NB: Apologies for the delay. I'd like to say that Real Life got in the way but, uh, truth is I'm lazy.

If I Die

Chapter Five - History

The inside of the council halls wore the same, faded sense of opulence as the councilors. There were still vestiges of a lost luxurious period, great sheets of red and gold hanging from dark oak beams rich with intricate engravings, the walls decorated with fine tapestries and paintings, the furniture antique, steeped in history and strength. Now the colors had faded, the fabrics threadbare, the antiques scratched and worn.

Despite the state of their surroundings the council members and their bodyguards walked stiff-shouldered and heads high, carrying the same sense of regal nobility glimpsed in the faces of people outside. The look didn't seem to fit right on Marikar, the mask spoilt by a pair of cold eyes and his fixed, self-satisfied smile.

They were led to a room on the second floor, a long chamber with a wide window overlooking the city. A few quick orders brought bowls of fruit and boards of bread and cheese, carried by dour faced women, long hair covering faces wrinkled by the sun. Though in better condition than the produce sold in the streets, the food was universally decided to be a bad move by Sheppard's team, though Teyla went to the effort of thanking its bringers profusely.

Sheppard was rather relieved when the councilors left them alone. Two bodyguards remained at the door, their weapons slung at their sides. Taking a seat at the head of a long table, he waited for his team to join him at the far end of the room before leaning forward and asking: "So?"

"They seem like a…" Teyla hesitated, struggling for the right word, "a polite people."

"I can't se anything they could trade with us," Ford said. "It looks like they can barely feed themselves."

"And doesn't that strike you as odd?" Sheppard asked. "There are fields outside, and plenty of land to grown on. Things seem pretty fertile."

"Wraith, perhaps?" Teyla suggested. "They have visited this place."

"You'd think Jawesh would have mentioned it," Ford pointed out. "He acted like he hardly knew of life on other planets."

"They don't know of gate travel," Sheppard mused. "That's new. You think they're hiding something?"

"Probably."

He looked across at McKay, who until this point had been unusually silent, engrossed in his scanner. Sat in a chair across from Sheppard, the scientist looked up and waved the device vaguely.

"I'm picking up some faint power signals. I think."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

"It's intermittent, and very weak." McKay frowned, studying the display screen intently. "I only picked it up as we got closer to the halls, but now it's disappeared completely." He shook his head. "It's strange. It's a centralized power source, as far as I can tell – nothing huge, no ZPM or naquadah generator, but nevertheless –"

Warningly: "McKay –"

"I don't think the Silani are as technologically backward as they might pretend," he finished.

"I don't think they're pretending, doc," Ford objected.

"We didn't think the Genii were either," Sheppard reminded him, grimly. His hand slipped subconsciously to the gun on his hip.

Teyla stood by a window overlooking the city. She turned towards it, contemplating the view. "You cannot fake hunger, Major. Whatever resources the Silani may have, the needs of the people are not being met."

"Well something's going on," McKay declared, his gaze drawn back to the scanner. "There's power coming from somewhere. And I want to know more about those pictures on the wall."

Sheppard sat back in his chair, resting on the two back legs. "The Wraith dart."

Teyla turned away from the window, her face creased into a frown. "It is possible that the Wraith have not been here in several generations," she suggested. "Their long period asleep may have led to some feeding grounds going untended for centuries."

"That's one theory," McKay said, dismissing it with a wave, "but I was more interested in the rest of the picture." He sat back smugly. "I take it nobody else spotted the weapon?"

Ford almost fell off his chair. Grabbing the table, he pulled himself forward and set all four legs of his seat onto the floor. "Look, Doc, I realize the Genii tricked us…"

"And the Silani couldn't possibly have a similar underground base?" Scowling, the scientist glared at the younger man. "What seems to have passed you by when you were playing spot the obvious is what else the image showed. Such as the staff the figure in the picture was holding."

Ford looked doubtful. "Sorry, Doc, but I don't see how that little stick could be a weapon against a single Wraith, let alone a dart ship."

McKay rolled his eyes and gave his best exasperated sigh. "Of course not, Lieutenant. But I don't think the Silani used to ride half lions, half machines. It's representative of something, in the same way that the lion represented a carrier."

"A weapon against the Wraith?" Teyla asked, a note of uncertainty in her voice.

The scientist gave a casual shrug. "Looked that way to me."

"No assumptions," Sheppard said sharply, watching the guards in the doorway cautiously. "Look," he continued, quietly, "All we know for certain is that the Silani are hiding something from us. And given our track record I think we should all be careful about what we say until we know a little more about what's really going on, okay?"

"Major Sheppard! I hope you do not think poorly of Silani hospitality?"

The voice came from Marikar, stood in the doorway, his hands clasped before him. Behind him stood the five council members. Sheppard straightened in his chair, his hand falling back to his gun, hidden beneath the table.

"No," he said, smoothly. "But it's not long since we last ate, y'know?"

"And alien food tends to play havoc with my stomach," McKay added.

"We are most grateful," Teyla cut in, her face a collected expression of calm.

They were gifted with another, wide smile. "Then perhaps we should begin to, ah, 'get to know each other'?" Marikar led the council members into the room. He waited for the five to sit and indicated Teyla and Ford should join them, before taking his own seat at the table end opposite to Sheppard. The Silan minister folded his hands together, his back straight, and looked across at Sheppard. "So, Major, perhaps you could tell us more of your home planet? Atlantis?"

"It's, y'know…" Sheppard floundered. First contact situations were his least favorite aspect to exploring Pegasus – aside from occasional firefights and hostage situations – and he found himself wishing for Weir's fluid tongue. "Nice," he finished, lamely. "Kind of like Silan."

Marikar greeted this with ill-concealed, if bitter, amusement. "Perhaps once that might have been true. Alas, our city is not as great as it once was." He leant forward and took hold of a jug of water, pouring its contents out into a beaker. "Have you heard of the Wraith?"

Sheppard felt, rather than saw, his people shift awkwardly. "We know of them."

"They have come to your planet? To Atlantis? You have been attacked?"

"We're not best friends, if that's what you mean." He watched Marikar drink. "Don't take this the wrong way, but Jawesh gave us the impression that we were the first aliens to visit Silan."

Marikar placed the beaker back onto the table. "You saw the images above the City gates. Had we wanted to, we could not have hidden our history from you."

"The Wraith are in our past," a second councilor spoke up. "They have not visited this planet for several generations. There are some who wonder if they still exist."

"Oh, they still exist alright.," Ford said, grimly.

"They are a threat to all people in this galaxy," Teyla said.

"Our common enemy?" Marikar gave a thin smile. "Then you see, we have already found something which unites us." He took a small breath. "Four generations ago, the Wraith came to this planet. They had visited us before, taking perhaps a dozen people at a time, but this time they nearly destroyed us. Our ancestors tried to defend themselves and were punished for their actions. Many were killed where they stood. Hundreds more were taken into the Wraith ships."

He stopped, his gaze drifting to the window. "Silan was once magnificent. Our great capital, surrounded by fertile lands, our people many in number, healthy and strong. Our homes towered higher than these halls, overlooked by the Great Circle. The Silani were smiled upon by the Gods." His expression hardened. "The Wraith almost destroyed our civilization. Our history, our knowledge of the sciences, they were all lost. The few survivors took refuge in the hills and only returned to the City once the ships had left. Their only thoughts were of surviving."

A third councilor turned to McKay. "We believe you may be able to help us reunite with our past, Doctor."

McKay blinked, confused. "Ah, okay. How would that be?"

"The Wraith left little standing," Marikar said, steepling his fingers. "Our scientists were killed, their laboratories burnt to the ground, their notes lost. What remains are fragments of their knowledge. The survivors gathered what they could find and archived them, studied them in the hope that we could one day rediscover their secrets." His gaze returned to McKay, expression thoughtful. "Alas, our progress has not been as successful as we would like."

"We wish for your help in this," the second councilor said, leaning forward a little in his chair, excitement evident despite attempts to restrain it.

McKay perked up, his eyes bright with curiosity, prompting Sheppard to inwardly wince. Woah boy. "Look, Marikar," he began, before the scientist could open his mouth, "I sympathize, but I'm still not sure how we can help you."

"Major –"

He shot a look at McKay, which Rodney had the sense not to ignore.

"You can work the Great Circle," the third councilor said. "Our historians tells us that our people were on the verge of discovering its secrets when the Wraith attacked."

"There are power in our relics," added another. "It is believed Silan was once able to harness the power of the sun, but our scientists struggle with the theory, and their efforts to recreate this past skill have so far been in vain."

"You seem to have knowledge," Marikar finished. "Perhaps greater than that which was possessed by our ancestors." Raised his eyes to meet Sheppard's. "Unless we are mistaken? I would hope that your arrival here signals the start of a great new age for Silan."

"We'd love to help," Sheppard said, his jaw tightening despite his efforts at a diplomatic calm. "But we need to know a little more detail. No offence, Marikar, but we've only just met."

Marikar inclined his head slightly. "Your restraint is understandable, Major. But we have a common enemy. We believe that the Wraith will return, and that the best way to defend our people against future attacks is to harness the power we once had." He rose suddenly, clapping his hands. "Perhaps the best thing for us is to show you our potential?"

Sheppard hesitated. Marikar was hiding something. No number of fake smiles could mask a slimy personality – the man reminded him of car salesmen back on Earth, or of the civilian bureaucrats who had tried their best to have him thrown out of the air force after Afghanistan.

He didn't feel safe.

No leaping to conclusions, a voice reminded him, ruefully. On his right, McKay was almost bouncing in his chair, his scanner tucked back into his jacket pocket, forgotten. Teyla was maintaining that same aura of calm control, and only Ford seemed to share Sheppard's sense of hesitancy, the younger man's relaxed shoulders betrayed by the hand that lingered near his gun.

After a moment, Sheppard returned Marikar's smile and rose from his seat. "Sure. Can't see that it hurts to try and make a few new allies."