Title: Atlantis
Author: Tonia Barone
Rating: Teen
Spoilers: Childhood's End and an EXTREMELY blink-and-you-miss-it one for Brotherhood
Disclaimer: If I owned them, do you REALLY think that John would'a jumped Chaya? Or Rodney that chic from "Brotherhood"? Or Carson Perna? rolls eyes Of COURSE not; they'd SO be doing each other! Duh.
Notes: Thanks to jakisbishlygay for the beta. I don't know what I'd do without her.
Summary: Children are notoriously short-sighted. There is a reason I call these adults 'Children': this is it.
Everyone has settled, finally. To see people wander her halls every day is a small miracle to her. She never realized how lonely her millennia-long sleep had been until now. Time sees the thinkers slowly spreading out through the laboratories, some in groups and some alone. Her Protector and his companion, the Engineer, have taken up residence in one of the larger laboratories and they are visited daily by her Favorite Child. He seems to have adopted these two thinkers as his own to protect and care for. Perhaps this is because he, himself, is a thinker at heart.
That is not her secret to tell, but if her Protector knew...
After a time, her Favorite leads his team through the Doorway in a puddle jumper. They are going to a planet Sanctuary, though she could not tell them this, again because of power issues. She is beginning to wish they would hurry and retrieve even one of the power cells for her use. Even one would be better than those weaker power sources, even if they do use the ore of the Doorway.
Her extension on the puddle jumper suddenly severs and she is left blind to them. If only she were at full power, then she could connect to the power cell unit that is most likely the source of the electro-magnetic shield that has blinded her. Then she realizes that the shield is not quite as extended as it should have been. Power drain might have caused descendants to restrict the radius.
Whatever the reason, she is unseeing for some time. When her sight is returned, she reaches for her Children, but sadly the most she can sense is that they are away from the puddle jumper and have been for some time. The life signs detector is miss from it's housing, but that is to be expected if they left the puddle jumper.
She waits impatiently for their return and is surprised with what they carry when they arrive. Her Protector is ecstatic and the reason for this is the power cell in his arms. Though not connected to it at the moment, she can still sense that it is only half-powered. That would not be enough for her to raise the shields, should they be under attack, but it might be enough to awaken a few more of her systems.
Then she hears how and where they found it and curses their foolishness. Children! Oh, if she were at even half her full power she would give them--'them' being her Favorite Child and her Protector, of course—a shock they'd not be likely to forget. There is a reason this is a Sanctuary. Thankfully, the Leader agrees and chastises them thoroughly for their actions.
She watches, satisfied, as her Favorite Child and her Protector troop back through the Doorway to restore the power cell to its rightful place. She is prepared this time when her extension through the puddle jumper is blinded. When they return, it is in high spirits; it would appear that the younglings occupying this Sanctuary were neither aware of the shield nor its restrictions. Her Protector increased the radius of the shield so that the younglings could grow, but not before a Wraith probe had arrived. Hopefully the Wraith will take its sudden deactivation as a sign that the planet is not a worthy food source.
Speaking of Wraith...
While the shielded cell they are using to house the Wraith they captured is well enough to keep him prisoner, it is not enough to silence the Wraith telepathic network. The Children obviously aren't aware of its existence, or they also would have activated the mind-shield. It takes little of the already sparse power to activate the mind-shield and interweave it with the physical shield. Now the Wraith will not be able to communicate with the Hive.
If the former Children, the Ancients, would never have captured a Wraith, why does she have mind-shields? In the days before the Great Siege when they were still trying to negotiate with the Wraith, several darts scanned her. Before she could act, the darts self-destructed. It took them several days to realize what had happened and find the Wraith. In that time the Wraith had managed to communicate her defenses to the Hive. She and her Children created the mind-shield, but by the damage had been done; it was shortly thereafter that the Great Siege began.
Perhaps events will play out differently this time. As her Favorite Child prepares himself for what he plans to do, she also makes plans. For who else will give comfort to him in the quiet hours of the night once this is done?