Daniel sat at Dr. Carson Beckett's desk, his left knee bouncing up and down frantically as Vala stood facing him, scowling.
"It's not my fault."
"Yet YOU'RE the one who let him down there," Daniel muttered, still fuming, his eyes not on her but on a blank computer screen still dead from the lack of full power, "You let him spend an infinite amount of time in a part of the city that apparently hadn't been check out."
"Dex checked it out," she spat back, "It was clear."
That made Daniel glare up at her, his left arm jerking outward toward the door leading outside to the main part of the infirmary.
"You call THAT clear," he hissed through his teeth as he pointed,"There are two sedated centuries old…"
"I believe Carson said millenia…"
"CHILDREN," he ignored her smart remark, although she was entirely correct, "lying on examination tables out there that my toddler…"
"In biological age only…"
"THAT MY TODDLER," he repeated without hesitation, "found. And woke up."
Vala rolled her eyes, wondering when her husband was ever going to arrive.
Though, he seemed to be taking Daniel's side in this.
"Regardless the area was checked and scanned. We can't help that whatever they were using in those walls cloaked that lab."
Daniel continued his scowl, "The ever powerful wall that my son just pulled back like it was nothing."
Vala didn't have a response for that, so she decided that her best course of action was to change focus...
"Addy knows who they are."
Daniel didn't answer that comment, because he knew in that regard Vala was correct. Adrienne knew exactly who they were; his wife knew from the moment she laid eyes of the two frightened children as they stood in front of them in light blue tunics with purple tights. He did too, inside, he had seen enough in his life to recognize at the very least the dress, much less the language his son was speaking to them.
"Have you notified Paris?"
Still no reply from the city commander. He hadn't, he hadn't notified anyone, and he was thinking about a series of communications he was not looking forward to making. At least the city wasn't at full power again.
Instead, he stood, shoving the chair under the desk, heading for the door.
He wasn't ready to talk to anyone yet, especially Vala Dex.
"Daniel, he did exactly what you would have done, so stop acting like you're shocked that he did it."
No answer from the city commander, he just walked past headed to the door.
"Look, this is by far the most interesting thing that's happened here yet…"
Daniel's hand grabbed the knob, Vala huffing angrily behind him.
"You're just mad he found them and you didn't," she growled, unable to contain herself. Daniel froze, beginning to turn and answer, when he stopped, taking a breath.
Without acknowledging her comment, Daniel Jackson set out to find his children.
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"Mama, I want to stay with Nicky and Daddy," Helena urged, Adrienne ignored her requests as the child pulled at her hair.
"No," the Cajun replied, rushing to the VIP room as both her headset and DATA were still not fully functional. A wave hit her, sleepiness, making Adrienne stop and shake her head, glaring at the child.
"Take me back," the infant spoke again, in complete sentences for the first time Adrienne was realizing, pushing herself away. The archaeologist fought her daughter's power, the urge to sleep and to take her back, trying to cling to her own desire to find Paris and have him confirm the identity of the two children in the infirmary.
Though, she felt deep inside that she really didn't need his confirmation. She knew who they were.
The wave of sleepiness and desire to go and find her husband hit her again.
"Lena, NO!" Adrienne shouted at her daugher, feeling guilty the moment the words crossed her lips.
"Then take me to Teyla," the child said with a furrowed brow, "I wanna go back."
Adrienne started to get angry again, and sleepy, so sleepy, but then another emotion washed over her, one not from her daughter: hurt.
"Helena, why?" she asked, not understanding. She'd only taken her daughter away to allow Daniel to talk to Nicholas in private and now it seemed as if the infant not only wanted to return to her brother, but that she didn't want to be with her at all.
"Because," Helena pushed away, Adrienne instinctively squatting down to set the child down to stand, she was standing, and taller, dear god what was happening, "Because you are going to tell Paris and then they'll know."
"Who will know?"
"The Ancients," Helena was speaking so clearly and looked so much older, as if she had aged years over the course of one storm…
"But…"
"Mom," Helena took a step forward, wobbly, but a step; she was taller, "I know who they are. And the Ancients forgot about them so they're safe. But they will know now, if they don't already, and if you tell Paris and he goes back to Subae they will know for sure."
"What Ancients? Where?" Adrienne stopped trying to rationalize what was happening, why her child has aged so differently than her son, as if triggered by the storm, and why she suddenly seemed more aware of what was happening then even she or her husband did. Adrienne should have stopped that the moment she walked into the SGC... "And how do you know?"
"They told me," her daughter was so serious, her features so much more defined, "The man that put them in the lab, he was told to run experiments or tests or something on them, but he didn't. He lied, and said that they died and then he hid them. He told them he was hiding them because no one, not even their mom could know they lived."
"And what happened to him?"
Helena shrugged.
"They don't know," she explained, "They don't understand how much time has passed."
"And they told you this?" her mother asked carefully, "When? We were with you and they didn't say a word."
Helena smiled, tapping her temple.
"They told me here. Like I talk with Teyla, and Todd."
Adrienne didn't know what to say to any of it: what her daughter was saying happened, that she was apparently telepathic, that Teyla and Todd knew. She just kneeled in the floor of the dim hallway, the emergency lights flashing all around her as her infant, no toddler, she was the size of a toddler now, maybe even bigger than that, closer to four maybe, a child, reached out for her face.
"I know what people think, but Todd and Teyla told me it's not nice to listen to people's thoughts, so I try not to, unless someone really wants me to. It's how I learned to talk. I just had to figure out how to move my mouth to match the words in my head."
The girl paused, pulling back her hand and adjusting clothes that were clearly too small.
"Don't be mad at Teyla, or Todd. They thought it would scare you, especially since I am growing faster than Nicholas did…"
Adrienne started to talk but her daughter was a step ahead of her.
"Dr. Beckett hasn't told you either, because he thinks it might slow down and he scared something about to do with cloning genetics, but I don't know what those words mean, and with everything that has happened…"
Tears in her eyes, Adrienne reached out, grabbing her child and holding her tightly.
"It's ok Mom," Helena whispered, hugging her back, "You're a great mom. We just live in a strange place and Nicky and I have some really weird stuff going on. It's like Dad says, we're all just kinda making it up as we go along."
Sniffing in, Adrienne backed up, looking the child in the eyes.
"And Paris?" she asked the only question unanswered, "Why can't we tell Paris?"
"Because his people are the ones who hid, for her."
"Who?"
"Their mom," Helena continued, not seeming to know her name, "They ran away with her mom when she left and they hid under the ground. They became those that hid under."
And she remembered his words, just last night, their conversation in the lab that seemed so long ago. Paris told her, he'd said as much, and she just dismissed his comment as theory, but he wasn't theorizing, he was telling her WHO he was, who THEY were, hoping that she would guess and that it would be a discovery...
But why?
If they were connected to all of this, the children, this Cult of Nieta, why did they even allow Paris to help Adrienne at all? And why did some much of what they discovered seem to be new to even him? What did he already know?
Sighing out, Dr. Adrienne Jackson just sat on the floor, unsure as to what she should do next, her daughter joining her.
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"You should have told me."
Nicholas looked at the floor, wishing that Jack would arrive and get him out of this, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. Everyone, including his biggest ally in the city, seemed to be agreeing with his father that he should have alerted both his father and Ronon the moment his discovered the hidden lab, let alone the children.
"Nicholas?"
"I know," the boy relented, looking over at the female of the pair, asleep once more on the table as the Atlantian machines scanned her carefully, "I know."
"Then why didn't you?"
Nicholas shrugged. He heard his father sigh, looking up as a nurse pushed between them, taking some information from the monitor of the male child.
"Are they ok?" the young Jackson replied instead, noticing a crack in his voice.
"From what Carson and Jennifer have said, yes," Daniel answered, cocking his head at Jennifer whose eye was pressed against the microscope, "Carson is also having a team examine the containers they were in for anything infectious to them, or to us."
Nicholas sighed. That his father had a point about, and he should have known from reading Stargate command case files: the children could have brought something to THEM and made the entire CITY sick. It wouldn't have been the first time something like that had happened.
"Sorry Dad," he finally muttered, kicking his heel into the infirmary floor.
"It's...I understand," Daniel uttered, remembering Vala's harsh words,"I would have probably done the exact same thing."
Nicholas laughed. It was true; he probably would have.
"Don't be mad at Aunt Vala," the boy added, as if he could read his mind, his father chuckling.
"It's called frustrated and that's how she and I work, always has been."
"She was trying to be a good aunt," Nicholas ventured as his father smirked, peering over his glasses.
"She was trying to be the COOL aunt, which doesn't always result in the best choices," he motioned his hand upward, "as we see here."
Nicholas couldn't argue with that.
"Mom knows who they are," the boy added cautiously, "They're the children..." he dropped his voice to a whisper before continuing, "...from her research."
Daniel nodded his head slowly, pulling his glasses from his face and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Looks like it," he admitted to his son because at this point, given his son's position, involvement in what was going on was inevitable.
"What are we going to do with them?" his son now questioned, Daniel looking back in the direction of the two children who Carson was once again tending to.
"I have no idea," his father answer honestly, "at all."
"Are you going to tell Telford?" Nicholas ventured, the very name making his father wince because he knew that regardless of the storm and anything else that meeting that kept getting put off was inevitable as well…
"Not just yet," he made the decision then and there, if not for any other reason than those were two children lying just feet away and not lab experiments, and the SGC's current command and the incoming Earth president may not see it that way…
"You think that's wise?" Nicholas pushed.
"Nope," his father answered honestly, as he would a colleague, "but at this point, I just don't care."
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Jack knew being the second-in-command of the city of Atlantis meant he probably should have been staying with Daniel, standing there interviewing those two children that spoke a language that granted he knew a few words here and there, but his presence would have been mere moral support for sure. But honestly, he was never one for protocol when it didn't suit him, and right now he just wanted to see where his wife was. He broke out into a run down the hall, more of a jog given his recurring limp, something that Nicholas had called his "Old Man Shuffle" which made him threaten to choke the boy a la Homer Simpson to Bart. Fortunately he was only a few steps in when he saw her coming around the corner with Rodney McKay and two other scientists.
"What I'm saying to you Samantha," Rodney was apparently explaining something, "Is that if we go ahead and leave the city offline for an additional 48 hours we might be able to go ahead and set up some sort of construction or even a basic connection to the planet's core or at the very least…"
"Rodney," Samantha stopped her stride as she noticed Jack approaching her, shaking her head, "First, when it gets dark it's going to get abysmally dark, and we have many more people on this station I think than you realize and second," she continued, stressing the word second most of all, "How much research is going to be affected by the city being on minimal power for two whole days, maybe more?"
"None of my research," Rodney answered, bluntly, and Samantha sighed out, shaking her head again.
"Well, it's not your decision."
"You could make the recommendation to Daniel, aren't you like the godmother to his children now or something? All of you are some big happy family that gets to make decisions for the rest of us."
Jack noted his wife didn't even acknowledge that comment, keeping a professional composure, "When he's ready, I will brief him on the current situation regarding city-wide power and explain your recommendations."
"And when IS he going to be ready?" Rodney demanded, "And what the hell did they find? He's been in the infirmary for hours and I wasn't aware that anybody have been seriously injured other than Corbin so that has to mean there's something else in there!"
Sam tried to maintain a blank stare, Jack could tell, but he knew that her own curiosity was getting the best of her.
"No one's hurt," Jack said rather than lose his cool, hoping to get rid of Rodney and provide Sam some sort of answers, "There's just a few things that needed to be looked into and the infirmary programs and computers run on the back-up power."
Good excuse, he thought, but Rodney didn't seem convinced.
"Like what?" Rodney scoffed, "What things? What he SHOULD be doing is looking into the power issue before the entire city fries!"
"A few things that needed to be looked into Dr. McKay, and that is all you need to worry about for now," Jack clarified, "and if we need your assistance we will call you. In the meantime how long until power is restored?" Given his position as second-in-command, he could very well tell Rodney McKay to turn all the power in the city back on as soon as possible, now even if it could be…
"As I was telling Samantha," Rodney continued, "If we could leave it off for a couple of days and allow my team to at least begin preliminary work attaching the city to the planet's core, which would give us better protection in such storms, I could also begin to make the modifica-"
"Rodney," Jack repeated himself, slowly "How long before the city can be at full power?"
"Probably 16 hours. Internal damage was minimal and back up power down in the lab will allow me to reset some of the external shields without draining the main city power but as I was trying to explain…"
"Okay then I will tell Daniel that full power will be restored in 16 hours."
"But I strongly suggest…"
"And Rodney," Jack added, politically, "I think that considering what has happened that Daniel's gonna wanna talk power cores and whatever."
Rodney finally quieted, looking back at Samantha, seemingly pleased.
"Dr. Carter O'Neal," he sneered, "Are you planning on accompanying me to begin to restore power?"
"Yes Rodney," she muttered, her eyes darting at Jack for an excuse…, "I am; I ju-"
Sick of all of the chatter, Jack grabbed Sam, kissing her right in front of Rodney before he pulled back, glaring at the scientist.
"I'd like a moment with my wife."
"Well that was unnecessary," Rodney spat as he walked away.
"Nice," Sam laughed, stepping back to look Jack over in much the way that he had been checking her for possibly injury.
"Some people just don't know when to shut up," he chuckled, "and I sure as hell wasn't gonna kiss him to shut him up."
Sam laughed, rolling her eyes, "It's pretty bad up there, despite what he's saying," Sam explained, "The damage is rather extensive. Rodney's callous behavior regarding others aside, I do think there's something to be said about trying to attach the city power systems to the planet's core. Not only would we be able to increase power supply generated by the water turbines but it would allow another surge of powerful electricity, the storm, an attack, whatever else, to conduct better from the city itself down to some sort of grounding…"
The old general thrust his hand in front of her, smiling, "I trust you and I will trust that you can explain that to them in that way that you do that makes those of us gun-toting idiots understand."
Sam laughed for a moment, then grabbed her husband's arm to walk further away from where they were standing, in case Rodney, or anyone else was lurking.
"What happened down there? Who's hurt?" she asked now, no longer able to contain her curiosity.
"Oh no one's hurt, other than that idiot Corbett," Jack explained, pausing as he tried to figure out how to choose his words wisely, "The boy found something."
"Nicky the boy?"
Jack nodded, Sam pulling him along toward the offices for added privacy.
"You know how you wanted to go down and do some work in that one sector, the overgrown part, but then you got saddled with Rodney? Well, good 'ole Vala let Nicky take his lizard down there to play."
"And?"
"And he found some frozen ancient kids."
Sam's jaw-dropped, her eyes wide.
"Wait a minute, a frozen ancient? Like Ayiana?" Sam was concerned, Jack reading the reason in her face.
"Sorta, except for purposefully frozen instead of accidental and no drop dead flu crap like before. Thankfully."
"Who are they? How did they get there?"
"That's what Daniel and the rest are trying to figure out right now."
Sam was torn, wanting to assist but knowing Rodney needed her…
"Forget Rodney," he said, reading her mind, "Isn't it more fun to play Scully once in a while?"
"Always," Sam replied, following Jack back to the infirmary.
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Having not heard a peep out of his wife, his daughter, Teyla, or anyone for that matter, Daniel left the infirmary, thinking that maybe his wife's lab was the next likely location of the rest of his team.
What he didn't expect was the situation he walked into: Teyla holding his daughter, who seemed to have aged three years overnight, his wife, her normally pale cheeks red, clearly overtaken with Cajun rage and Todd at the back of the lab holding the Subae scientist Paris by the throat a la Darth Vader, not a single person bothering to intervene.
"What is happening?!"
Only Todd moved, as Paris struggled to breathe, even Teyla not stopping the assault.
"TODD!" Daniel shouted, storming over, "PUT HIM DOWN!"
The wraith did not comply immediately, instead peering over at his wife.
"Do as he says," Adrienne muttered, Daniel breathing out slowly as Paris hit the floor with a thud.
"What in the HELL is going on in here?!"
"Dad," Helena offered, her voice oddly adult, "Paris hasn't been entirely honest with mom. He knows all about Nieta and Khanton and the children and that's why he's here."
"What?"
"Sha, a word owss-eye-ded?" her accent was thick, she was livid, and Daniel was totally lost. He glanced over at Teyla, who now seemed to have control over the situation, and his daughter, who was now standing at the side of the wraith. Sighing out, Daniel followed his wife out into the hallway.
"We been duped," Adrienne began before they were even outside, "Ya not even needta try to make me not boude because dat capo coulda compromised dis entire city!"
Been a while since he heard some of those words, and only years of being together allowed him to translate quickly in his head.
"And so you had Todd…"
"Gaw damn capo actin' like he 'ad no idea what we was da vay ya, so Todd decided ta make 'im spill."
"He's not your MUSCLE Ad!"
Adrienne spat, a gesture he has only seen her aunt make. Daniel took a breath and tried to refocus, hoping the wraith wasn't picking up where he had left off.
"Helena said he knows? Knows what exactly?"
Adrienne exploded, "He SHO as SHIT KNEW! His people be da people dat 'id 'er!?"
"Who?"
"Nieta!"
Daniel wanted further explanation, but his wife seemed to be getting angrier again.
"OUR CHILDREN Daniel; he knew how someone could hurt our CHILDREN!"
Still lost, Daniel peered over into the lab, where Paris was now at least upright, Todd, however, not allowing him to love.
"Ad, listen, I know you are upset and I am certain that you have every reason to be, but unless you compose yourself and explain to me what is going on this conversation isn't going anywhere."
She breathed in, listening, thankfully, before beginning to speak again.
"We have been investigatin'," she began, her accent still there, "all dem paintins' and whatnot for how long? And he be…" she trailed, breathing in, "He knew all along what we were looking at. He knew everything, the whole story, and was just using us in the hopes that she was here, in the city."
Daniel's jaw dropped, the archaeologist stunned.
"How do you know?"
"Your daughter," she stated plainly, "Apparently, she can read minds, not just empathy, but full fledged mind reading and she overheard the entire thing."
"Wait, Helena can-"
"Yeah, and that's another conversation for later," Adrienne interrupted, continuing, "So he's been coming here, helping, trying to seduce me," she paused, her pale Cajun cheeks red with embarrassment, "because HE'S got an entire holy book that says SHE is in the city!"
"Is she?" Daniel inquired, a question he felt was stupid the moment he spoke it, as Adrienne shrugged.
"No idea. Maybe, maybe not, maybe she's invaded Helena's damn body!" Adrienne's voice grew to a scream, Daniel stepping forward to quiet her.
"That last part was exaggeration: I had Todd check as soon as I worried," she added quickly.
"I would expect no less."
"Anyway, he seemed to know about the storm, Helena said there was some prophecy and that he was just waiting for the power to kick out and then Todd found him trying to access a passage in the walls of my lab!"
That made Daniel glare angrily himself, but he maintained his composure. He needed to figure out what was going on, what this man knew and if his city was safe.
"Alright, ja-wer, I'm going to go back into the lab," he started slowly, hoping to ease his wife's concern, "We are going to talk to Paris and figure out exactly what is going on."
Adrienne glared, but her face indicated that she was accepting his suggestion, if not unwillingly.
Taking a breath, Daniel headed back into his wife's workspace.
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"So, I'm sorry," Saurza said from the doorway of the infirmary, "but I would tell on you again."
Nicholas heard the voice from behind, turned from the sedated children to make eye contact.
"Nah, you were right," he admitted, "It could have been way worse. They could have been something terrible. Aunt Sam and Uncle Jonas found an ancient woman once and she had a disease. Almost killed Uncle Jack." The boy sighed out, realizing that could have happened again.
The girl shrugged, approaching him cautiously.
"Are they ok?" she asked quietly, Nicholas nodding in reply.
"Yeah, Dr. B says they are good. No diseases or anything, just two regular kids."
"What a way to make friends," Saurza joked and Nicholas chuckled.
"Well, they don't speak English, so there's that…"
"Then we get to be the ones to teach them all of the fun words," she teased, pulling up a chair beside him, "Where are your parents? And Helena?"
"Helena is with Teyla, surprise, suprise" Nicholas muttered, "Dad went to Mom's lab, to find Paris and whoever to confirm who they are."
"But you know who they are, don't you? That's why you woke them up." Saurza surmised.
"Yeah, they are Nieta's kids," Nicky confirmed, "frozen over ten thousand years ago. Before the Wraith, before the ancients were fighting for their lives. They are, in a way, our ancestors."
"But why?" Saurza asked, "Why freeze two kids?"
"I have no idea, but it wasn't an accident. They were well kept and healthy, so someone meant to freeze them," Nicholas replied honestly, "Either way, I plan on asking them when they wake up."
"Which will be?"
"Soon Carson said," Nicholas answered, "He only sedated them to do a more thorough exam because they were upset and there was only so much Helena could do, well, and Dad still isn't keen on her superpowers or whatever she can do. Anyway, that's why I am waiting, so I can talk to them."
"Want company?" she offered, shrugging softly.
"Yeah," he whispered, his eyes back on the life forms on the bed. Saurza nodded, pulling her knees to her chest and staring at the children herself.
"So…" Saurza said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood, "How do you say 'We come in peace' in Ancient?"
"Let's start with "Sumus amacus"."
"What's that mean?" she asked, Nicholas smiling.
"We're friends."
"Works for me," she replied, peering over at two children she hoped would indeed be friends and not foes.
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Sam stood in Carson's office, comparing his scan and exam to information on her iPad. She and Jack had come in search of Daniel, but instead had discovered that he left the infirmary, looking for Adrienne and Paris to confirm the children's identity. Worried, she decided it was in the best interest of the city to begin her own investigation.
"I wish Janet were here," Sam sighed out, biting her lip, "these scans are so similar to what we found of Ayiana, but there are distinct differences in the DNA signature that…" she trailed, flipping through the images, "did you do an EEG?"
"Aye" he replied, pulling up the readings.
"And no virus?" Jack questioned, concerned.
"Nah," Carson answered, "they are clear. Whatever affected the women found in Antarctica is not affecting these two. Lucky for us."
"And carbon dating?" Sam asked, to ensure that what she was seeing was correct.
"Around ten thousand years old, maybe just a few years before the city submerged," Carson confirmed, Sam nodding.
"It lines up with what we know about Atlantis, and given what we know about Janus as well as what we know about the Ancients prior to their reemergence in the Milky Way, these children are indeed some of the original inhabitants of Atlantis."
"I guess freezing them was cheaper than daycare," Jack quipped, Sam rolling her eyes.
"Someone wanted them to survive, so Daniel and Addy think there is some truth to this Nieta and Khanton stuff that she's been studying, and that these children may be theirs," Carson added. Sam nodded her head knowingly.
"Which may make us a target," she noted, peering slowly up at Jack, "in which case I think Rodney and I need to get this power restored and fast."
"Just what we need," Jack muttered, "another group of people who hate us. I'm beginning to think I should have retired on Earth at this rate."
Sam raised her eyebrows, standing, looking to Carson.
"I'm going to head back to the main tower, see what help I can be. Carson, please let me know when they wake up. I'd like to try and communicate with them and, when we get gate function back, dial Jonas to get his input. Stories or not, I lived through the last time something like this happened, and I want to make sure that we are taking all necessary precautions."
"Yes ma'am," Carson answered, heading back to check on the children. Jack stood at the side of the table, looking down and sighing.
"Poor kids," he noted, "I bet no one asked them if they wanted to be frozen for thousands of years."
"But would the alternative be explaining to them the Wraith? Or whatever other horrors they were trying to escape."
The old general nodded, reading the vitals of the small humans in front of him.
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The Subae man seemed to be grateful for Daniel's presence, slowly sipping a bottle of water he was offered.
"It was never my intention to deceive you," the cat-like man began as soon as he swallowed, "but I am certain that you understand our position."
Daniel nodded, glaring at his wife who he dared with his eyes to reply.
"Yes, and likewise I expect that you would understand ours."
Paris nodded, sipping again.
"So, the stories, the analysis, everything…" the archaeologist trailed, Paris swallowing once more as his eyes cast downward.
"We needed to know what you knew, and if you had her," he began, sitting up slightly as if he intended to speak for much longer, "after the city rose again we were hopeful, but when it left, we were certain that they found her. They or the wraith, present company excluded."
Todd didn't move.
"Again, while we do not appreciate you not being forthright with us, I understand," Daniel replied, trying to smile, "but at the present, our city is on emergency power, and there are two very frightened children in the infirmary…"
Paris's eyes filled with tears, glancing at Adrienne and Teyla, who were watching him quietly.
"How are they?" he asked, sincerely.
"Fine," Adrienne replied, her accent under better control, "All clear by Carson's scans."
"Thank you gods of old for protecting those precious children," Paris whispered as he gazed upward.
"Paris," Daniel began again, "we need to know everything."
"Of course," he muttered quietly, taking a breath.
"Long ago, when the city was the center of the galaxy, the Lanteans both led our galaxy in peace, as well as taught us all a great many things about how the universe worked. They were not stingy with their scientific advances, sharing their knowledge with all that desired it."
"However, as they had come to our galaxy to escape a great plague, they were ever vigilant that such a disaster would end their time here, and consequently their race. While many continued to live and work as they had before their arrival in this galaxy, others became obsessed with the purity of their race."
He paused, Daniel furrowing his brow. Clearing his throat, as the Subae man could see no response or question was coming, he continued.
"As time passed, it was decided that children of the Lanteans would be purified. So, all who chose to live in the city, whether they were Lanteans or an outside ambassadors, were required to register their intended procreation. This meant, genetic testing and alteration, where necessary."
"Ancient eugenics," Adrienne muttered at her husband.
"I believe that is an accurate application of your word," Paris spoke once more, "However, this decision was not one that was accepted by all."
"Such as Nieta and Khanton?" Teyla asked, the images from the Subae temple posted behind her head.
"Yes," Paris replied, "Khanton sat on the council and spoke often of how this decision, and others in the city, were making the Lanteans into Gods and rulers rather than teachers, as he felt they should be. There were protests and small uprisings, and Khanton rose to be one of the most respected leaders of the Lanteans, by Lanteans and others across the galaxy."
"So then why are you the cult of Nieta, and not Khanton?" Adrienne asked, as Paris cracked a smile.
"Because," Paris, "it was the great Nieta that stood not only for the rights of those in the city, but for those of us across the galaxy. Nieta was a great teacher, and through her work she met Khanton. They fell in love, and, the stories tell us it is much like you describe the Kings and Queens of Earth, Addy."
Daniel looked at his wife, as she shrugged sheepishly.
"There was a magazine Aunt Barb sent me, with William and Kate on the cova."
The commander sighed, shaking his head.
"Their love was public and beautiful, and forbidden. But, more than that, Nieta made Khanton aware of how the Lanteans were using the inhabitants of the outside worlds…" Paris paused, blinking his eyes again, gazing up at both Adrienne and Daniel.
"My people did not always live under the ground," he continued, "we were once greater in numbers and lived in beautiful cities above the ground. But, in exchange for the knowledge they possessed, our leaders allowed the Lanteans to conduct experiments on the populous."
"Teyla?" Daniel questioned, looking at her for any confirmation, "What do you know of this?"
"This I have not heard," she replied, "but I do know that my people once possessed the ability to use technology as well as the Ancients, however it was the Wraith that ended that era."
"Another experiment of the Lanteans," Paris noted.
"We're familiar," Daniel grumbled.
"The Bola Kai were yet another, DNA augmentation that resulted in cannibalistic practices…"
"We've seen their names appear in texts, and others," Adrienne confirmed, as Paris nodded.
"All twice victims the of Lanteans, first as experimental subjects and then later the food of another," he replied, "Nieta, and others, discovered this and brought it to the attention of Khanton, and together they led a rebellion against the purist faction of Atlantis."
"And the children?" Teyla inquired, "How are their children here, and alive?"
"Janus," Daniel answered for him, "because Janus didn't agree with the experiments. He must have found a way to make it look like he was experimenting on them, when in fact, they were merely cryogenically frozen."
"Yes," Paris agreed, "That is what we believe as well and that he cared for Nieta as she became pregnant naturally, as was intended. At first, they had enough power and protection, and while natural birth was still forbidden, the council knew that they could only do so much before they lost the support of the people."
"What happened? What changed?" Adrienne inquired
"Galen," Paris said with a shudder, "there was a scientist named Galen. He was a rival to Janus, a purist. He gained political power, and according to the stories, had the children killed to study their bodies and had Khanton forcibly ascended."
Adrienne's jaw dropped, and Paris nodded.
"Nieta and Khanton did not believe in ascension, as they did not believe in genetically altered children. They believed in nature, and, to punish Nieta and Khanton, they were forced to watch their children die, in order to be used to further advance the purist agenda, and for Nieta to watch Khanton ascend, rather than die naturally."
"But the children?" Daniel asked curious, watching Paris's eyes filling again.
"Are alive," he sighed out, "Janus did it; he saved them."
"What happened to Nieta?" Adrienne now asked, "the images, your story, everything seems to tie together but what did they do to her?"
The Subae's head dropped again.
"No one knows. Some stories say that she ended her own life. Some say that they ascended her as well. But, on my world, we believe she went into hiding. In fact," he paused, "it is my family that claims to have hidden her when she escaped."
"That is why you know the story," Teyla interjected, "because your family was entrusted with the knowledge by Nieta herself."
"Yes," Paris confirmed, "and through cullings by the Wraith and other hardships, many of the original artifacts were lost, the items that we found. But the knowledge I have is not written down, it has been passed down, and until these paintings you all have helped us to discover, the knowledge of my family has been all we had," he paused again, "and until the children. Thessara and Ventio."
"Treasure and Wind?" Daniel translated, confused.
"Because she was the treasure that graced the world, and he was going to sweep truth across it."
"Clever," Adrienne noted with chuckle.
"Nieta is clever," Paris noted quickly, "it was why Khanton fell in love with her."
"Is," Daniel noted his language, "So this cult of Nieta began with the Subae. They hid her when she escaped, somehow, and you believe she continues to live. You thought she was frozen in the city, with or rather than her children."
"Yes," Paris confirmed, his expression drawing, "but the lab that your son found was the last part of the city that we could not scan. If she was not with them, then…"
"She's not here," Adrienne piped up, "that's all that means."
"But," Paris spoke again, "our people always believed she left us to return to the city, to find Janus. If Janus did not put her in the sleep, then where has she gone?"
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Nieta sat at the console, desperate for any information from the city. She knew they were close, her stomach sinking as she could hear Vioarr in her head, reminding her of their arrangement: the secrets of Galen and the others, contained in the city, in exchange for passage to find her children. But her transmission, set up by Aesura so she could monitor the inhabitants in case there were any change to their situation, had been out for nearly three days. She sat, trying to contain her emotions which became harder to do each day.
It was a dangerous alliance, and one that she knew went against everything she believed in. A part of her wanted to Vanirs to die out as nature intended, but giving them the knowledge they desired was the only way that they had agreed to bring her back to the city. Their desperation, after Ran's assistance had not given them the solution they were looking for, was to her benefit. Yet, she knew inside that once she got what she needed from them, she could not allow them access to that knowledge, knowledge she herself sought to destroy.
She started to contact Aesura, one of the few that remained faithful to her after the trials. Aesura has been her student for so many years, and when she had begun working with Galen, Nieta had feared for the worst. Yet there she was, as Nieta wept in a cell, awaiting a fate she had been promised would be worse than that of her husband and children, with a way out. Their allies across the galaxy, eager to help a Lantean who would stand at their side rather than use them, had assisted Aesura in securing a path out of the Atlantis detention center and to the small planet of Suba, where she hide for nearly five years. No one ever came looking for her, and she did not hear from Aesura until long after she had left the protection of the Subae, to find that she had Ascended with the rest of the Lanteans who remained in the Pegasus. She had been angry at first, betrayed as the glowing form stood in front of her, but as time passed she saw the wisdom in her pupil's choice. Now, without her, she would never have gotten so close to fulfilling her goal, and finding her family.
She sighed, thousands of years of patience wearing thinner by the moment. When she felt hopeless, the time had passed, but with hope, time slowed to a crawl. If only she could know what was happening, and why the city went black.
Out of the corner of her eye there was a flicker, and the previously black screen powered to life, the power to the city restored. She scanned the monitors, her heart racing, seeing the city inhabitants confined to their rooms, the common area abandoned, only a sparse staff in the control room and a large number in the infirmary. Leaning forward to see what was the cause of the commotion, Nieta noticed a number of people laying on beds, in various stages of injury, and the young Jackson boy sitting in a chair with his friend, at the side of two beds.
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, as her daughter sat up slowly, the Jackson boy reaching out his hand carefully toward her.
They were alive.
Her genetically altered heart beating wildly in her chest she started to rise from her seat to alert the Vanir captain to increase his speed toward the city, but she knew that was unwise. The more eager she had appeared, the more leverage he had.
Instead she sat back in her chair, fighting back tears, as she watched her children sit up on infirmary beds as if nothing had happened.
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Aesura was working on some additional DNA coding, her eyes darting back and forth to the city monitors. The city has lost power in the storm, which appeared to be much larger than expected based on her readings, and she was concerned about not only about their research, but about the well-being of what Galen saw as subjects. To Aesura, they were people, not to be experimented on or studied or forced to live forever. They were mortals that deserved the gifts of mortality and the preciousness of life.
But the monitors were dark.
Taking a breath, she muttered a few words under her breath, hoping all was well and that her worries were misplaced.
She continued her work, eyeing line after line of coding, when there was a flicker at the corner of her eye. Not expecting much of anything, she peered over to see the city was alive and well, inhabitants appearing to recover across the city and…
The children…
In the infirmary she saw the Jackson boy and his friend, sitting with Thessara, Ventio in the bed next to her.
They were alive, well and awake.
Both her heart and mind raced at the possibilities, making her panic.
Galen could not know, but how. Frantically, she ran over to the console, tapping in a few key codes. It was sabotage, and she would think of a reason later, but for now she needed to end the feed from the city. She tapped, clicked, with no success. In frustration she slammed her fists down on the console, expecting nothing when there was a spark and the monitors went dim.
"Hooray for a lower plane of existence I guess," she muttered, sighing out, as her mind worked on an explanation for Galen.
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Daniel squinted as the lights powered on, the city whirring to life.
"I thought you said Sam and Rodney it was gonna take sixteen hours?" Adrienne questioned, as the DATA unit in her office came to life as well.
"Drs. Jackson," the hologram said, "it appears that the city has suffered a city-wide power loss for a number of hours. Would you like for me to confirm that all of our data has been properly stored in city systems?"
"Yes DATA," Adrienne requested, the hologram disappearing as Daniel tapped his ear.
"Sam?"
"Daniel, we have power restored, but we need to call a meeting in the conference room. Not only about power and damage, but about the…"
"Agreed," he replied, looking at Adrienne, "Have Ronon and Vala run a sweep of the entire city with their team to assess any damage."
"Understood."
Daniel ended the communication, looking at his wife as she sat at her office desk, tapping a pen to a pad.
"We need to keep Paris here," she said as soon as their eyes met, "Helena said that the Ancients will know if he knows."
"Ad, I…" Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose, "How could she even…?"
"She can do what Todd does; she can read minds."
"So is there something that Paris is not telling us then? That he intends to betray his entire belief system the moment he sets foot on his homeworld?"
"I'm not sure. I'm not sure what he knows versus what he said, or maybe, what he fears that she can tap into, but he needs to remain for a while, until we know what sort of threat this may pose to all of us."
"You're right," he agreed, "Paris remains in the city and the gate remains closed. In fact," Daniel stood, tapping his ear, "until we figure this out the city is on lock-down. Davidson, are you there."
"Yes sir."
"Please make a city-wide announcement that while we assess the damage we will remain on lock-down and maintain curfew."
"Yes sir."
Daniel glanced back at his wife, extending his hand.
"Let's go meet our guests."
Nodding, she took his hand, following him back into her lab and out into the main corridor.