"It Runs in the Family"
Ch. 3
Disclaimer: I don't own the producers version of Atlantis. They do. I do, however own this version of Atlantis, Dr. Trisana Fox, and the whole Daniel Jackson Family.
(Atlantis, Weirs/Daniels Office)
Weir and Daniel stood in their office in silence. Until Weir spoke.
"You never mentioned you were married," Weir spoke up.
"You never asked," Daniel replied, with a hint of a smile on his face.
At that moment McKay and Peter stepped into the small room.
"Tell us some good news Rodney," Daniel said.
"I can't do that," McKay said.
"The shield has held back the ocean for centuries," Weir said.
"And probably would have kept going for years more, but our arrival changed that. Now it's nothing more than a thin shell between the buildings and the water," McKay explained.
"We stopped exploring," Weir said.
"The damage was already done," Daniel said.
"Another section of the city on the far side was flooded an hour or so ago," McKay said.
"Even occupying this room is draining power," Peter said.
"We need to evacuate, the moment Colonel Sumner reports back it's safe," McKay said.
"You're saying we have to abandon the city," Daniel said painfully.
Rumbling is heard.
"The sooner we leave the longer that shield holds," McKay seemed as pained to leave as Daniel.
(Atlantis Control Room)
"How are we doing? If we can just buy ourselves another day, maybe we could …" Weir said.
"This city is sacrificing parts of itself in order to maintain these main areas but catastrophic failure is inevitable." McKay explained.
"Not in my wildest dreams would I hope to find the lost city of the Ancients so completely untouched, so pristine, and we have no choice but to walk away from this?" Daniel said quietly.
"In order to save it," McKay said.
"To save it for whom? We don't have enough power to send a message. As far as Earth is concerned we're just going to be missing, presumed lost," Tris said, frustrated.
"We'll be back. We'll find a power source somewhere in Pegasus," McKay said.
"We have yet to hear from Colonel Sumner. We've got no idea what's out there," Daniel said.
"We can't wait. It is time to go now!" McKay said, getting just as frustrated as Tris now.
Frustrated too now, Daniel walks away from him, then activates his radio and speaks into it: "Attention all personnel. This is Jackson." The base begins to shake violently. "Stand by for immediate evacuation." Daniel then says to McKay. "Dial the Gate."
McKay pushes two chevrons, but the Gate then starts dialing in.
"We've got an incoming wormhole" McKay announces to them.
The force field comes on and the Gate activates.
"I'm reading Lieutenant Ford's identification code," Peter says suddenly.
"Let him in," Daniel ordered.
McKay lowers the force field. Sheppard comes through the Gate, followed by the rest of the Marines and Athosians villagers.
"Step in folks, move away from the puddle," Sheppard said to the large mass of people.
Weir, Daniel, and Tris run down the steps to him.
"Major Sheppard?" Weir asked.
As the last people come through, the Gate shuts down. The base continues to shake. Hope and Faith wondered into the Gate Room, crying for their parents.
"Major Sheppard, who are all these people?" Tris asked, picking up Hope, while Daniel picked up Faith.
"Survivors from the settlement. We were attacked. Sumner and some of our men were taken," Sheppard said. He finally notices the way that the base is shaking. "What's going on?"
"We are in no condition to help anyone right now," Daniel said to him firmly.
"What the hell's going on here?" Sheppard asked. Noticing Tris's glare, he corrected himself quickly: "Sorry. What the heck's going on?"
"We are about to abandon the city," Daniel told him.
"Going back there is a really bad idea," Sheppard said.
"Major Sheppard, the shield is about to fail and the ocean is about to come crashing in on us. Do you have a better place for us to go?" Daniel asked.
Sheppard turns to the Athosians.
"Jinto, do you have any other address we could gate to?" Sheppard asks a young boy.
"Yes, many," the boy, Jinto, nodded.
Sheppard grabs the boys arm and hurries him towards the control desk.
"He's just a boy," Weir comments.
"I am Jinto," the boy introduces himself as he is hustled passed her.
"She's pleased to meet you," Sheppard says to Jinto.
On a computer screen, the message "Shield Failure Imminent" appear.
"The shield is collapsing!" McKay announces to the group below him.
There's a flash of light as the shield begins to fail and the base jolts so hard that everyone is thrown off their feet. Tris and Daniel protect the twins, so they do not hit the ground to hard. People scramble to get out of the way as the base continues to shake, causing boxes and crates to fall and crash around.
"I'm dialing an address," Peter said.
"No, wait!" Weir shouts to him.
"She's right," McKay said.
The city begins to rise from the water.
"We're moving!" Sheppard exclaims.
The city breaks the surface – the towers first, then the rest of the city. As the control room lifts above water, sunlight pours in through the windows. As the city settles into its new position on the ocean surface, the internal lights come back on. Weir and the others walk in amazement to the nearest window, which still has water pouring off it, and look out in awe.
"We're on the surface," Ford said in amazement.
"I was hoping for another day. Looks like we just got a whole lot more than that. Let's not waste it," Weir said.
To be continued . . .