Beyond the Gate

by Xeir Zith

The last thing Tanith remembered was Cameron cracking a very bad joke and Daniel cracking up in laughter. The next thing she knows is that she has a splitting headache and is in the dark, literally. As she unravels where she is, she finds out things she would rather not know. The SGC and Atlantis learn more of who the Furlings really are, and where they were hiding all that time

6. Rodney 1

Beyond the Gate

Chapter 6 Raising the Stakes

Atlantis, Pegasus galaxy

Present day

"As far as I can tell, the database was limited in terms of other races. But uh... Dr Jackson and the rest of SG1 had encountered a planet called Tantalus back in the Milky Way, apparently it was where the Ancients, the Asgard, and two other races used to meet for regular meetings." I explained to everyone of what I had found in theprevious weeks since the first disappearances back in Miami in the Milky Way.

"What are you trying to say Dr McKay ?" Woolsey asked me, I gave him a silent death glare.

"SG1 encountered three of those races, we encountered two, the Ancients, the Asgard, and the one race we here in Atlantis havent yet encountered were the Nox," I replied "The fourth race, the Furlings, SG1 never encountered and according to the database they never will."

"How so ?" It was Sheppard that spoke up from where he sat.

"According to the database around two hundred thousand years ago, the last time the four races met, the Furlings were transplanted to another homeworld when their sun was about to go supernova. Odds are good that black hole that the SGC had connected to a few years ago was that same world and it was just reaching the planet." I said

"Meaning ?" Woolsey said, I rolled my eyes and sighed easperiated. "How exactly did the Ancients entirely relocate a race of beings ?"

"I was getting to that, the ancients had relocated races before, it was how they seeded galaxies with life. In this cased they took the Furlings from their homeworld, and transported them to another planet outside the Milky Way Galaxy." I explained

"You mean they're in this galaxy ?" Woolsey asked

I snapped my fingers twice and pointed at him, "Exactly!"

"Where ? Do we have an address ?" John asked

"Not just yet, but according to the database, there is a planet somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy that is closest to the Milky Way galaxy, that apparently has two stargates, one of them, in this case the Pegasus stargate is the primary gate its connected to our network. The only problem is finding it. The other gate, well, I'm not sure if it was built there or if its a Milky Way gate or even a pegasus gate, or even a dismantled gate." I replied.

"So we go to the planet once we find out the stargate address ?" Woolsey asked

"Maybe, first I have to find it, Radek's currently going through the stargate addresses database and cross referenceing it with anything of recent gate activity. Once we have the gate address we can try to get a lock on it. If we cant get a lock on it, we can get there in the Daedalus or Apollo." I said in reply

"Alright, see what you guys can find and before we do anything further with the stargate finding this planet, I need the weekly report on your department personel and make sure everyone is accounted for." Woolsey said

I nodded, "right I nearly forgot, was so focused on finding this mystery planet the Ancients relocated the Furlings to. I had Chuck sign off on it for me and I'll go over it first." I had my tablet in hand as I spoke, but I looked to Richard, "When do you plan on dialing earth ?"

"In two hours, you, Col Sheppard and the South Peirs security crews havent reported their lists yet." Woolsey replied

I threw a smirk towards John, he just nodded in my direction as if he knew something I didnt. I called it the Kirk smirk. John didnt care. I was too busy going through my list and ensuring everyone was accounted for.

Infact I was so focused on my list that when Radek radioed me I was on page twenty seven of fourty two. "Rodney, this is Zelenka, are you there ?" He asked

As I read the page of personel who had clocked in and marked them in a green highlight I asked thoutghtfully. "What's up ?" I turned to page twenty eight and that was when Radek had my complete attention.

"I found it" Radek sounded incredibly excited.

That had my attention "I'm on my way" I turned off my tablet and ran for my lab where Radek was typing on a computer. As I came running in Radek was talking as soon as I was in the doorway.

"It was directly under our noses the entire time, the database always said that Atlantis was the only stargate able to dial directly to Earth. But that was where things got confusing." Radek told me

"So how'd you find it ?" I asked as I went over the screen nearby, a stargate address stared at us both.

"Turns out Atlantis is the only stargate able to directly dial earth, so we went with that, but we didnt try looking for stargates able to dial from any planet in the section of the Pegasus galaxy that is directly able to dial any planet nearest to pegasus in the Milky Way. However this came up" Radek typed on the keyboard and another stargate address came up.

"Is that ?" I pointed at the screen

"According to the database the planet was a shipyard, a weapons testing location, and finally a relocation settlement. According to the database that is where the stargates first came from in both Pegasus and the Milkyway" Radek said.

"So there'd be a system manual on how to build a new gate at the birthplace of the stargates ?" I asked

"Maybe, so far the only thing I have been able to find in the system is this" Radek typed another command and the information on the planet came on the screen. He seemed proud. I stared in shock.

"Oh my God" I said in awe. "Radek you did it! You found our mystery planet!" Finally I was giving Radek the praise he deserved, and it was true because he was brilliant to think of something I never thought of. "I had always assumed that Atlantis was the only stargate able to dial anywhere in the milky way."

"Dont thank me yet" Radek said, it was hard not to, I could tell he was already embrassaed of me praising him that he was a genius to try something on a guess "There's only one way to be sure, we can see if the gate address works. If it does" Radek said,

"They send a MALP through, we test for viablity, then we go through. Shall we ?" I said in agreement, I turned my tablet back on, page twenty eight of fourty two stared me in the face. And with Radek right next to me I highlighted his name in green. Fourteen pages to go.

An hour later and the list was done, and the stargate was connected to an unknown planet that looked, according to the malp, like paradise, untouched whatsoever entirely by the Wraith. "Wow" I said

"I agree" Richard commented, he too hadnt see anything so beautiful since he had seen Earth from orbit in the Daedalus a few years before. "According to the MALP and visuals we have here, we can safely guess the Wraith never went to this planet ?"

"From what it looks like yeah, according to the radar there's a mountain range about a kilometer to north east, and, turn the camera... Oh would you look at that sunrise ?" I said, odd that I suddenly thought the sunrise was a beautiful thing, it had been a long time really.

"Whats that ?" Radek asked, pointing in the direction away from the sun as the camera moved around.

"Focus the camera" I said as I enhanced the video.

Now that we had a better view Radek spoke again "Is that what I think it is ?"

"If you're thinknig that is a UAV prepped for UCAVs you're thinking correctly. There is a second stargate on the planet!" I said

"So if thats a UAV, set for UCAV," Richjard mused thoughtfully

"It means the SGC sent a UAV to map the area. We've done it before even here setting up a alpha or beta site." I said

"But this is in the Pegasus Galaxy" Richard said

"Yeah, which means the other stargate mentioned in the database can connect to the Milky Way easily somehow." I replied leaning against the railing that looked out over the stargate ramp area. "It would need a lot of power, anything short of a ZPM would do it easily"

"Yeah, but Earth was the one that sent that UAV, they're the only one who sends those set for UCAV, so it was either Earth itself or one of the Sites."

"There's a problem there" I said simply

"What kind of problem ?" Richard asked

"A week ago we gave Earth the extra ZPM, but SG1 reported the Iota sites commander disappearing from the Iota site a week and three days ago. At that point they sent those Uavs out" I said

"So this gate must be part of the milky way network, unaffected by the pegasus network." Richard mused

"Exactly, according to the database the Ancients used the planet as a shipyard, a weapons testing zone, and lastly, a refugee relocation settlement. Its possible that whoever lived on that planet as a resettlement resident, now lives there again. We just need to send our stuff to Earth through the gate in a databurst, then from there we can go to the planet and find the milky way gate" I said as I explained my plan

"Its also possible the reason why the stargate can connect with the milkyway andf vice versa is because of the planets core is the power source" Radek spoke up

"You mean its geothermal ?" I asked, already terrified of trying to dial anywhere from the planet with the other gate.

"No, in this case the planet core is entirely made of uranium. Incredibly radioactive in its refined state, but right now according to the readouts it is incredbly harmless, and yet able to power the stargate to connect to the milky way." Radek replied, he looked at me and pushed up his glasses, "its more then likely possible the milky way gate is corrected directly to the planet core somehow."

"That makes sense of how Earth was able to connect to it so easily" I mused aloud, I snapped my fingers thoughtfully as an idea hit me "Soon as we send our weekly report to Earth we'll take a Jumper and find that other stargate. Maybe see if we can find some others around too."

"Good work you two" Richard said.

"Actually Radek did the legwork and found most of the info." I admitted, Richared stared at me, as did Radek, I had never admitted such a thing before to anyone, let alone in front of anyone else.

"Oh my god" Radek said then alerting both myself and Richard to his presense again as a beeping noise went off. We turned towards Radek, well at least Richard turned towards Radek I went to the life signs system and started typing on the keyboard.

"What is it ?" Richard asked as I went to the life signs sensors and brought them on screen

"A storm just appeared over the north Peir out of nowhere whatsoever, lighting is hitting the city on the lightning rods. Col Sheppard is in that area with Major Pendergast and her team." Radek said.

"What ? How can a storm just show up without us knowing ?" Richard asked, the city had sensors for it, which allowed them to have an advance warning ahead of time.

"Its possible the city didnt detect the storm until it just formed from thin air directly over the North Peir" Radek replied, with the successive lightning strikes, the East Plasa of the North Peir is taking extensive damage.

"I can confirm the storm is over the north peir, according to the sensors, something just exploded." I said as I got onto my radio "Sheppard its McKay whats going on out there ?"

"Rodney this is Sheppard, tell Mr Woosley we got bad news for Earth when I get there" Came Johns voice. He sounded like he was running for something, or in this case, from something.

"What are you talking about, what happened ?" I asked as John, on the sensors, ran towards a transporter.

Sheppard hit the transporter key and disappeared reappearing at the base of the control tower. "Major Pendergast disappeared in a lightning bolt that's what happened!" Sheppard said on the radio

I traded looks with Radek and Richard. "Oh no" I groaned. I had hoped nobody from here would disappear like back in the milky way.

Radek sighed "It was only a matter of time before the strange disappearances happened here" He mumbled.

"Who disappeared ?" Richard asked me

"Major Claire Pendergast, US Marines. She was originally tapped by Col Raines for the Iota Site's sniper squad, but now Major Pendergast joined Col Raines where ever the hell Col Raines ended up!" I said to him

"Now shes gone ?" Richard asked, I just nodded.

"I'll explain when I get there, stay put." Sheppard said over the radio.

"Alright," Richard said simply, he turned to Chuck, "Shut it down for now but save the address, Dr Zelenka, Dr McKay, in my office, Col Sheppard, come directly to my office and explain what happened there, we'll wait for you there, with drinks." Richard said into his radio after asking Radek and I to join him in his office. Fran II stepped into view and saw my expression, she was worried

But I saw her worried face first. "Something wrong ?" I asked her as I motioned for Radek and Woolsey to go on ahead.

"The North Peir took damage, extensive and heavy damage at that. Thankfully its nothing the nanites cant fix. Using the water to replcate the required matrierals is getting easier and allows us to also ensure the water levels do not differ or drop." She replied, for a Replicator designed to rebuild what was damaged or destroyed she loved what she did, the others too.

"How bad ?" I asked, Janus secret lab was in there, and we were about half way through his stuff ast best, the pegasus asgard were kind enough to return a few key items we needed to power the lab, but they were also able to develop friendly connections with us too.

"Janus' lab is undamaged, but the top of the tower was obliterated in the lighting strikes. The lightning rods were overloaded" Fran replied softly, almost as if she was in misery because of the damage. "We're working as quickly as we can to repair the top level of the tower, Col Sheppard is lucky to have gotten out of that strike zone alive and unharmed" She then said

I sighed, "Its alright, we all have jobs to do, Col Sheppard is on his way here right now." I said, Fran nodded and started off, but halted when I called to her. She stopped and looked towards me. "Fran... Thanks" I said. She smiled softly in my direction before heading off. The nanites had infused with the city and were rebuilding damaged sections panel by panel quite fast. Though using the water below the city could make the water shallower as time went on. But thankfully as Fran just told me, they had refined their replicating ability to repair the city to not affect the water quality or its ocean life.

As I stepped into Woolsey's office he was already pouring drinks. Sheppard arrived about a minute after I sat down, I took the offered drink, a whiskey, from Richard as Radek leaned against a post.

"Col Sheppard, please sit down before you fall down." Richard said upon sight of Sheppard. The man looked a wreck, his uniform vest was singed as well as the smell of soot and recently in a fire was to be had all over him. John took the offered whiskey and all but fell into a chair. "What happened on the North Peir ?"

"Storm came out of nowhere, amid the thunder and lightning, out of nowhere, a lightning bolt struck the tower itself. The building shook." John told us

I traded looks with Radek, "We didnt feel anything here, its possible that the extended peirs could be less stable. But what we did see was an increase in lightning activity that overloaded a grounding station." I replied

"That's just it Rodney, when that grounding station overloaded, the lightning rods in the corridor around us went berzerk. So as the Major and I dove for cover, she got hit. I half expected to land on top of her or her ontop of me, but instead I got his bouncing off my head." Sheppard held up Claires radio. It was half melted, a twisted mess of what it once was.

After getting told what was going on, Richard was quiet for a long moment. Finally he sighed, took a sip of his whiskey, and said. "I think we should put the city on a code three lockdown, teams pair up, pick a building, get names of everyone in the building, we make a list of how many people disappeared, we start in the North Peir and fan out from there since that is where the storm was, its possible that only Major Pendergast was taken somewhere." He said

"I dont think she was taken by someone, but its possible that whatever is happening on Earth and the backup sites just happened here. And if Daniel Jacksons' right" I said thoughtfully

"If Dr Jackson is right, then it means tghat Major Pendergast, along with Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Wallace, Lt Col Tanthial Raines, and Captain Zane Artigas are all in one place somewhere in the galaxy." Richard said, he looked at me, "And if that is the case, would it be possible for the extended long range sensors to pick up activiy on a planet in the sense of electrical activty ?"

"Radek and I found in the database a few entries on where the Ancients had helped transport a race, in this case, the Furlings from their original homeworld to a planet listed in the database as Ascretta, Apparently according to the database it was also used as a project world, and starship construction yard." I replied

"Do we have an address ?" John asked

"We do, but its likely it will connect on the next try" Radek spoke up, I sighed

"We do have an address yes, we have connected to it. We were about to see if it would get a full reading of information from the MALP when the storm hit" I explained

"No time like the present" John said, I traded looks with him before looking to Richard. "If this is where Major Pendergast ended up, I damn well I want to find her and bring her home. We dont leave people behind." He was right after all, we had found Ford, he was safely with the Travelers, going so far as to get weaned off the wraith enzyme perfectly, and also finding a wife and having a young son. John was right to list Aiden as MIA, insisting the young man was not dead.

In a way I was glad that Aiden survived. To the point where he even asked for access back to Earth, to take his wife and son, and to have them meet his sister and her husband. John even went so far as to plead Aidens case to General O'Niell, who after it was explained to him, granted the approval to return to Earth with access to the SGC, including the ability to return to Atlantis for another tour. And Ford was due up for one once he and his wife were settled, and also after his niece was to be born in the coming month or so.

"Alright, dial the gate and see if you can get a lock on it. Once you do we'll send a MALP through and see whats on the other side. Once that's done, prep a Jumper and take that through, its possible you might have to cloak. Until then, teams of four to spread out in the North Peir and get names of everyone and ensure they're accounted for." Richard said, Radek nodded and headed back t othe control room0

"What contacting Earth with this news ?" I asked

"I think we should wait first until we get the names of everyone in the North Peir, make sure they're accounted for and pray that Major Pendergast is the only one missing, this way we can send the news to the SGC when the confirmation is set in stone. Or" Richard mused aloud

"Or ?" John repeated in a confused tone.

"Or we can wait until you find her on Ascretta, if you find her." Richard said. It was up to us on reporting the disappearance now, or waiting until finding her. Richard turned to me. "What do we know about Ascretta ?" he asked me.

"Well, according to the database, the planet was where the stargates were first built, and then it was also used as a shipyard planet, its got a radiactive core, and also according to the database the planet is the closest planet to the Milky Way, in which case that allows us to, if what the database says is true, to access the planet, and then get to the Milky Way from here." I replied, Richard looked at me confused

"So you're saying that this stargate in Atlantis, is not the only one able to dial earth ?" He asked me. That was a very scary thought.

I looked a bit confused and yet also thoughtful. "Well, I cant fully confirm that just yet, at least until I get there and test dial anywhere in the Milky Way or infact hope that this was where the Ancients transplanted the Furlings, if that is exactly who they helped." I replied. "If the database is right, Ascretta was a planet used by the ancients to develop the stargate network in Pegasus, as well as a shipyard site." I sighed, triumpantly in my words. "Small wonder the Wraith never found it."

"Its possible they did, only left it alone as the planet wasnt useful. A radioactive core ? I'd stay way off myself" Sheppard mused. Personally I found myself agreeing with him.

"Unless it was also incredibly defended, its possible that if this was the Furlings, they're one of the Four Great Races that Dr Jackson has artefacts of back at the SGC." I pointed out, "They'd fight off the Wraith, or even were kept from them because the Ancients were here millions of years before the Wraith were even first encountered that first time. Its also possible that the Furlings evolved on this world, and the Ancients never let the Wraith know about it."

"Its also possible the Ancients never let the Wraith know about that world, like they kept it off of the charts and maps for a reason ? Maybe it is protected by a ZPM like the kids planet is" Sheppard suggested offhand,

I nodded and pointed at him, "he might be right" I said "For all we know, the planet is either kept off maps by the Ancients so it appears entirely useless, or, its so well defended the waith stay away out of force of habit, or dont even care of the planet, or, its protected by a device similar to the kids" All three options made sense

"So where did Major Pendergast go ?" Richard spoke up

"If she went anywhere, its more then likely that planet, I can ask Ben or Fran to run a scan for unknown energies across the galaxy, in this case the lightning bolt, and if the other end, so to speak, is on a planet soemwhere." I replied, "If anything the long range scanners picked it up. Maybe"

"Fine, do what you can" Richard said. I nodded and left the office, heading for the control room.

I went to the desk next to chuck and started typing on the keyboard. Fran saw me and came over. "Rodney, repairs are nearly done to the North Peir. Ben has been scanning with the long range sensors, but so far he hasnt found anything." She told me

I stopped typing for a minute. "I dont think our sensor could extend to the entire galaxy." I mumbled, I thoutght a minute. Then smirked, snapping my fingers I said "I got it, use the stargate map system instead. We can work from there, if possible try and find a stargate by time of activation. Hopefully today."

Fran nodded and got to work as Ben came in. He had a thoughtful look on his face. "Oh that cant be right" He mumbled. I looked up at the Replicator, of all the replicators on the base, Ben was the only one who had really meshed with the human population and took on a more modernist common guy look, in other words he was wearing one of Radeks blue shirts, and he looked pretty good.

"What is it ?" I asked, Fran turned towards us

"Just as Major Pendergast disappeared, there was a energy surge of some kind on a planet in the outer edge of the galaxy, but that's not all, I tracked a few others in the same area." Ben said, the wild haired Replicator went to the sensor screen and brought up a section of the galaxy. The edge of it closest to the Milky Way was a location on the stargate network.

"What planet is that ?" I asked

Ben read it aloud "WH1-027" He said, weird address label but it would have to do. "According to the database, that stargate address is the planet Ascretta." Ben explained, I looked at him confused, he brought up the energy type that Claire had disappeared in. "This exact same energy signature appeared at this planet, Ascretta, just seconds after the storm occurred and Major Pendergast disappeared in a bolt of lightning" Ben said

They worked fast these Replicators. "Alright, so we know where Major Pendergast went."

"That's not all" Ben said

"It isnt ?" I asked him

He shook his head. "I'd been monitoring the planet through use of the stargate network, over the last month there has been more of the exact same energy reading happening on that planet."

"How many ?" I asked as I got up from the chair and went to the nearby screen.

"From when the anomolay first started appearing" Ben replied as he pointed to the screen, a flash of light showed up. "A month ago, to now... I count forty one energy surges." Ben said, I looked at him in shock. "Not counting Major Pendergast, which would make it forty two."

"Forty two energy surges, on that planet." I mumbled. "Dial the gate to Ascretta, lets see if we can get a lock on that MALP." I said to Chuck, he nodded and started dialing. The cheverons glowed blue and then the gate locked and connected. The kawoosh occurred like normal. "Send another MALP" I said.

Ben nodded and went for the controls, the radio controlled device was brought out, since we'd remade the Replicators to help us over anything else. They'd even remade our MALPs easier. The much smaller, dronelike devices floated a half meter off the ground to a full meter off the ground. "MALP Le2 reads breathable atmosphere, but its pitch dark, what looks like a large hexagonal room" Ben reported. "Found the first MALP

"On screen" I said, the screen lit up with full view of what the malp had found. "Whoa" I said softly.

"According to the readings, the air is indeed breathable, viable for life. And also with the gate active I was able to detect just now another energy reading, not far from the gate itself." Ben said

I nodded, "Shut it down" I said to Chuck, "I'll let Sheppard and Woolsey know our progress, Ben, in the mean time keep tracking those energy pulses. See if you can actually get a lock on the planet, if we need to we can take a Jumper through. And you can get a scan of the planet too" I said, Ben nodded and got to work, if he werent a mundane looking guy nobody would mistake him for a replicator. He looked, and dressed, too much like a human.

And yet, we relied on him, and Fran, and Eames and the others. Eames was a good guy to have around, he mostly oversaw the ZPM facility to make more ZPMs for us, where Ben mostly worked with Chuck and the others in the cotrol room, and Fran, well Fran liked to wander the city and help those who wanted her aid, or needed help to begin with.

Most of the time though Fran aimlessly wandered and repaired the city where needed. Overall, the Replicators were right, they wanted to help, defect from the originals, they didnt want to be seen as evil either. They wanted to do their duty as a working race. Doing what they were coded for.

And it made me happy that I could convince Richard on the hows and whys, convincing myself took even longer, but when Fran returned, and told Richard everything she could of what she wanted to do, and only asked simply to be able to prove it. Richard relented, and allowed the replicators to remake themselves on a smaller scale to help rebuild the damaged or destroyed parts of the city..

And then came the news of the ZPM facility that was basically a factory that built ZPMs. And the replicators had the ZPM building instructions built into their code, which allowed Atlantis to have three ZPMs and even send one to the SGC and also outfit the Daedalus and Apollo with one.

It allowed me, for once, to have a sense of peace.

But somehow I knew that peace wouldnt last. I entered the mess hall, where Sheppard and Richard were getting a cup of coffee. "You seem excited" John said to me on sight of my expression.

"That's because I am" I replied, Richard looked at me

"Tell us more" John said, Richard nodded

I smirked. "Ben was able to find energy signature related to the lightning strike that took Major Pendergast. We even got a lock with the stargate to the planet and connected with the other MALP. According to the MALP reading the air is the same as here, the room the gate is in is a huge hexagonal shape, bigger then the gateroom." I replied

"You know where Major Pendergast is ?" Richard asked

"Didnt I just say that Ben found the exact same energy reading of the lightning strike that took her from atlantis ?" I asked in reply

Richard rolled his eyes, "nevertheless." He said, "We know now where Major Pendergast went, its possible that even Col Raines is there."" he said

I was thoughtful, Tanith had tried to recruit Claire as part of her Iota Snipers team, a three woman team of the best shots in two galaxies. "its possible, Ben did say he had managed to track down another forty one energy readings, all of them identical to the one that the Major disappeared in." I said

"Then its settled, is Ben still monitoring the energy readings ?" Richard asked

"For the past month he never stopped. Once he found it through the stargate network here in Pegasus, he tracked them for the past month, every disappearance on Earth or her Sites, He was able to track, to here" I went over to the nearby screen on the wall, Ben seemed to anticipoate my movements as I pointed to it and caused the screen to appear from thin air. "On this planet" The screen showed the map of the galaxy. "Ascretta" I concluded

"Ascretta ?" Richard asked, I could tell he was confused, and so was Sheppard

I sighed softly then said "The name of the planet in the database.. according to the database the stargate name, is WH1-027. We got a lock the first time we tried to dial in, remember." I explained, Richard then nodded as he briefly remembered. "Judging by where it is, we cant just hop to it by way of a hyperspace jump" I grumbled.

"So it would have to be only by stargate." John mused, I sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, looks that way, for now, its like the Ancients deliberately kept this planet off the star maps and even out of the database here." I said in reply

"The space around the stargate is big enough for a Jumper ?" John asked

I nodded. "From what Ben and I were able to scan, yeah, looks like it's about double maybe three times the size of our gateroom floor, we wont be able to tell until we get there, why ?" I replied

"Alright," John looked at Richard, who nodded to the go ahead for the mission "Get your gear and meet me in the Jumper bay, i'll get the rest of the team" He said, I nodded and turned to richard as John took off at a jog.

"You're sure that this is where Major Pendergast went ?" He asked

"Fairly sure, but I wont know until we get there. If there is a stargate connected to the Milky Way, then it would indeed make sense for the Ancients to hide it so deep in the database in a very restricted area of it." Thankfully a few Ancients out there were kind enough to see that fighting the Ori and the other deadly races meant their peaceful way of life was not the best idea.

"How were you able to get to it ?" Richard asked

"Just looking up the Furlings really, that and Ben had been searching for the reasons behind the weird energy pulses he detected through the network." I replied

"So its not the attero device ?" Richard asked as we walked to my office, I grabbed my tablet, and a weapon harness and put the harness on, attaching the tablet to the back of it as I picked up a smaller scanner.

"No, Chuck was able to connect and disconnect the gate without issue both times." I replied

"I see" Richard said, he and I went to the control room, before I went up the stairs, Richard turned to me. "Good luck" I nodded in thanks and took the stairs two at a time.

I was not the first person to the jumper bay. I stopped when I saw Ben's back to me. "Ben ? What are you doing here ?" Radek was with him.

"We found out more of the strange energy reading, thought it best to go to the planet directly and see if I can encounter one while it happens." Ben explained

"Turns out the predictablity of the energy surges is impossible to do directly from our sesors here in Atlantis" Radek translated. "The only way to get an exact reading or even hope of a match is from the planet directly."

"I see, so you want to go to the planet and try and get a reading while it happens ?" I asked

Ben nodded and pointed at me. "Exactly that." he said, "If I can get a first hand reading of the energy pulse that happened here at Atlantis when Major Pendergast disappeared, I can further my finding and help Dr Jackson with his searching on Earth" Ben told me.

I traded looks with Radek. He nodded, I thought another minute, taking any of the Replkicators we had rebuilt with no needs of replicating past basic self repairs and allowing them to go to Earth was going to be a problem... Either way, I nodded."Alright, Radek, you're gonna monitor things from here, we'll try and establish contact as fast as we can once we're there."

"Right," He replied, "You and Ben can monitor things from your end, I'll be in the control room and work from this end. Good luck" Radek said. He then left, leaving Ben and I alone for a brief moment or so in the jumper. Ben, like me was focused strictly on the science side of the energy pulse that damaged the North Peir and made Major Pendergast disappear in an explosion of light.

We were both curious about it, and both of us wanted to get more answers. We had no idea of the answers we'd get, nor would we be ready for the new questions we were going to be faced with.