HIDDEN RESOURCES

PART THREE: DEUCALION

The guns were lowered after some very fast talking, a skill Major Shepard found he was getting better and better at, especially with Teyla's calm tones backing him up. The lieutenant in charge of the platoon that had "captured" them was a young dark-haired woman, slender and taller than Teyla, but not by much, and, after some communication with her superiors using a control panel along one wall, agreed to take them to her leader. Surprisingly, they were also allowed to retain their weapons, though Shepard guessed that to be in part because these platoon members were nervous of the strangeness of the P90s on their shoulders and 9mms strapped to their thighs.

Perhaps ten minutes later, after a couple of the guards dropped down and led them to a hidden ladder leading to entrance not far from their location, they were all inside the illusion and being marched down a series of man-made, cave-like corridors through a labyrinth that would have made Daedelus proud. There was a faint, musty smell in the air, probably caused by the presence of lichen on the inside of the cave walls, and McKay sneezed a couple of times. Shepard finally recognized what the smell really was--it was disuse.

"You have to understand, Major," the young lieutenant was saying, glancing sideways at the taller Shepard with dark brown eyes, "You've literally come out of nowhere. However...human...you look, we have been fooled before."

"Really?" McKay asked, jogging a little to keep up with the brisk pace the lieutenant and the longer legged Major Shepard were making, "How? Who?"

The lieutenant waved her hand, "Another race. It's not important, as it was a long time ago, but we have long memories."

"As do we all," Teyla agreed sagely.

"How did you figure out this other race wasn't human?" McKay pressed, jogging again. The young lieutenant looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "but probably when they started killing us."

"Ah," McKay dropped back.

"It was a long time ago. That race may be long gone, for all I know. They never did come again."

"This, uh, this other race," Shepard began, "they weren't, oh, freakily tall with long, wrinkly faces and stringy whitish hair...."

"No," the lieutenant gave a small smile, "That's the Wraith. You can't mistake them for human."

"No," the major shrugged, "I suppose not."

McKay frowned. Was he the only one disturbed by the information the lieutenant had just imparted? It worried him. Then again, everything worried him. He glanced around at the armed guards flanking them, all still with their hands on their rifles, and sighed. Oh well...no fear like the present, he mused gloomily.

Eventually, they reached what appeared to be a large, steel framed door, and the lieutenant stood back, indicating to two of her men to open it. They obliged quickly, and the whole platoon blinked as bright sunlight poured into the darkly lit hallway. A moment later, the lieutenant was leading them up a set of stairs.

The Team from Atlantis had to stop as they reached the top—they would have tripped over their feet otherwise.

"Wow," McKay breathed.

"Yeah," Shepard agreed.

They had emerged on one side of a massive circular courtyard enclosed by a spectacularly high glass dome, the translucent roof shimmering and glittering beneath the sun shining through from overhead. A number of the windows in the ceiling of the dome were raised, allowing fresh air inside, though the musty smell still pervaded. At their feet, the rose and gray marble floor was laid in the pattern of a many pointed star, pointing in all directions. McKay lifted the scanner, taking in readings quickly. Dark, closed doors stood at various points along the glass walls, but, looking through the glass on either side of the doorways, it appeared they all simply led outside into more thick forest like the one they'd just left.

It was gorgeous.

The lieutenant smiled a little at their awed expressions, then looked around herself. "Other than the sky directly overhead," she told them, "it's all just more illusion—mirrors mostly. You are actually standing at the center of our small city, at the heart of the mesa."

"Ha!" Shepard's exclamation startled the young woman, and she blinked. Clearing his throat, the major looked momentarily sheepish. "Sorry," he said, "inside joke."

The lieutenant raised her eyebrows, but otherwise didn't respond. "In any event," she said, "the doors all lead to various different parts of the city. I'm afraid to say that, other than this courtyard, most of it is a plain gray stone. The city really wasn't built for anything except a last defense against the Wraith." As they looked at her again, she smiled once more. "Now, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to meet Governor Borin."

"Um," Teyla cleared her throat, "before you do, may I ask: what is your city called?"

"Oh," the lieutenant chuckled, "My apologies. Major Shepard, Lieutenant Ford, Doctor McKay and Teyla Emmagen," she swept her hand out, "welcome to Deucalion. Now," she lowered the hand, "shall we go?"

"Um," McKay held up a finger, "as you're being so helpful," he pointed to a door off to the left. Unlike the other doors, this one appeared open...and a shield of what look like a liquid mirror filled the interior about two feet from the entrance. McKay looked back at the lieutenant, "Where does that door go?"

She looked at the door, her face expressionless. When she turned her dark eyes back to the major, he saw a sadness in them.

"The Governor may be able to answer that. Now, if you'll please follow me." And turning on her heel, she led them across the marble floor towards a metal door roughly opposite from where they were, her boot heels clicking against the surface, echoing inside the dome.

It was only then that it occurred to Shepard how empty the courtyard was—where were all the people?

"You come seeking allies."

Governor Borin leaned forward on her desk, her fingers steepling together, her statement a repetition of Major Shepard's last words. She was not a physically formidable woman, her silver streaked reddish hair trapped up atop her head in a tight bun, her dark eyes shadowed with what looked like many sleepless nights. Still, there was an obvious steel to her bearing and her voice that belied her looks. Her outfit was plain—a long green coat over a white shirt, and matching long green trousers. A pendent at her throat reminded McKay of green amber. She was probably about fifty years old, and the lines around her lips suggested most of those years had been pleasant. Now, however, her lips were pressed in a thin, humorless line.

"That's right," Shepard said, leaning back in his chair.

"And what do you imagine we can offer you?"

McKay perked up from where he sat on the Major's left, "Are you kidding? This illusion of yours is an amazing piece of technology! If we could study it--"

"It offers no real protection," the Governor informed him coolly. "The Wraith ships just pass right through. They know the mesa is much smaller than it appears and that they can fly in high without risk of hitting anything, not even a building. You are on the top floor of the tallest structure in the city, and it is only four stories."

"Then why not build something tall that they will hit?" Ford asked, "A metal dome inside the illusion? They try to fly through and," he drove his fist into his palm, "smack! boom!" Outside of Ford's eyeline, Shepard glanced at Rodney, his lips forming the word "smack, boom?" McKay covered his mouth to hide a smirk.

Oblivious to their antics, the Governor was shaking her head at Ford, "Even if we had the sort of resources to build such a thing, which we don't, their ships would simply blast through it with their weapons as soon as they knew it was there."

"Then why have the illusion at all?" Shepard asked. The older woman shifted her tired eyes to the major, reading his face. After a moment, she gave a small smile.

"Seems to me you already know, or," she tilted her head, "have a good idea."

"We think you may have a weapon," Teyla said, her usual brutal honesty coming to the fore. "Something that can deal with the ships that pass through the illusion's walls."

The Governor's small smile grew as her gaze switched to the Athosian, the thin pale lips parting to show aged yellowed teeth.

"Yes," she said, "We do have a weapon. Or rather," she looked back at Shepard, the smile disappearing, "We did."

Shepard's face grew confused at her statement, then a hint of anger crossed his face as he turned to glare at McKay. "What did you do!"

The scientist blinked at the sudden accusation, "What?" Behind the desk, the Governor also seemed a little taken aback. Shepard sharpened his glare at the scientist.

"When you disrupted that power source, what did you do!"

"I didn't...You think I....Major, I couldn't...." McKay was torn between confusion and indignation.

"Oh no," the Governor's hand was raised now, "you misunderstand me, Major Shepard. Nothing you have done has harmed any of the systems in this city, though," and here she turned a speculative eye on McKay, "did you really disrupt the illusion?" She looked beyond him to a military colonel standing in the background, a tall man with faded blond hair, "Is that why the alarm went off, Luphron?"

"Yes, ma'am," Colonel Luphron replied. "According to Lieutenant Che, they somehow opened a window along the Bell perimeter from the outside."

"Really?" The Governor looked back at McKay, and there was something akin to life in her eyes for the first time, "I just assumed that you set the alarm off by passing through it. You actually opened a window without using one of the control keys? How did you do that?"

"Oh, it wasn't hard, really," he shrugged, "I simply interfaced with the machine controlling the--"

"Why doesn't your weapon work," Shepard interrupted. McKay sighed--he was used to being cut off by the major now--and the Governor turned her gaze back to the military man. Her eyes drooped again--the spark that had appeared at learning that McKay had opened a window faded.

"Well, it's not that it doesn't work," she said, "It's that we can't use it."

"Why not?"

"It doesn't matter," she sighed. "Listen, major, I am sorry, but I'm not sure we would be very useful allies to you. Truth is, with our Weapon down, we can't even help ourselves at this point. If I were you, I'd leave," she shrugged, "In fact, I think you should leave as soon as possible."

Shepard's eyes narrowed, and he grimaced, shaking his head. "Governor Borin, I know that you know nothing about us, but I promise, we're not looking to cause you any problems here. We just—"

"Major," she interrupted harshly, "Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. We can not help you."

Teyla leaned forward, a smile on her face, "Please, Governor, don't dismiss us so easily. Surely, with the knowledge that the Wraith are to come soon, you must understand that—"

"No, Miss Emmagen, it is you who does not understand...." Standing up, the Governor turned around to face a pair of thick wooden shutters behind her desk, her hands gripping into fists as she continued. "You have told us that the Wraith have awakened, and that they will likely start culling soon. For this reason, you come seeking allies and aid. Well...," reaching forward, she took hold of the handles of the edges of the shutters and threw them open, causing all four members of Shepard's team to flinch and blink as sunlight poured in through the large plate glass window she revealed. She turned back to them, her eyes flashing, "I'm afraid your information is a little too late."

Outside, the gray and black city of Deucalion spread out before them...smoldering and in ruins. Faint wisps of smoke rose from a few structures still, but otherwise it was as quiet and still as a grave.

"The Wraith have already been here," Governor Borin said, her voice strained, turning again to stare out at the destruction of the once proud city, "and they're coming back--soon."

TBC