1004 Hours, February 25, 2008/
Atlantis: Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy
"Alright Mckay, what is so important that you felt the need to call an emergency meeting right in the middle of breakfast," a very hungry Jack O'Neill called from his seat.
The General, Carter, Dr Weir, Dr Zelenka, Sheppard, and Bra'tac were all sitting around the conference room. The officers had on standard Atlantis BDU's, Weir had her standard grey and red administrator's uniform, and Bra'tac had donned his formal High Council robes seeing as there was no need to be walking around all day in his rather heavy trinium-steel armor. They each had been attending to their own duties around the city when an alert went out informing all members of senior staff to report to the conference room immediately. Unfortunately, Daniel, Mitchell, and Teal'c had all been indisposed and couldn't attend.
Mckay stood in front of the whole room as he addressed them, his face bright with confidence. He clicked his remote and changed the screen to show a schematic of the Arcturus generator they'd built on Atlantis some months back along with a series of equations and lines of code that went over the heads of everyone else in the room save for Carter.
Mckay moved so that the screen was in full view, "A couple of days ago I came up with something that might just be the key to saving us. Something so brilliant and complex that I had to take time away from all my other projects to make sure it was even viable before trying to present it as an option. Not an easy task mind you, and one that took me almost three days of-"
"Augh, Mckay. I'm missing bacon day for this. Bacon! And one of the last if our store counts are right. Move it along," O'Neill groaned from his seat.
Frowning and rolling his eyes, the physicist did just that as he put his hands in his pocket, "I've figured out how to jump us to a whole new reality."
"What?"
"How's that even possible?"
"Rodney, when was the last time you slept?"
"Actually, it was we who figured it out."
Carter spoke up once the chatter died down, giving her colleague a slight frown, "Rodney, you were supposed to be working on our cloaking and shielding problems."
"And I was! But me and Zelenka were getting nowhere, so I decided to… take a meditative break and rest my eyes from all the blue light I've been getting recently," Mckay tried to defend himself.
Sheppard rolled his eyes at that, all too aware of the Canadian's fondness for sleep, "And this idea… let me guess, it came to you in a dream?"
Rodney shuffled about nervously, "W-well, not a dream per se," noticing the looks he continued, "I wasn't in a deep enough sleep for that! Look, I nodded off for like two minutes, three tops. Then I just got hit with this idea and started running sims on it."
"And what exactly is this idea, Rodney?" Weir asked.
"What got me thinking it was possible was the encounter with the alternate SG-1 you guys dealt with last year," Rodney explained as he pulled up the mission report titled Ripple Effect as well as photographs from the incident.
"You talking about that SG-1 that came tried to run a black op from another universe? The ones that planned on stealing our ZPM?" Sheppard asked for clarification, his eyes narrowing the thought of what would have happened had their SG-1 not stopped them.
Carter nodded, "They deliberately detonated some kind of device on their end of a Stargate connected to a black hole. This allowed them to essentially blast their way into our universe and arrive at our SGC."
"And between the data we got from sending them back and me and my sister's work on Arcturus, I've been able to piece together a theoretical basis that should allow us to build what I'm calling the 'Mckay Alternate Reality Drive'," he proclaimed proudly with his hands spreading for emphasis, changing the screen to show the x-rayed blueprint of a tubular device.
"Original name," Jack dryly commented.
Weir tilted her head in confusion, "So, it's like some kind of hyperdrive?"
Mckay nodded, "Except its designed to transport ships to other universes instead different solar systems."
Sheppard leaned back in his chair, "So your big idea is for us to send one of our ships to another universe for…?"
Rodney shook his finger, "Not just one ship. All of them; Atlantis itself."
The room went quiet as they pondered the idea. Sure, they weren't exactly strangers to alternate realities. Over the last ten years both the SGC and Atlantis had their fair share of run-ins with doppelgangers and other universes. Some, like Daniel, knew all too well the idea of crossing over into a new universe. And how badly it could go.
"We only just started getting back on our feet here. Hell, the civvies are barely a month into to all this! We're still figuring out exactly how screwed we are and what little we have in the way of off-world support isn't gonna last much longer. And now you wanna try send us a whole universe away?" Mckay's spiky-haired team leader asked incredulously.
"I know, I know! But hear me out. If we jump the city to a new universe then we'll have plenty of time and space to get 'all the way back on our feet' without needing to worry about the Wraith and the Ori," Mckay explained.
"Won't there just be the alternate versions of both of them waiting for us?" Weir asked.
Carter shook her head, staring at the screen as she finished reading the basics of Rodney's equations, "No, there won't. If Rodney's math is right, then this 'reality drive' should allow us to travel to a universe whose quantum resonance offset from our own by a large margin. Relatively speaking."
"And that means… what exactly?" the General to her left asked, tapping the table in front of him impatiently.
"Well, basically sir, all the times we've dealt alternate realities the quantum field that their respective universes resonate at has been relatively close to our own. Mckay's proof on the other hand, if it works, should allow us to target and open a bridge to a universe that is very different than our own. In theory, this could mean that the Ori never invaded, or the Wraith never came into being Pegasus," the Colonel clarified for him and everyone else in the room.
"Or one where humans never evolved, or turtles became the dominant species on Earth. The point is that given the near infinite amount of parallel universe we could choose, and using my rather brilliant equation, then odds are good that we choose one that's a lot less dangerous than ours."
"Or we could jump into one that is ten times worse," Sheppard pointed out.
Mckay scoffed a bit at that, "Hey, I'm just saying that in about a year Pegasus isn't going to be a place that I would wanna be. And unless we plan on going on the run for the rest of our lives…"
"Space is pretty big. Do you really think they could track us?" Weir raised a large concern.
"In theory, they shouldn't be able to track Atlantis's Stardrive, but there is a chance that they could calculate where we could realistically go based on our power reserves and knowledge of the surrounding galaxies. We've already seen that they knew about Pegasus. If we start trying to pick galaxies at random to avoid detection, the chances of us finding habitable planets before supplies ran out go down severely," Carter explained with a shake of her head.
Weir bit her lip and crossed her arms in thought, "What about using the Asgard synthesizer to produce more food?"
A frown appeared on the Colonel's face, "We've tried, unfortunately the technology is fairly sensitive… not mention advanced. We've had to be careful to produce only what it can handle in small sessions. The more complex something is, the larger it is, the more volume we try and produce puts a lot of strain on the synthesizer. With the new weapon installations for example, we had to create the individual components over the course of a few days and assemble them ourselves. Never mind that power requirements would also go up correspondently with the massive volume of supplies we'd need on a weekly basis. Making organic matter with all the right nutritional requirements and in large enough quantities for the size of our population has proven even more challenging. We just don't have a firm enough grasp of the technology yet for it to make a difference."
"And right now, we need to conserve all the power we can. Besides, I'd rather not eat something that's gonna mutate my insides cause someone didn't punch in the right combination of ingredients on the 'replicator'," Sheppard agreed withs his usual sarcastic reference.
"And here I was getting my hopes up that we'd be able to make barrel of Guinness soon," O'Neill mumbled.
On his laptop he had a number of different files open ranging from Ori/Wraith reconnaissance reports to supply-consumption rates. The truth was, even when they managed to get their own hydroponics operational to the point of being able to feed the whole city, it wasn't going to matter much when an enemy fleet showed up on their doorstep in a few months. Rodney had a point; running wasn't an option. But neither was staying here waiting for the inevitable slaughter. He'd been trying to think of some new strategy, some plan that would save them all from being wiped out before the year was over. And for all his tactical know-how and combat experience, he just couldn't see a way out.
Until now.
"…How long would it take to get this 'reality drive' up and running?" the General asked, much to the shock of everyone else in the room.
"Wait, seriously?" Rodney asked, just as surprised as everyone else.
O'Neill rolled his eyes, "No Mckay, I changed my mind. I'd much rather move on to talking about how overwhelmed I am with your wonderful presentation skills."
Rodney shuffled about nervously at that as he quickly tried to come up with a number, staring off into the distance and seemingly counting on his fingertips.
"Eleven months."
"Four months."
Zelenka and Rodney stared at each other, the former in mild embarrassment at his much longer estimation and the latter at his Czech friend not being on the same page as him.
Jack stared at the two blankly, "Okay. I'm gonna go with the second one. Get your teams on it. Carter, I want you on this too."
Rodney mumbled something to his fellow scientist, who in turn glared his eyes, and the two gather their things and left the conference room. Carter gave her commanding officer a look that he'd seen from her many times, but complied with his order and followed. Weir turned to the older man with a look of disbelief in her eye.
"You can't be seriously considering this?"
"Look, I'm the last person I'd ever thought would say this, but Mckay is right… yikes, that just sounds wrong saying out loud. But we can't just sit here, and we can't run, not forever. If we do this, then we give ourselves a fighting chance. Not just to survive… but maybe come back another day and take back what we've lost," Jack stated firmly as he stood.
"Sir, I really think we should-"
"I don't wanna hear it Colonel, not now. Start getting plans in motion to recall all off world personnel and begin closing what outposts we've still got operational. Weir, I need you and Daniel to broker trade for all you're worth. Get word to Teyla's people that they should start moving their stuff back into the city as soon as possible."
The two former heads of Atlantis shared a brief glance before nodding, clearly not thrilled about this sudden turn of events, but also not looking to argue with the General so publicly either. No doubt the two would find time to meet with him in private, away from the eyes and ears of their subordinates. Relaxing back into his chair, O'Neill looked over at the last remaining man in the room. Bra'tac had been quiet throughout the entirety of the meeting, probably trying to absorb all this new information as best as he could.
"So, thoughts old man?" Jack asked, a smirk penetrating his otherwise solemn face.
Bra'tac nodded, "Never would have I believed I would see the end of the Goa'uld's reign over the galaxy. To see so many sacrifices for the noble goal of freedom… only to have it all ripped away in a few short years."
Jack nodded at that, wisely choosing not to try and make light of this particular conversation. He understood all too well, having made some of those sacrifices himself over the last ten years.
"You think I'm making the right call here?" Jack couldn't help but ask, having relied on the hundred-plus year-old Jaffa for advice many times in the past.
Bra'tac folded his hands over each other and sighed, "I fear you are asking the wrong Jaffa that question O'Neill. I am old, but the events of the last few weeks have left me feeling as a wide-eyed child experiencing the thrill of gate travel for the first time."
Jack waived off the man, "Come on Bra'tac, give me something. A little warm or cold if you think this is gonna be the smart move. Or is this a bat-shit crazy idea?"
"Smart? I cannot say, but necessary? I do not see what other choice we have. If we are to survive and preserve hope that our galaxy may again be free one day, then perhaps a 'bat-shit crazy' idea, as you say, is what we need. My people have endured much in recent times, and those alive in this city today have come further than any other Jaffa in our history. We've placed our trust and friendship in the hands of the Taur'i, in you. If you believe this is the right course for us all, then as always you have my full support," the Jaffa nodded solemnly.
1508 Hours, July 1, 2008/
Atlantis: Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy
A little over four months had passed, and the city was leagues and bounds ahead of where it had been. Morale had risen steadily as they all were able to get time and distance from the loss of their homeworld. Stargate Command and Atlantis recon teams that had been rolled into the SG-team moniker system and had been running missions off world in an attempt to secure more trade agreements and find any potential technology to assist them in their upcoming journey.
The civilian population had more or less accepted the reality of their situation. There were still some who were struggling to cope, and as such had to be watched over constantly to make sure that they did not harm someone, or themselves. Everyone else seemed to be throwing themselves into whatever work they could; whether out of a need to escape their own thoughts or genuine interest the resident psychologists couldn't say.
Dr Jackson had gotten a large number of students following his encounter with Eleni and her friends. After a few days of running them through a much more in-depth history of the Ancients and vocal pronunciations of Ancient letters, word had gotten out to others including a number of Jaffa. So many in fact that the archeologist had to create a weekly schedule to accommodate them all. He couldn't believe how many had wanted to learn, but he soon found that he actually enjoyed teaching them. Even Vala had joined him, finally leaving the confines of her room. As Daniel started moving onto Goa'uld topics her insight and fluency in the language was a huge help. Even if her demeanor was more… serious, to say the least, it was a huge step in the right direction for the former host.
"…And after that, Ra became Supreme System Lord and controlled the entirety of the Goa'uld Empire. Though individual System Lords and minor Lords would still battle each other for resources and territory over the next couple thousand years, they all still served the sun god," the archeologist explained, the large screen behind him changing from an ancient Egyptian representation of Ra to images of the alien himself taken from recovered Goa'uld archives.
"And that's when you and General O'Neill went to Abydos for the first time right?" the energetic voice of the young redhead called out immediately.
Daniel nodded, smiling slightly at her enthusiasm. Since agreeing to teach them, she had become one his most promising students. Everything he threw at her she absorbed like a sponge: history, language, hundreds of SG mission reports on alien cultures. Her desire for knowledge never failed to bring a smile to the man's face. What's more, her ability to learn and understand all the material she received seemed to happen at a rate far faster than what should have been normal. In fact, Daniel couldn't help but notice similarities between her and the one-time member of SG-1, Jonas Quinn.
"Well technically when we went to Abydos it was thousands of years after Ra took over, but yeah. During that mission we made first contact with not only the Goa'uld but the people of Abydos."
A boy a few rows back raised his hand, "What were they like? The people, I mean."
Daniel closed his eyes as he thought back to those times, to simpler times.
"They were simple. Honest. Their society was very close to that of Egyptian ten thousand years ago. They hunted and gathered for food, made their clothes from animal skin and hand sewn clothe, and had a strong sense of family. Before we freed them from Ra, they mined Naquadah for him and offered up their children as sacrifices to him," Daniel stated, his eyes narrowing as he remembered.
"That sounds terrible," the boy replied quietly, "And after you guys blew up Ra?"
"They'd always had an inner strength, even before we took Ra down. They managed to overthrow Ra's guards and combined with our attack on his temple forced him to retreat. Of course, he wasn't expecting a nuke to be ringed up into his ship. But once he was gone, their society really began to flourish. I stayed behind once General O'Neill and the survivors of our team gated back to Earth."
"What was it like living on another planet?" Eleni chimed in.
"It was the most relaxing and happy time in my life," he replied wistfully, "I helped teach the Abydonians things from Earth, and they taught me how to truly live life. I made friends, helped grow families, I even married."
"You're married?" asked a woman asked from the back, the disappointment fairly evident in her voice.
Daniel's gaze turned to the floor, and he leaned against his podium, "…No, not anymore. She… she died."
"…Oh, my god, I'm so sorry… I didn't know," Eleni quietly apologized as she sunk into her seat.
There was an awkward silence after that, no one really knowing where to take the conversation from there. Since the day he started teaching them, Daniel had always had this… upbeat optimism that seemed emanate from his very being. Other than his occasional sarcastic quips, he genuinely seemed to care very deeply for his friends and new students. Those students, despite only knowing the man for a few months now, had come to rely on him for advice and answers. To seem suddenly so… downtrodden and low was very out of character for him.
"Alright everyone, that's enough for today. Don't forget to go over those Goa'uld inscriptions I handed out earlier, and that there will be a 'crack' quiz over that material next class," Vala interrupted their thoughts as she stood from her lounge chair in the front corner of the class.
"Uhh, I think you mean 'pop' quiz Miss Mal Doran," someone pointed out.
"And it's supposed to be a surprise. Meaning you're not supposed to tell us."
Vala raised a finger to her chin, "Oh. Well, surprise," she clumsily stated, seeing the rather unimpressed looks she continued, "Just get out of here. Before I decide to give you it now."
With that the class quickly gathered up their things and began shuffling out of the room. Discussions of getting lunch, going to the range, and general teenage discussions began to echo as they left. Eleni was mid conversation with her friends as she reached the door, turning to offer a small, sympathetic smile at her two teachers before being dragged into the hall by laughing voices. Vala shook her head and smirked. A few years ago, she was running around the galaxy lying, cheating, and stealing wherever and whenever she could. Town to town, city to city, planet to planet she travelled meeting all manner of shady human and alien. She joined jobs in raiding Goa'uld supply depots, infiltrated a Herbidian banquet to steal a rare jewel, and almost managed to steal an absolutely atrocious looking, but monetarily valuable, ship a few years ago that brought her into contact with the man beside her.
Daniel had started packing up his laptop and notes into his backpack when he turned to her, "You know, you sure have come a long way. From petty thief to alien cultures teacher."
Ignoring how he always seemed to know what she was thinking about, she scoffed, "Please, I was anything but petty. The fortunes I amassed in my adventures-"
"-Which you promptly lost."
"Yes, well, I can definitely blame some of those losses on you," she teased, causing him to roll his eyes but smirk nonetheless.
"Fair enough… listen Vala, thanks-"
"Think nothing of it my Daniel," the thief replied, using her affectionate possessive way of referring to him.
He nodded, finished gathering his things and nodded for her to follow him. The two stepped out into the busy hallway; scientists, some of their students, civilian volunteers all coming and going to their various duties and departments. The two started walking, heading for the nearest transporter closet.
"I didn't get a chance to look before class; what's for lunch today?" Daniel asked as they stepped into the closet.
Vala stuck her tongue out in disgust, "A wonderful assortment of Tava beans and freeze-dried beef stew."
"Well, it could be worse," he replied with a shrug as he tapped the blinking icon on the screen that showed the mess hall.
Vala crossed her arms, "How exactly?"
"Clearly you've never tasted Carter's famous 'Trapped on a planet for five days with nothing to eat but alien-rodent stew'," the archeologist grimaced as the doors to the transporter shut.
Mitchell was standing atop an observation deck with his arms crossed over each other. The deck had a few technicians manning computer stations, other officers standing at overlooks similar to the one Mitchell was at, and a large table in the center with a holographic representation of some sort of training field.
About a hundred feet below them, a massive arena made of a variety of environments: sand traps, urban housing, woodlands. An open area on the outskirts of the city had been cleared of buildings that were too damaged to be salvaged or were otherwise without strategic use. From there, the various simulated environments had been created by bringing in samples from the mainland. Occasional high-pitched sounds of energy weapon fire could be heard along with commands being yelled out from the field below.
"How're they doin?" a voice asked, causing the Colonel to turn around.
O'Neill crossed the deck followed by Teal'c, the Jaffa having his arms held behind his back as he moved to stand beside Mitchell and observe the field below. Jack came up on the other side of Mitchell, straining his head over the railing to get a better view.
"Better. Lorne and Reynolds have been putting the new recruits through the ringer," Mitchell reported, "Still got a long way to go, but it's been good having some new blood on the teams."
"And the Jaffa?" his stoic teammate asked.
Mitchell smirked a bit at that. Just as he was about to answer an Al'kesh flew overhead. Without even slowing down, six large tubes dropped from the bottom of the craft, shooting down towards the woodland area and slamming into it with large plumes of dust. A few moments went by until the sound of energy weapons discharging echoed throughout the forest. Nodding, the Colonel turned around and leaned against the railing.
"I'd reckon there doin just fine."
"Whoa, every time I see that it's still pretty cool. Still gotta come up with a name for the unit though," Jack commented as he watched the Al'kesh circle back around to recover the pods it dropped.
The Jaffa had been incorporated into the ARDF as heavy shock troopers. Their physiological advantages, weapons, and armor made them ideal close quarters combatants as they had proven in such engagements against the SGC over the years. However, by that same token, the Jaffa were at a strategic disadvantage at long range. Then Colonel Carter had the brilliant idea of modifying the escape pods on the Jaffa ships into drop units capable of being launched from Al'kesh bombers and motherships. Along with a few Tok'ra scientists, they managed to modify them beyond their original designs. Inertial dampeners for the drop, minor shield generators to allow them to survive incoming AA fire, and Zat-energy discharges on their bases to stun any combatants in their vicinity once they landed. This allowed the Jaffa to be safely dropped into almost any open battlefield, right into the middle of enemy formations or strongholds. Play their strengths to complement their ally's. They only had a handful of these drop pods ready for deployment, but their engineering teams were working around the clock to get more ready.
"I believe Dr Mckay had a suggestion: Orbital Drop Shock Troopers," Teal'c offered as he turned to face his current and former team leader.
"Catchy. But also copyrighted I'm pretty sure," the General thought to himself, "Hmm… how about 'Jaffa Jumpers'."
Mitchell rubbed the back of his head, "…That… can be a contender. Maybe. I figured we'd let Sheppard come up with something; seems to be what he's good at."
Jack stared at him for a moment, then shrugged, "Fair enough. Speaking of our spiky haired officer…"
Just then six black bird-like shapes came down out of the clouds some distance away from the city. The high-pitched whine of their engines echoed through the air as the F-302's preformed a fly by. Suddenly, another even higher-pitched noise came out of the clouds: A whole squadron of Death Gliders barreled right towards the city, prompting the Earth fighters to turn hard on a dime to face them. Soon the formations broke each other's ranks, and the neatly organized lines devolved into dog fights. A 302 pulling a nearly ninety-degree hard turn with a Glider following suit, their inertial dampeners allowing for such aggressive movements even in atmosphere. Another pair of dueling fighters twisting and turning every which way that was enough to make onlookers get sick from even the thought of pulling those kinds of maneuvers.
"He's been putting our pilots through their paces," Jack remarked, thinking on simpler days, "Once those modifications for the Gliders are complete, they should be up to snuff too."
Teal'c nodded at that, "Indeed. While I do not doubt the skill of our pilots, the Death Glider's strength has always been in its superior numbers. With so few of us left, we can ill afford to let my brothers and sisters enter combat without adjusting for our lack of numbers."
Mitchell motioned for the two to follow him as he walked over to the holo-table. Punching in a few commands, screens appeared showing the status of several of the squads below. Their pictures along with their names and ranks were linked up to green and red icons. Some squads were entirely red, meaning they had been hit with In'tar stun weapons and were thus unconscious. Some units were original SG and AR teams, others a mix and match of personnel. Others still had new recruits being led by a senior officer, while others had Jaffa sprinkled into their ranks. It was quite clear based on the number of red indicators being shown that the teams who had less experienced, or not all, members needed a lot more time before they could be considered ready for even basic security details, let alone combat.
"How's the kid doing?" Jack asked as he searched the screens for a specific name.
Mitchell clicked a few buttons, and soon a young man whose face looked very familiar to those present pulled up, "See for yourself."
A young, coffee haired man wearing green BDU's, a standard tactical vest, an ebony PASGT combat helmet, and wielding an In'tar MP-5 was crouched near the entrance of the building he was in. A few droplets of sweat were pouring down his forehead, forcing him to lower the rifle and lift his arm to wipe. Suddenly, he heard a scraping of something outside his position, and he clumsily brought his weapon up towards the doorway. After not hearing anything else, he slowly crept forward from his position, angling himself to the right of the door in order to see as much as he could without exposing himself too much. Before he could try and get a better angle, however, he felt a cold object press on the back of his neck.
"…And your dead. Again. If I had been on the other team Fredricks…" a voice chastised the young man.
With that, the object was removed from his neck allowing him to turn around. Groaning, the young man turned around and saw someone around his age standing in a low stance, his MP-5 held at port arms and in the same uniform as his own. The only difference between the two was the silver bar patch in the middle of his vest. The look on the man's face, however, was one of annoyance and disappointment.
"I've told you how many times now? Keep your ears open and your head on a swivel. And don't-"
"-Leave a covered position if it means exposing my rear when I'm alone. My bad Lt O'Neill," Fredricks replied sheepishly, a slight tint appearing on his cheeks from embarrassment.
Lieutenant O'Neill, known as Jon to his friends, was a curious case in the command structure on Atlantis. He had joined the Airforce at the age of eighteen and after passing basic he quickly rose through the ranks. His knowledge, tactical ingenuity, and abilities far exceeded those of his peers with his superiors commenting more than once that they had never seen someone so young with such raw talent. Of course, there was a very good reason for Jonathan O'Neill having such a leg up on those his age. He was breezing his way through flight training when this all began and, among others in his class, found himself beamed up onto the Apollo one day without warning.
Now he found himself in command of a new squad of recruits that had come out of the civilian population. In his eyes, they were scared, clumsy, and just plain green. But… they brought a sense of motivation and determination that he couldn't help but respect. Someday they might, emphasis on the might, make something of themselves. But what he really wanted was command of a SG team. Of course, his request had been quickly denied.
Seeing the smug smirk on the old man's face still irked him to this day.
The Lieutenant shook his head, "First, don't say 'my bad'. Second, just call me 'El-Tee'. Thirdly… augh, never mind. I haven't been able to raise Stacey and Michelson on comms, so let's move."
Fredricks stood up at that, nervousness clear on his face, "W-wait! I thought you said we shouldn't leave cover?"
"Yeah, when I'm telling you not to. When I'm the one doing it though, it's fine. Now, let's go," Jon ordered.
The two quickly but quietly exited the makeshift building, checking the immediate vicinity before hugging the outside wall and slowly moving alongside it. Jon kept his eyes peeled for any movement, his rifle up as he checked the other buildings windows and doorways for targets. Fredricks, with his back to the Lt, walked slowly behind as he tried his best to track everything in his field of vision, not staying focused on one area for too long. Soon, the two found a small store front with the words 'Store' badly spray painted on the plywood and took cover behind a plywood cutout of a car just opposite. Once in cover, Jon put two fingers to his ear.
"Stacey, Michelson. Respond, over," he whispered.
No answer.
"Stacey Michelson. Are you reading me," he repeated, only to be met with silence.
Fredricks creeped his eyes over the car-shaped piece of wood and looked over at the building their teammates were supposed to have been taking cover in. They couldn't see anything from this angle, and it was darker inside than out so they couldn't see much of anything through the openings.
"Think they're down Lt?" he whispered, clutching his rifle tightly.
Jon frowned, "Well, their channels are open but they're not responding. So, either they're unconscious or forgot to switch the mute button off."
Fredricks just stared at the Lieutenant, not sure if he was joking or not.
"Never mind. Okay, you go around the back. Radio me when you've reached the door. Once we're both in position, we'll move in. Quietly," he ordered.
Thankfully, the young man didn't argue or ask questions for once and just nodded in compliance. Slowly, he crept out of cover and as fast as he could move without making too much noise, he made his way to the right of the building and out of sight. Jon did the same as he moved to the left side of the front entrance. He waited a moment, keeping his eyes open for anything as he waited.
"Okay, I'm here," Fredricks voice crackled over the radio.
Jon nodded, looking down at his watch, "Okay. We go on three. One… two… three."
With that, Jon brought his rifle up as he entered. He checked his immediate surroundings, every corner of the first room. They'd run this course several times now, and this particular building only had two rooms. As Jon secured the front, he hoped that Fredricks was doing the same in the back. He moved forward, his rifle sweeping left to right as he scanned for his teammates and potential targets. Noting that the room was empty, he moved towards the door that led to the back room.
"Fredricks, front of store is clear. No sign of Stacy or Michelson. Status?"
No answer.
"Dammit," Jon whispered to himself.
Gripping the handle with his left hand, he slowly pushed the door open while making sure to keep his rifle up and ready to fire at a moment's notice. Continuing to push the door, he swept the area not being obstructed until he was fully inside the back room. Light from the door that Fredricks had opened combined with the light from the front, illuminating the back room almost entirely. On the floor, Stacy and Michelson lay unconscious, their weapons missing, and their hands bound. Right in front of the back door, Fredricks's body was down, his weapon still next him meaning that his attackers didn't have time to police it. Before Jon could react, the sounds of a shimmering chime filled the air. At once, four figures appeared out of thin air and surrounded him, their staff weapons all pointed directly at him. Seeing that he had been outmaneuvered and was outgunned, he slowly let his rifle drop into its sling as he raised his hands into the air.
He let out a slight chuckle, "Alright boys, you got me. Us. Though, some might call this cheating, since I don't remember cloaks being handed out to my guys."
"I seem to recall you once telling me that 'all is fair in love and war' O'Neill," a voice behind him stated, clearly amused.
Jon turned around and saw a young Jaffa standing in light leathers with his staff weapon now lowered and held behind him. His hair was short but somewhat curly, and he had a light stubble over his dark skin. On his forehead, the all too familiar emblem of Apophis was tattooed for all to see.
The Lieutenant shook his head in annoyance, "That was the other one. He's older and less good looking. But, fair enough. I guess you took that advice to heart. Nice work Rya'c."
The son of Teal'c had grown in the years since the end of the Goa'uld. His frame had filled out much more, though not to the same extent as his father. His boyish looks had morphed into those of a young man, and his voice had deepened to that of someone in his twenties. All in all, he was becoming the spitting image of his father at his age. He was among the Jaffa that had been rescued and brought to Atlantis. Already he had been a rising warrior within their ranks and had participated in several raids on Lucian Alliance compounds and massive battles against Ori armies. It only made sense that he be given command of one of the newly formed Jaffa squads that would be serving as the muscle in future ground engagements. Fate seemed to have a sense for rhyming as the two young leaders had soon found themselves becoming fast friends with their similar life experiences and responsibilities thrust upon them like the generation before them.
Rya'c nodded at Jon, "Thank you O'Neill. Though I must admit that this new group of yours has much to learn if they are ever going to be effective warriors."
Jon knew he hadn't meant any disrespect and was simply stating a fact, and nodded, "Yeah, they got a long way to go… but we gotta get as many of these guys ready for action as we can. Word is we're gonna need em' sooner than later."
Rya'c nodded grimly at that, "Indeed my friend. I know there are some who wish to think that we are safe here in the city of the Ancients. But I am pleased to see that many of your world are willing to take up the fight that we both know will be here soon."
"Well, hopefully not too soon. Well, I'd better radio the recovery team. These guys are gonna wake up with a nasty headache in about an hour."
Mckay was sitting at one of the Ancient terminals with his laptop sitting on top as he ran diagnostics on the newly developed Alternate Reality Drive. The room was the same that had once housed their version of Project Arcturus and had since been modified to suit their new needs. Around him a dozen or so other engineers and physicists ran around, working on energy conduits and data computation streams that all needed to be functioning at one hundred percent in order to work. Mckay, so lost in thought and what he was doing, didn't notice when two figures walked up next to him.
"…Mer! You in there?" Jeanie asked, waving to get his attention.
Snapping out of his daze, he turned to see his sister and Colonel Carter standing there. Carter had her own laptop while Jeanie had a sandwich on a plate in her hand.
"Oh, Jeanie! Uh, sorry, I was really deep into this, and I, uh, didn't notice you," he apologized, spinning his chair slightly to give her his attention.
She waved him off, "Don' worry about it, I know you've all been working around the clock. Here, I brought you this."
Seeing the sandwich in her hands, Mckay lit up a bit, "Oh, thank god I'm starving. It's been like three hours."
As Mckay dove into his newly acquired food, Carter put a hand on Jeanie's shoulder, "Hey, don't sell yourself short. You've been a big help with this project too."
Jeanie smiled and shrugged sheepishly, "Not as much as I would have liked... but Maddy has been having a really tough time. And Kaleb has been overwhelmed with his new teaching job."
Carter nodded at that in complete understanding. Jeanie's husband Kaleb had been one of the few civilians in the city with educational backgrounds who wasn't in a key position, and as such had been called into service when they needed to start small classrooms for young children to continue their learning. It wasn't perfect, but they all tried to make sure these next generations wouldn't grow up without a proper education. They'd even begun to recruit children from the Jaffa and Athosians, who soon outnumbered the Earth children in their classes.
"Well, be sure to let him know we all appreciate him and the other teachers stepping up," Carter smiled, "Right Mckay?"
"Mmmhmm," was his response, along with the obnoxious smacking of his lips as he chewed.
Jeanie turned back to Sam, her face strained and nervous, "So, just a few more days and we'll be leaving? For good?"
Sam shrugged, "We don't know that for sure. We might be able to come back someday…"
"But not anytime soon," Mrs. Miller pointed out with a frown.
Carter didn't say anything, but internally couldn't help but acknowledge the point. If this plan to jump to a whole new universe worked, they had no way of knowing how long they would be staying there. Or if they would even be able to return.
Once they arrived, they'd have to find a habitable planet somewhere in the Milky Way or Pegasus, then get to work on making a viable agricultural system. Their off-world trading had been mostly successful in getting them the supplies they needed, and they'd managed to amass several months' worth that would hold them upon arrival, until their hydroponics finally yielded some viable amounts of crops. It would probably be at least a year before they would be able to completely get off rations. Then there was the matter of their defenses, which still had a long way to go in regard to their new personnel. Not to mention the inevitable munitions issue that would arise without the industrial might of Earth behind them.
Even if they managed to overcome all these issues and more, should this new universe prove to be a safe refuge for them, there was the strong chance that the majority of them wouldn't want to leave. The thought frightened her and made her think on her brief time on the alternate Earth that had all but cut itself off from the rest of the galaxy. Their President Landry had said that once her Earth had a viable option for hiding, they might suddenly not think the rest of the universe was so important. Now that the tables had finally turned, she couldn't help but grimace at how true his words might prove.
"It'll be okay Jeanie. This is the right thing to do, for all of us," Rodney's voice interrupted Sam's thoughts.
His sister nodded at his words, maybe not entirely convinced, but trusting him nonetheless. She pulled up a chair and sat down beside him as the three went over the adjustments being made to the drive sitting in front of them. Power conduits were still being routed from the Zero Point Modules to the room they were in, and a full power initialization still needed to be done. But the majority of the legwork was completed and the few things that still needed to be completed would hopefully be finished in short order. Mckay and Carter had run into the initial issue of powering the drive to allow the whole city to jump. Rodney had thought of trying to create a device a kind of subspace capacitor for use in powering the device. Unfortunately, they had neither the time nor the resources to devote to such a project. Instead, they had to rely on the city's full compliment of Zero Point Modules for power.
This presented a slight problem, however. The ZPM used to power the Earth Stargate was severely depleted, leaving only the other two near a full charge. Based on their calculations, the Alternate Reality Drive would need to drain that ZPM along with at least half of another to be able to jump the whole city. This would leave them in a very vulnerable position upon arriving. Assuming that the universe they jumped to was safer, they would need to find a planet very quickly in order to land the city and conserve what power remained. General O'Neill hadn't been too happy when they dropped that little bombshell on him, but ultimately concluded that it was a necessary risk that they needed to take.
So it was that four months later that Zelenka's team had nearly completed the modifications to the city power systems. Ancient's willing, the Mckay siblings and Carter would soon have the final system bugs worked out and they would all be on their way to going further than almost any human had ever been.
A shuffling of feet drew the trio's attention. As they looked over, they saw a young man bouncing between people as he tried to make his way around them. He was a bit on the larger side, hence his slight difficulty with maneuvering through the crowd of scientists. He had dark, shaggy hair that went just over his eyebrows. He wore bright red shirt with the words 'YOU ARE HERE' typed boldly in white, and a grey hoodie unzipped over that with a matching pair of sweatpants. As he finally pushed his way through the crowd, the two senior members of the Program could easily see that he was young, probably no more than twenty-five at the most. As he approached, his forehead had beads of sweat running down and his hands were slightly shaky as they held a crumpled piece of paper.
Still, he had a big smile on his face as he finally caught his breath and spoke, "Uh, h-hey there! Colonel Carter! Dr McKay! Uh…"
"Jeanie, I'm Rodney's sister," the woman introduced herself with a smile as she saw the young man's nervousness being around the other two.
He reciprocated the smile and nodded, seeming to relax a bit with that, "Oh! Nice to meet you too! Yeah… oh, nice to meet you both too! Since you've never met me… not that you should have! I mean, I've seen you all over the labs lately. Not that I've been watching you- I mean, I have been watching you, trying to learn- uh, not in a creepy way-"
Carter let out a small chuckle, "Hey it's okay, just take a breath," she instructed him, to which he followed and inhaled deeply before releasing, "So, you know who we are. What's your name?"
The young man nodded, "Right, sorry. I'm Eli, Eli Wallace. I'm one of the new civilian assistants brought on to help with the project."
Carter immediately recognized the name, "Right… Dr Rush's new protégé. I've been hearing great things about you!"
Eli's eyes went wide at her praise, "Me? Really? I mean, I haven't really done anything worthwhile."
"Hmm… wait, weren't you the one who helped Zelenka solve that shield power relay issue two weeks ago?" Rodney remembered hearing his colleague talking about the indecent.
Eli's nervousness returned as the two smartest people in the city praised his work, "Well, it wasn't that big of a deal-"
"-Not a big deal? I couldn't believe it when Zelenka told me some random civilian fresh into the knowledge of the Stargate Program solved a problem he'd been trying to deal with for almost a month," the Canadian laughed despite the glaring of his sister and the Colonel.
Ignoring the man, Carter turned back to Eli, "So, you seemed pretty anxious to come see us. Is something wrong?"
Remembering why he had made his way over to them, Eli nodded fervently and handed the crumpled piece of paper to her, "Oh. Yeah! Um, I was going over the data from the start up sims we've been running all day and realized that there's a flaw in the initialization sequence that's causing a cascade failure in the capacitors. Without a fix, it might cause the system to overload and… well, possibly, maybe explode?"
At that, Rodney stopped laughing and snatched the paper out of her hands before the Colonel could read it, "What!? There's no way! I went over those equations myself! And you checked them out too!"
Carter quickly snatched the paper back from the man with a small glare before going over the data on the sheet. Her eyes widened as she realized the error they had both made that, if Eli had not noticed, might have resulted in disaster in the project. Was their exhaustion catching up with them? Or were they finally losing their touch? She looked up at the young man with newfound admiration as it seemed what she'd been hearing lately was not exaggeration.
"Wow… Mr. Wallace, this is… this is good work. I don't know how we missed this," she complemented him as she went over the writings again.
Rodney frowned as shook his head in disbelief before clearing his throat, "Yes, well, thank you for that… must have slipped by us as we tended to more important tasks. But rest assured we'll make the proper corrections immediately, no problem."
Eli rubbed the back of his head again, "Actually, I went ahead and made the corrections myself if that's okay? I didn't implement them yet though! I wanted to run it by you guys and make sure you thought they were correct first! I wrote it down on the back."
"What?! Let me see that!" Rodney once again snatched the paper from his friend, this time flipping it over and going over the whole thing in record time as his eyes widened, "They're… they're perfect…"
Carter and Jeanie leaned over both of his shoulders as they read the same information. Their eyes widened as well as they saw the flawless genius in the equations hastily written on the back. They couldn't have done better themselves. All three looked up at the young man in grey sweats, causing his face to turn beet red as he began to fidget and look around for any kind of escape from the sudden attention. Most of the civilians who had come to Atlantis were average, everyday American citizens. Some had skills that been put to good use in the appropriate departments. Others seemed to be rising to the occasion and stepping up in ways none of the senior staff could have imagined. But this… for a civilian, one as young as Mr. Wallace who previously had no experience in anything related to the Program do be able to solve a problem like this…
A scuffling of steps drew everyone's attention as a thin, older, and shaggy-haired man walked up to the group with an exacerbated scowl, "Eli, how many times have I told you: don't wander off in the middle of- ah… Dr McKay."
Rodney folded his arms over each other as he rolled his eyes at the older man, "Dr Rush."
There was a moment of silence as the group looked back and forth between the two geniuses, a clear but wordless battle of wills going on. Before long the quiet seemed unbearable, and the young man standing in the middle of the two cleared his throat and let out a nervous laugh.
"Hahaha… so, is this like one of those weird head scientist rivalries you see in the movies?" Eli asked.
Carter tilted her head back and forth, "It's been happening more and more since the SGC and Area 51 personnel showed up."
"Hey, no one likes it when the new guys try to come in and try and tell you how to do your job that's kept everyone in this city alive for the last three years," the Canadian complained.
"Not trying how to do your job McKay. Just letting you know to stay out of mine," the Scotsman wearily replied before turning his attention back to the young man beside him, "Now, if you're about finished Eli, I need to you to go over the sequencing data with me on the-"
"-Right! Sorry, I got distracted. Again."
Carter walked over and extended her hand for him to shake, "It was nice meeting you Mr. Wallace. You keep up the good work and I'm sure we'll be working together soon enough."
Eli beamed at her words and shook her hand with the enthusiasm of a kid who just got told by his favorite football star that he was going to make a great wide receiver someday. The clearing of a throat seemed to damper those spirits, and he nodded at her and the others before meekly following the older man back to the corner of the lab that they had come from.
Rodney let out a massive sigh once the two were out of earshot, "Augh, I hate that guy."
Jeanie scoffed, "Why? Because he publicly disagrees with you? Or is it cause he's as arrogant as you?"
"Hey!"
"Well, personality aside he is brilliant. And he made a good choice bringing Mr. Wallace under his wing. I can already tell that kid's a genius!" the Colonel complemented the pair who had now returned to a white board off in the distance.
Rodney raised a hand to his chin as he leaned back in his seat, "Yeah… he is…"
His sister saw right through that, "Mer… what are you thinking?"
"Oh, I'm just thinking that such a bright young mind might flourish better under different tutelage… mine, for instance."
Both women raised their eyebrows at that. They both knew the man better than anyone else, other than Sheppard, and not once had the man ever seemed in any way interested in taking on a mentor role. Sure, he loved the attention and praise he received, or given to placate depending on who you asked, from his staff and others but that was about as far as it went for him.
Jeanie stared at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief, "Since when did you wanna start playing teacher? You've been spending more time with Kaleb?"
"No, well, I mean, yeah. We've been getting drinks together down at the Remembrance every Friday- that's not important!" he exclaimed before taking a breath, "Look, with all the new faces around here. Us being the… the last of Earth? Well, its got me thinking lately, about what I'm leaving behind. Who I'm leaving behind."
Carter looked at him confused, but with genuine interest, "Wow… I didn't realize you were thinking about kids."
Rodney recoiled, "Kids?! What? No! I'm not talking about kids, I'm talking about a person to pass on my knowledge to. My experience. My wisdom," the two women couldn't help but roll their eyes at that, but they let him continue, "I realized I want a protégé. I just haven't found anyone, until now."
"And you think that Eli is that person?" his sister asked.
"Well, maybe. I'd need more time to see what he's really capable of. Maybe have him shadow me for a while."
"Assuming that Dr Rush lets you," Carter pointed out.
Rodney looked up at her in offense, "What, you're saying that you think he'd rather be with Rush than me?"
Carter winced a bit as she looked up and away, "Well-"
-Before McKay could reply a voice broke in over the speakers, "Dr Mckay, Colonel Carter. Please report to the control room," the voice of Sgt Chuck broke out over the intercom.
"Augh, what now," Rodney complained as he stood up.
"Everything okay?" Jeanie asked, slight worry creeping into her voice.
Sam nodded trying to placate her, "I'm sure it's nothing. Probably just some new development with our off-world allies that needs to be worked out."
"Or something to do with the Wraith…" Rodney mumbled.
Jeanie went wide eyed at that. Sam glared at the Canadian. Rodney just shrugged sheepishly. The two said farewell to Jeanie and made their way to the control room. Once they arrived, they noticed that most of the senior staff was there as well. Immediately they could tell there was a sense of dread in the air.
Something was wrong.
Sheppard walked towards the two with a hard look in his eye, "We just got an alert from the city's deep space sensors."
Turning and letting the two look at the screen behind him, they saw three blinking dots screen slowly moving towards the graphic representation of Atlantis. Knowing immediately what it meant, they groaned and shook their heads respectively. Questions rang out across the room from everyone.
"How the hell did they find us?"
"Someone must have given us up. One of our off-world allies?"
"Does it really matter? They're coming here no matter what."
"How long?" Sam asked, breaking through the chatter.
"About two days. Maybe less," the tech sergeant manning the sensor station reported.
Jack turned to the two smartest people in the city, "We gonna be ready before then?"
Rodney spluttered as he tried to comprehend the magnitude of the developing situation, "What? No way, we still have way too much to do! Zelenka's team still needs at least two days just to finish patching the conduits in, I haven't finished doing all my diagnostics, and there's still-"
"-Mckay, relax."
"-No! We've got two days before we're up to our ears in it! We are so screwed!"
Sheppard stepped over, "Rodney, calm down. Now isn't the time to panic… We shouldn't be panicking, right?"
Jack turned to Sam, "Carter?"
Sam raised a hand to her chin, "…If we bypass a few safety parameters, run direct power cables from the drive room to the ZPM's, and forget about doing a trial test, then we might just be able to make it. But…"
"But?" the General asked.
"But… we're still going to be taking a huge risk. If we mess up even one little thing…"
The General sighed, "Let me guess: Boom?"
The woman's silence was all the answer he needed to know. The older man walked over to the screen to see the sensor data of the approaching Ori motherships. They were out of time. And out of options. What power they had was being committed to their impending jump. What ships they had wouldn't last long against a siege, outnumbered as they were. The walls were starting to close in, and they needed to get out before that happened.
"Carter, McKay. Do whatever you need to do. We're leaving."
The following morning the city was a buzz with activity. Technicians, damage control teams, and scientists all ran to their respective stations to ensure that the jump went smoothly. The civilians who'd been told of what was happening had mostly hunkered down in their rooms, gathering areas, or places to get a good view of the event. There was an air of trepidation surrounding the city, but also one of hope. If this plan worked, they would be safe. They would be free. They could finally… well, no one really knew what they would do once they arrived in a whole new universe. Hell, most of the civilians had only just started to accept the fact they were in another galaxy, let alone another planet. Of course, they had no say in the matter. They were just along for the ride, despite some vocal protests.
Up in Stargate Control, the final steps were being implemented in McKay's master plan. The senior staff all stood around and watched as computers were furiously being typed into and protocols coded into place that would command the technology of the Ancient city to comply with their outrageous and insane demands.
"Mckay, can we activate the damn drive yet?" Jack asked as he lazily leaned over an empty chair in the control center.
Hesitating for a moment, he raised a hand to his ear, "Uh, Z-Zelenka. Are we good to go?" he waited a moment, "Yeah, we're ready."
The General nodded and raised a hand to his ear, "Sheppard, we're a go. Take us into orbit."
"Understood sir. Everyone hold on tight," the Colonel replied over the radio.
Not a moment later the familiar whine of the city's shield being activated filled the air. Outside the windows they could see the massive dome of energy rising high above them until it formed a complete half-sphere centered at the tip of the Tower. A low rumbling followed as the city began to shake with the force of the sublight engines coming online. The shaking only lasted a few moments before the inertial dampeners kicked in and made the whole ordeal feel no more than ride on an escalator. A few people looked out the window and watched as the horizon pull down and away from their view, and soon the clouds began to race past as the city cut through the sky. The blue faded to the pitch black of space as the curvature of the planet grew in the distance as the city broke orbit.
All across the city hundreds of people gathered and looked out in wonder. To see a planet from space like this, with the skyscrapers of Atlantis dominating the picture, well, it was a awe inspiring sight for the people who'd only been on one other planet besides Earth.
As the city settled into a stationary orbit, the General looked over at the two smartest people in the city.
"How we looking guys?" he asked.
Carter finished looking over her screen before nodding and turning back to her commanding officer, "Good to go, sir."
"Do it."
Nodding, Rodney turned to Carter who gave him a nod of confidence. Together, the two punched in key commands into their laptops. Down in the power room, two of the ZPM's came to life as they glowed brightly from the sudden draw of energy. The cables plugged into the core led out of the room, down the hall, up several flights of stairs and into the Alternate Reality Drive. The large cylindrical object at the center of the machinery lit up as the power from the ZPM began to charge it. It started spinning counterclockwise, faster and faster as more power began to be funneled into the device. Back in the control room, everyone seemed to be holding an involuntary breath. Rodney and Carter monitored their screens, exchanging the occasional comment or adjustment to their power systems to make sure a catastrophic system failure didn't occur.
In an instant an impossibly bright light filled the whole control room. Every room in the city became home to a light brighter than any sun anyone had ever seen. Everywhere people had to shut their eyes to avoid going blind. The whole city seemed to be covered in an ethereal light that penetrated every hall, object, and person in it. The Alternate Reality Drive glowed brightest of all, becoming a miniature supernova before exploding outward. The entire city flashed; a massive burst of energy consuming it in its entirety. The area was now completely devoid anything.
Hours later the Ori motherships arrived in system. They scanned the planet and space as they tried to get a reading on where Atlantis was. The bombarded the planet based on where intelligence had said it would be. But as they tried to make sense of what had just occurred, not even the Priors could provide answers: the city hadn't cloaked on the planet nor in orbit, being in space prevented such an action. They hadn't detected any residual energy from hyperspace windows opening either.
So the question was: Where did they go?