, "I have never heard of such a thing in this galaxy."
"We started the race as a means of acquiring technology and it evolved from there." The man said "In exchange for a great reward people compete, the only payment we get is any downed speeders."
They were shown to a section of the city where they could relax and where there was an open market where many of the spectators that were coming through the gate were setting up. The gate itself was only uncovered during the event and when the event was not being held they buried it.
Litilia left Beth in the market as she needed to check in with the second Traveller ship which had their Speeder aboard which they would be using to compete in the event.
Beth found herself walking from stall to stall looking at things that caught her eye, some sold foods and trinkets but others sold technologies and even shells for the Speeders that would be racing, according to the merchant all participants used the same base shell but each one would have their own technologies built into them.
Within the market she saw people of many different races, some were human, but she saw others who were not but they all spoke English and were trading and bartering materials and goods, as she walked she heard some speaking of a Free Market that would be held in a few weeks that many seemed to like attending.
She decided that she wanted to see the Travellers Speeder herself so she left the market place and walked towards the workshop that Litilia had said she was heading towards previously. As she walked away she missed the sight of five people walking into the marketplace dressed in white robes and she might have caught sight of the man that led them.
When she arrived however Litilia saw her and she was frowning not looking amused.
"Come with me please Beth, I have a just heard that some of the crew have taken people aboard." Litilia said "You can also try and convince Ayanna to come out onto this world, her husband is away and she is pregnant, she shouldn't stay cooped up."
"Sure okay." Beth said not wanting to say no after the hospitality of the captain.
Pegasus Galaxy – Maldovarium – The Stadium
Rodney was not often offered time off from Atlantis, but today the race across the planet affording him some leisure time and he thought that it would be a good time for him and Jenifer to spend some time together.
They made their way through the market place happily looking at everything, or Jenifer was and was happy going stall to stall, Rondey however mostly turned his nose up and some of the technology as it was inferior to Earths or the Ancients, but some of them looked curious and twice he had to be dragged away by Jenifer.
"Rodney look at these." She said pointing an odd rainbow coloured fruit, "Have you ever seen these?"
"No." Rodney said looking at them warily "Don't eat them!" he added when Jenifer went to take one and pay for it "If that contains any kind of citrus I cannot kiss you."
Jenifer laughed but didn't take it, instead she took two pastries and gave one to him.
"Odd place isn't it." She said as they passed through the city to get to the stadium, "I have never seen anything like this place in the Pegasus Galaxy."
"They are in the outer rim of this galaxy, the wraith mostly stay in the core, but this world is mostly barren with only this valley supporting life." Rodney said in explanation while trying to get a look at one of the stalls selling propulsion components for speeders. "They also keep their gate buried at all times apart from today for their race and they only hold them every seven years."
"Still I never thought other than ourselves, the Vanir, Wraith and Travellers were there any other advanced peoples." She said "But look, I can see four other races of being that we have never seen before."
Rodney looked around and she was right, he could see alien races he had never seen before, "You know Elizabeth, when she came as a replicator to Atlantis, she spoke of advanced races within Pegasus that stayed isolated to avoid the Wraith. I always thought she had encountered only the Travellers and Vanir myself but perhaps it was these other races she found."
"In the Milky Way there are many different races, like the Goa'uld, Unas, Serrakin, Re'tu and Reol" Jenifer said counting them off the top of her head "Here we have only found a race that was extinct, and the Vanir."
"It is a small dwarf galaxy, perhaps they all just live on the outer rim, or the Wraith or Asurans killed them." Rodney shrugged and they walked through a tunnel that opened up into a large stadium with seating on either side of a very large road, "You know I don't know why the Travellers are allowing Sheppard to race in this event."
"It is because they think it dangerous." Said an annoyed voice from behind them which turned out to be Teyla. "And he is foolish enough to accept."
Jenifer laughed lightly "He would never turn down the chance of participating."
"No he wouldn't." Rodney scoffed, remember how hard it was to keep him out of any new ship or vehicle, even when they went to Earth he would rent all manner of vehicles to get him from A to B.
"We should take a seat." Teyla said still not sounding happy, "Many of the city people are coming this way all heading for the stadium."
Under the stadium was a large open area with a number of bays where each of the twenty six racers were getting ready for the event.
John was standing near the speeder that the Travellers had built but the Atlantis mechanics had completed, the speeder looked like a Formula One car, but it had no wheels and small wheels, the rear however contained three small ion propulsion drives and under it was a magnetic field pulsar which allowed it to stay a foot or more above the ground by repelling a planets own magnetic properties.
He was not ignorant as to why the roaming Travellers has requested he drive, he was known to be the best pilot even among the Travellers but this race was dangerous and he wondered if they were actually trying to kill him.
But he was more excited about trying out the speeder, he had tried it once on the Atlantis Mainland but he would need to adapt to it quickly during the race.
"Are you ready Sheppard?" Larrin asked walking up to him with some of her people "You sure you can handle this speeder? Even on Earth I did not see anything like it."
"It is like a cross between a high performance racing car and an aircraft." John said smirking, he felt like it was his birthday or Christmas, "any advice?"
"Take it easy for the first quarter." Larrin said seriously, "You need to get a grasp for the speeder and learnt what the course is, just seeing the path of the course on the display will not be all you need, there are some hazardous areas on this planet and you need to have your wits about you."
"Sure." John said waving her concern off, "I have flown on missions like this, I am more concerned with the construction of the speeder, if any system fails it could be fatal."
"Both of our peoples looked it over Sheppard." Larrin pointed out "It will survive the course so long as you do not crash it."
o-0-o
The race had been going for two and a half hours and so far Beth had watched with rapt attention, it was exhilarating watching the racers speed around the planet surface, it was a dangerous course and already five ships had crashed.
But the remainder was still going strong, speeding a two hundred miles an hour through a course that twisted and turned and also contained obstacles the pilots had to avoid, they also had to avoid each other as two of the crashed ships had been because of violent piloting.
Her attention however was on the Lantean pilot who was in the Travellers speeder, she couldn't help but feel like amused at how good he was, it was not a surprise to her. She watched him navigate a canyon at high speed avoiding the rock formation that created obstacles like they were no bother and even managed to get further forward and moved up to sixth position in the race.
"He is very good isn't he." Ayanna said looking at the display in front of them, "Who is it anyway."
"John Sheppard." Beth said not taking her eyes off the screen.
"Do you know him?" Litilia asked abruptly.
"Who?" Beth asked confused.
"High Councillor Sheppard." She stated looking at her with wonder, "You said his name."
"Did I?" Beth said surprised, she hadn't even realised "That is his name?"
"Yes." Litilia said frowning "Did anyone tell you who our pilot was?"
"No." Beth said wondering just how she knew his name, "How could I know that."
"You are a Lantean." Litilia said shrewdly "You have to be, What is the name of your world?"
"I erm…" Beth said trying to remember but the name didn't come to her, but one thing did "Ohio."
"That is the name of your world?" Ayanna asked.
"No." Beth said disagreeing, it wasn't her world but it was connected to it, she was sure.
"Perhaps you should take her to the Lanteans?" Ayanna said quietly to the captain, "her memory comes back slowly, they might know her."
Litilia nodded, and beckoned for Beth to follow her, "they are on the other side of the Stadium, the leaders of this world set aside an entire box for them."
"Do you think they will know me?" Beth asked in wonder, "You said before you thought me one of them."
"You most definitely are." Litilia said deep in thought, "Your knowledge is incomplete but you can read Lantean, it is a language from another galaxy, no one in this galaxy apart from the Lanteans, Athosians and Travellers can read it. Some other things about you have for a long time pointed to you being of them, but the fact you know Sheppard confirmed it."
"Were you going to use me to make a trade with them?" Beth asked aware of how the Travellers often did business, "Would you trade me like produce and technology?"
"I…" Litilia went to say and she gave her a guilty look "I had been thinking on doing so yes, but I had not had the heart to do it, the Lanteans, and the society Sheppard has created allied him with our people. It would not be something I could do in good conscience as it could jeopardise our friendship."
Beth was surprised the usually sour captain was so honest, but she supposed that now was a time where she could be honest in hopes of making a better impression and to smooth out any possible trouble with a negotiation and prevent ill feeling. She herself had done that during International negotiations, or at least that's what she seemed to know.
The walk through the stadium took them some time as it was busy but Beth kept an avid eye on the monitoring screens, John was in trouble one of the other pilots had crashed into one of the stabilising wings on his speeder and he was having trouble manoeuvring.
Eventually they made it across the stadium and climbed the stairs to be confronted by a group of the Lantean security, they were not armed with weapons but guarded their peoples box.
"Who are you?" asked one of them and from his uniform Beth knew he was a Captain.
"I am captain Litilia of the roaming Travellers." Litilia said sternly not appreciating being challenged, "This is beth, who I believe to be one of your people."
The captain looked at them suspiciously "I do not know either of you."
Litilia rolled her eyes and raised her voice "Get Councillor Larrin, she will confirm who I am."
The young captain did not look like he was going to comply with her request but his fellow guard didn't wait and stepped into the private box and returned with Larrin.
"Litilia?" she said surprised and she looked at Beth but showed no signs of recognition "Why are you here? You declined our hospitality, and the request of many of our people who are here."
Beth could see the annoyance on her captain, she knew it was a sore point for many on the roaming ships that many of their people had settled elsewhere.
"I did but I bring someone I think the Lanteans will want to see." She told her ignoring her jibe, "This is Beth, I believe she is of Earth."
Larrin looked at her with a furrowed brow "I do not know you."
"No." Beth said "I do not think I have met you before."
"But you think you are from Earth?" Larrin asked "I know all of the Lanteans and I have never seen you on Atlantis."
"Atlantis." Beth said and a smile crept to her mouth, "The City of the Ancients."
"Yes." Larrin said and she gave her an odd look and looked over to Litilia for an explanation.
"Beth was found on Vulcia." The captain explained "She does not remember who she is, but her memories have been returning slowly. Her knowledge is odd, she calls our galaxy Pegasus, she can read Lantean and she has knowledge of places I have never heard of."
"Come with me, there is an easy way to find out." Larrin said and she walked through the open arch to the private box and she raised her voice "I have someone here who thinks they are from Earth, can you confirm if she is?"
Ahead a number of people turned around trying to see her so Beth stepped out from behind captain Litilia and there was a number of gasps from the assembled people.
She saw man with squared shoulders and eyes alert for a threat and a military haircut, another man smaller than the other with lopsided glasses and messy hair, and another man of a large stature with a light amount of stubble on his cheeks.
When he spoke he had an unmistakeable accent, "Dr Weir?" he muttered incredulously staring at her like he couldn't believe it.
The moment Beth saw them her mind seemed to ignite and memories flew back into her mind and the moment she heard what the man said she knew, it was like her memories had never been gone.
She smiled at them and a tears filled her eyes and she said happily "Major Lorne, Dr Zelenka, Carson it is so good to see you again.
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Please Review! I want to know what you think!
Images of the various ships can be found on my Twitter Account,
Just search "Jayan Phoenix Twitter" and scroll through the posts and you will find images of the Daedalus-Class, Ares-Class and the new Prometheus-Class
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