Part 2 - Not The King of Atlantis

Thirty minutes later, John wished he'd gone by his instincts as he and the others stood facing an angry mob.

At first, they had gone unmolested as they trekked closer the city center. That was until Ronon had come across their missing MALP, still strapped to a low and dilapidated flat bed vehicle. In typical Ronon style, he'd attempted to reclaim it even though the others had warned him against it. Predictably, the minute he had touched the ropes securing their machine they found themselves surrounded by a group of mean looking men, all armed with a variety of bullet guns.

Sheppard held up his hand. "Okay, people, let's try to talk this through. I'm Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and these folks are my team. We're here as peaceful explorers and mean you no harm, but that machine over there is ours and we'd like it back," he claimed, pointing to the MALP.

"And if we don't want to give it back!" The shout came from a rough looking man and obvious leader who had been ogling Teyla in a way that the Atlantis men didn't like at all.

"Well, then you may find out the hard way that our weapons pack one hell of a punch." John answered him.

Some of the ruffians laughed aloud at that. Their leader sneered. "Aren't you a little out numbered, mister?"

Answering before Sheppard could, Ronon growled. "That may be the case but do you want to die today?"

"Do you?" The man mocked as he raised his weapon to fire but before he could complete the maneuver, Ronon shot him in the chest sending his fat body flying backwards into an old broken down lean-to, which promptly collapsed on top of him. Then all hell broke loose as gunfire rained between the opposing parties.

Sheppard and McKay rapidly dived behind some broken down masonry, desperate to find cover, while Teyla and Ronon found places of their own.

For several minutes, they exchanged fire and between them, the Atlantis team managed to bring down a number of the opposition but more ruffians joined their colleagues by the minute.

It soon became apparent that the team really were hopelessly outnumbered and out gunned. Then just as the situation looked impossible, they heard a siren that sounded vaguely like an approaching police vehicle.

McKay looked up from his crouched position long enough to see what appeared to be a flying car coming into land near their position. "Cavalry's arrived. I just hope they're friendlier than this lot."

"Yeah, me too," John muttered as he got off another shot.

The minute the vehicle touched the ground, the thugs were off and running, leaving the precious MALP and its owners behind.

Several uniformed officials moved out of the vehicle with their guns raised. Sheppard and the others decided not to challenge them as they left the cover of their shelter. Carefully lowering his weapon, John introduced himself and his team, and then explained the situation, telling them about their stolen item. However, all the men did was laugh.

One of the men stepped forward, obviously their leader and said. "You really are new to this world aren't you, Colonel Sheppard. It's a good job we happened to be on patrol and saw your difficulty. Those gangs would sell their mothers if they could make a profit and that machine of yours could have bought them quite a yield. That's why they fought you for it even before they really knew what it was. We will make sure it is stored in a safe place until you are ready leave. In the mean time, you are our most welcome guests. Please come with us to the city and meet our glorious leader."

"Oh, at long last," McKay answered for them. "And…err…thank you for saving our necks." Ronon and Teyla exchanged an amused look while Sheppard looked concerned.

"You are most welcome." The officer replied as he led them to the waiting vehicle.

-SGA-

They flew for about forty minutes passing the empty lifeless shells of once magnificent buildings. McKay had loads of questions to ask but refrained from doing so until they had met this illustrious leader. Ronon and Teyla pointed out several things along the way but Sheppard remained unusually quiet.

Eventually the air car started to descend and everyone including John looked on in amazement as a completely intact and positively huge dome structure came into view. Its glass and steel glistening in the sunlight like the surface of a huge diamond.

"Wow. Who would have thought something like this would have survived whatever disaster hit this city." John commented.

The officer spoke from his place up front. "It is well protected, Colonel, but all will be explained eventually."

The man said no more as the pilot brought the air vehicle into land on an impressive looking plaza made of some kind of marble, patterned in a stunning fashion.

Alighting from the vehicle, the officer led them through a grand entryway into the dome where several other officials subjected them to some kind of scan and security check. Surprisingly they allowed them to keep their weapons. From there, the chief lead the team along imposing passageways, up wide and sweeping stairwells until they reached two truly huge wooden double doors.

John noted that it was all very spectacular and plush but somehow - lifeless. For a building so huge and magnificent, there were very few people about. He stood between Teyla and McKay wondering what was coming next as the officer knocked and opened the doors to reveal a truly luxurious living room beyond. It actually made them all feel a little scruffy as the man invited them in.

Walking carefully on expensive looking carpet, the four explorers ended up into a surprisingly small but lavish office. Teyla, Ronon, and Sheppard looked around but made no comments, while Rodney couldn't stop talking. "Well, I think this just has to be the most civilized place we've seen outside of Atl…our own place. I'm picking up various energy signals but nothing as powerful as a ZPM, not yet at any rate. I don't think any of this was designed or constructed by, you-know-who, and I've seen no indication of writing or any other script to date."

"They must have language, McKay." Sheppard pointed out. "And don't you think this place is a little over the top?"

They all nodded just as the door opened to admit a rather striking auburn haired woman probably in her mid-thirties. She smiled warmly at them but her eyes immediately zeroed in on John. "Welcome to Capella and Sanjava Dome. I'm Dr. Lena Tyrell and you are?"

Rodney and John felt their jaws drop as they looked at each other. Even the usually composed Teyla looked stunned. Ronon didn't seem at all concerned.

Coming out of his astonishment, Sheppard replied. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard." Pointing to the still dazed scientist, he continued. "This is Dr. Rodney McKay. The big guy is Ronon Dex and our lovely lady is Teyla Emmagan. We're pleased to meet you, Dr. Tyrell."

"No, the pleasure is all mine." The woman purred looking solely at John. "Its not every day such a handsome stranger comes our way."

This statement bought McKay out of his shock thinking – oh, here we go again - the Kirk thing. He half-expected to see Sheppard drooling over the woman however, John was looking slightly perturbed. In fact, the Colonel seemed anxious to pass her attention elsewhere. "Err…Dr. McKay here is an expert on all things technical and the like, I'm sure he'll answer any questions you may have and he's just dying to know all about you and your home."

The woman wasn't having any of it. "I'm sure he can, John, but you're the one I'm interested in, so you can answer my questions."

"I don't know anything, I'm just a soldier. He's the scientist." Sheppard answered rather quickly pointing to McKay once again. Then acting uninterested, he backed away to stand near Teyla.

Rodney decided to intervene. "Err…yes, the Colonel is absolutely right, I've got quite a few questions to ask you, but first off I take it you must be a descendant of Dr. Lena Tyrell? The scientist who spent so many years exploring other planets including the one we know of - Dalenia."

"You know about Dalenia? The woman asked.

"Yes, we do but you haven't answered my question."

The woman looked at Rodney with something bordering on irritation. "I'm not a descendant of Dr. Tyrell, I am Dr. Lena Tyrell, and I did spend five years of my life stuck on that dreadfully primitive and highly religious planet," she answered with an air of revulsion.

McKay stood in shocked silence for once as Sheppard, his reservations forgotten, asked. "How the hell did you manage to live so long? I'm mean that was hundreds of years ago and we we're under the impression that you helped those poor people out of the goodness of your heart?"

Tyrell seemed please to have Sheppard's attention again, so she answered solely for him. "Oh…I did, didn't I? As you said, it was hundreds of years ago and one tends to forget the small details along the way. As to why I'm still alive…well, I couldn't very well allow myself to - die - could I?" she said with disdain. "Having such a brilliant mind, I was needed by my people to protect them from the Wraith and other foes, so I devised a way to duplicate myself."

Everyone looked perplexed until Rodney put in. "You mean as in cloning?"

"Cloning?" Tyrell questioned. Then it dawned on her what McKay meant. "My goodness no, not exactly…cloning is only a way to reproduce copies of the original without the memories intact. No, my method is to make an exact copy of the donor, complete with memory imprinting and the like. I have hundreds of copies of myself, which remain in stasis until required. Each one has a perfect imprint of all my previous memories. When my current body grows old, I simply take one of my copies imprint it with my additional memories and accumulated knowledge, and I live on in a new younger form until we repeat the process. Prefect, just prefect, don't you think?"

Nobody wanted to answer her. The rambling explanation baffled Ronon and Teyla, John understood most of what she was getting at, but McKay knew exactly what she meant. "So you're trying to tell us that you live on and on using duplicates of yourself with all your knowledge for hundreds of years. But even in stasis the bodies must slowly be deteriorating?"

"True, however I was still young and as you can see very beautiful when the copies were made. The deterioration is very slow, besides when the copies are no longer usable, I'll just simply make some more."

Rodney exchanged a sickened look with the team and John asked the next question. "Okay…would you like to explain what happened to the city and why the only other people we've seen, apart from your security forces, live in poverty and have resorted to crime?"

Tyrell didn't take his defensive tone as an insult. Her eyes still stayed on him as she replied. "I have lived a long time, John, and although I tried to help the people throughout the years they didn't always appreciate my efforts. The city was a thriving and prosperous place until about two hundred years ago. Then an element grew from within and some citizens no longer abided by my…the laws, as they rioted and made trouble. They stole from lawful people and in the end came the wars that destroyed much of the city. I was powerless against them, so I retreated and left them to live in squalor if that is what they wanted."

Sheppard appeared thoughtful, he looked to McKay hoping that the scientist would take over the questioning but Rodney stayed unusually quiet forcing Sheppard to say more. "I don't think we're on first name terms Dr. Tyrell, so please stick to Colonel Sheppard. I take it many of the citizens do live here in…err…Sanjava Dome?"

Even though Sheppard was trying his hardest to put her off, she still didn't take the hint. "Just call it Sanjava, John, and you must understand that only the most honest and loyal people serve me as well as several truly brilliant scientists. We're totally self-contained within Sanjava and the two other domes that adjoined it. In those, we grow or recycle all our needs. Even the air we breathe is purified as well as the water."

"Utopia." John muttered. He desperately wanted out as the woman was making him feel more and more ill at ease but just as he was about to suggest leaving, McKay came up with another question.

"Ah…I'm sure Colonel Sheppard would be interesting in this," McKay stated using John's correct title. "So could you please tell us how you manage to keep the Wraith away?"

Good one, McKay, John thought, waiting for her answer. Tyrell looked at Rodney as if he was the dimmest person in the galaxy. "That's simple as my ancestors devised a very effective defense system, which still operates today. I am the only one with the true knowledge of its function, but I'll tell you this, the minute a hive ship is detected a planet wide shield goes into operation preventing them from entering the atmosphere by destroying them. Likewise, should they try to come through the gate a missile system comes into operation destroying those ships. We haven't seen a Wraith attack for hundreds of years even though reports indicate that they have newly awakened. I believe them to be highly intelligent and they must keep some form of database telling them which planets to avoid. Capella must be top of their list." She stopped to look at John again. "Tell me, where do you come from?"

"A long way off and of no interest to you," John simply answered.

"Oh…come now there's no need to take that tone – John, I'm only interested in meeting people who seem to be little more intelligent than the average humans I've meet over the years. Dr. McKay obviously has a great knowledge of science and he comes from the same world as you do, John, but the other two are natives of different worlds."

"Oh, that's very observant of you," Rodney put in but John warned him not to say more so instead, McKay asked. "Do you have any spare ZPM's floating around?"

For the first time the woman laughed but it, left John feeling like someone had churned his nerves. "Oh my, Doctor McKay, you certainly come straight to the point, don't you? However, the answer is, no."

Sheppard saw his opportunity. "In that case, there's nothing more keeping us here. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Tyrell, but it's time to go home."

TBC

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