Disclaimer: I think everyone gets the gist of this now. Outside of my own characters, I own no one and nothing. Admittedly, I'm planning on creating an inter dimensional portal and grabbing all those lovely, hot men from Atlantis! But that's just semantics.
Okay, this is my PoD story, so please, enjoy the changes and differences. As I've already posted in TiA, my updates will happen once a month as I try and wait for my work to even out. I'm going to be doing my best to post a little more regularly than that, but my plan is to post once a month.
So, a definition of PoD = Point of Divergence. In my mind, for the last few months, I've had two separate story arcs running around in my mind and I finally decided to write another story that would follow the one plot while Tokr'a in Atlantis followed my original one.
Chapter 2: Aurora
Sitting in the Control Room, ostensibly to act as a guard for the members of the expedition working at the Ancient consoles, John watched as both Camilla and Rodney worked, both of them focused intently on one of the Ancient consoles. It had been only a week or so since he'd had the conversation with the Tok'ra in her office, but he'd kept close to her as much as he could after it, doing his best to keep her company.
He wasn't on active duty and the rest of his team had been temporarily placed on others, keeping active as he waited for Carson to clear him for active duty. He'd received looks from Martouf and according to Camilla, he'd barely missed being interrogated by her brother.
Sat in his seat, out of the way, John Sheppard watched as Camilla pressed a hand to one of the consoles, her body turning to look at the large Ancient screen behind them. Her eyes widened and John recognised the look - something had surprised her - and he turned around to take a look and frowned at the image that floated on the screen. For a moment it seemed like he was looking at a scan of the night sky, but it took only a further second for him to see a green object highlighted and noted in Ancient.
"What is it?" he asked.
Camilla shook her head numbly, liking her bottom lip for a moment before she shook her head again. "Tao've'nu," she muttered. "Rodney?" ["You won't believe me."]
The Canadian nodded as he stood and moved away, even as John frowned and looked at Camilla again. He'd picked up some Goa'uld from Martouf - he'd been on the same team as the man for the better part of a year, John had picked some up like he'd picked up a little Ancient - and he understood what she'd roughly said.
"What won't I believe?" he asked her.
Camilla looked at him, surprised, even as she shook her head. "Let's wait until Elizabeth's here," she said before she sighed, looking at him with a weak smile. "We might have found another group of Ancients."
A-A-A-A-A-A
Elizabeth walked into the Control Room, unsure and mildly worried as to why Rodney had called her up to the top of the City's main tower, but she watched as both Camilla and Rodney worked at one of the consoles, their attention focused entirely on whatever information they had found while John sat nearby, dressed in full base uniform, his arms crossed pensively over his chest.
"What is it?" she asked.
The head of the expedition watched as the two separate heads of department lifted their heads to look at her. Camilla gave her a weak smile, even as she saw Rodney stand up straight and point to the Ancient screen behind him.
"That is the signature of an Ancient ship called The Aurora," the scientist answered. "With the ZPM now powering the city, we've been reactivating dormant systems."
Camilla nodded at that, running a hand through her hair. "My department and I have been going over various 'programmes' in the City's circuits," she said, "and we found this one a week or so ago. It's taken us this long to translate everything. This programme, from all available translations, is a system that tracked the positions of various Ancient ships during the war."
John, who now stood next to her, straightened up. "So it's a warship?" he asked.
Rodney rolled his eyes. "See, look at his eyes all lighting up again," he muttered. "It's Pavlovian." He shook his head with a sigh. "We cross-checked the logs. They were on a reconnaissance mission. When we activated the ZPM, the city must have sent out some kind of automated subspace beacon recalling ships back to Atlantis."
Elizabeth perked up at that, smiling slightly. "How long before it gets here?" she asked.
It would be wonderful to speak to un-Ascended Ancients that could potentially share information with them... Well, Elizabeth would be stupid if she let this fall from her grasp.
Rodney calmly turned to look at the monitor. "Well," he said. "Given that it's at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy, let me see..." He tilted his head. "Carry the four... add fifty... Forty-two million years." He turned back to look at her. "Should we go wait on the porch?"
Elizabeth sighed. The Ancients wouldn't reach them in time to be of any use.
"So we take a Jumper through the nearest Stargate, check it out," John commented.
Camilla snorted. "Clever," she said. "Useful if there was a Chaapa'ai nearby."
"There aren't any within close range, are there?" John asked.
Both Camilla and Rodney shook their heads. "Nope," Camilla said.
Elizabeth nodded then. There was one more thing that they could use and it would certainly not take all that long. The Daedalus was just about to come within range of the City's sub-space radio contact at the edge of the galaxy. The head of the expedition could easily call in a favour or four.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Rodney didn't want to know what Elizabeth had said to Caldwell, he didn't even want to think on the possibilities of what she might have said or done. Instead, he focused his attention on the computer he'd commandeered as the Daedalus left hyperspace at the co-ordinates that they'd managed to get from the logs in the city.
"We should have visual soon," he said.
He nodded to himself and moved to join the rest of his team, standing between Teyla and Martouf as the last of the hyperspace window faded away.
"Sir," one of Caldwell's men called out. "Detecting a second ship."
Rodney frowned at that and moved back to the screens, well aware of the fact that the rest of the team was watching him. "Move," he told the technician in his way, pausing to look at the information on the screen. "Huh," he muttered as Sheppard moved to stand closer, to get a better look. "It looks like a small Wraith vessel."
"Dart?" Sheppard asked.
Rodney looked at the information again, making sure of what he was reading before he shook his head. "No, bigger," he answered. "Some sort of scout ship? Probably after the same thing we are."
"It's altering course," a technician called out. "Coming straight at us."
Sheppard sighed then. "Must have seen us drop out of hyperspace," he muttered.
"Weapons range?" Caldwell asked.
"Five seconds," another technician reported. "Target locked."
Rodney turned and watched as Caldwell nodded. "Fire."
The Canadian quickly turned his attention to the outside of the Daedalus, watching as two missiles lifted off from the front of the ship before heading in the direction of the ship. Rodney quickly returned his attention to the display, watching the information before the Wraith's ship disappeared along with the two missiles - it was the only sign that the Earth-made weapons had hit their mark.
"Target is destroyed," the technician reported calmly.
Caldwell nodded and sighed and Rodney tore his gaze from the screen. "All these years and just now the Wraith find this ship?" he muttered.
Rodney shrugged a shoulder. "Well, all these years, the Aurora has lain dormant," he replied.
Martouf nodded in agreement. "It is a well know fact among the Goa'uld," he said. "The longer a ship remains dormant, unused, the better the chances of remaining undetected."
Rodney nodded at the Tok'ra. "The signal from Atlantis woke it up, making it visible to us and the Wraith," he added.
that seemed to placate everyone as he saw Teyla and Ronon turning their attention back to the front of the Daedalus, watching for any sign of the Ancient ship. He got an answer seconds later.
"...Is that it?..." Teyla asked.
Rodney frowned and moved to stand by the Athosian woman, feeling his eyes widening at the sight that greeted him. Frankly, he didn't begrudge Teyla's opinion. The ship looked old, rusted and unusable, even as he became aware of both Sheppard and Caldwell joining them.
"Looking like it was in a hell of a fight," Sheppard muttered.
"And lost," Ronon agreed.
Caldwell sighed again. "Life support?" he asked.
"Negative sir," came the response.
"Looks like you're going to have to suit up, Colonel," Caldwell muttered.
Rodney felt his shoulders sag at that. The last time he had spent time in a suit had been at the Ancient satellite weapon, the same one that had eventually taken Peter Grodin's life. If it had been at all possible, Rodney would have gone the rest of his life without being in one.
Well, it certainly seemed like the universe was once more out to get him. Things hadn't changed.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Cam grinned at her brother as she calmly suited up beside him. With the same skills she had used during the storm to hide from her brother, she had calmly persuaded Hermiod to let her aboard before her brother and she had hidden herself in one of the rooms out of the pathway her brother would likely take on the ship.
"And how did you manage to get aboard?" Martouf asked her.
Cam continued to grin. "Hermiod and the fact that whoever was going to the Aurora was going to need an Ancient translator," she answered. "Jonas and Danny are breaking in the last of the recruits to my department."
John smirked at her as they all did the catches on their suits. "So can we expect them to join us on any away missions in the near future"?" he asked.
Cam shrugged a shoulder as she slipped her Staff Weapon's back holster on over the suit. "Jonas Quinn is proficient, as is Dr. Witcker," she answered. "I'd be willing to let them go out on missions while I get the rest of the department up to scratch."
John nodded as he quickly fixed Teyla's suit. "Considering how your brother reacts every time you join us, I'd suggest getting them up to scratch, fast," he told her.
Cam shrugged her shoulder again, but she understood the request. I told you that you should have pushed your department harder, Kel'an told her as she calmly reached for the helmet to the suit.
Cam worked efficiently as she slipped the helmet on, sliding the helmet just enough to hear the catch mechanisms lock. I didn't want to do so too early, Kel', she reminded her symbiote. I have to balance pushing them and overworking them to the point of collapse. She sighed in her mind, knowing her symbiote's feelings as well as her own. I'll see if I can't speed up their lessons to have Danny and Jonas out on missions by the end of the next week.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Appearing inside the ship, Ronon hefted his weapon, uneasy inside the suite despite knowing how much it was needed. He flicked his torch on and calmly shone it's light around, seeing Sheppard and the others doing the same, even as Camilla seemed to pause and wait before she did the same.
With the helmet on, Ronon knew that he'd be relying on the radio headsets and he saw Sheppard nod after a moment. "We should be just outside the Bridge," he said.
Ronon followed Sheppard's gaze and watched as Camilla seemed to orient herself before nodding and shining her own light on a wall a few feet in front of Ronon. With Sheppard leading the way, Ronon watched as the man pressed a gloved hand to the doors in front of him.
It took a few seconds before he saw them sliding open and Ronon saw another pair of doors. It was a good strategy, he mused. Give any enemy twice the trouble of getting onto the Bridge if they ever tried. While Sateda hadn't had any space ships like the Wraith, the idea of creating more trouble for the Wraith had been something that everyone knew.
He watched as the others moved with both him and Sheppard as Martouf lifted his Staff Weapon up, flicking a switch to light the end before Ronon nodded to Sheppard. The repeated the touch to the door and it took seconds for Ronon to get a full look at the Bridge.
"You mean what used to be the Bridge," he said, looking at Sheppard.
It looked like a mixture of war and old age had gone at the bridge as Ancient consoles lay in pieces on the floor, many of them, Ronon mused, not in the places where they had once been installed. The little furniture that Ronon thought might be on the bridge hadn't survived as well as the consoles, leather in the seats having rotted away centuries ago while the metal of the seats had rusted and destroyed the position of the chairs as they lay scattered around the admittedly large room.
Sheppard levelled a glare at him for a moment before they moved back out and further into the ship, looking around as best they could.
"Colonel Sheppard," Teyla said.
Ronon followed the man as he led the way off to a room just passed the bridge. Teyla stood staring at something, McKay only a few steps behind her. Camilla moved to join her and through the radio he heard the female Tok'ra sigh.
"Stasis pods," the woman said softly. "And they're still running."
Ronon moved to one of the glowing pods attached to the walls and looked inside, peering at the clear, but frosted surface. He could just make out a person inside it, older than he had ever seen anyone before. He also watched as a pale blue glow seemed to activate and he looked up, seeing Sheppard moving closer, as well as McKay.
"Stasis pods?" he asked.
Teyla hummed. "We found a similar pod in Atlantis," the Athosian told him. "It keeps a person alive for many years in a type of frozen hibernation."
Ronon shook his head. "Yeah," he muttered. "If you call that living."
Camilla seemed to sigh. "They've been in these probably for the last ten thousand years," she said. "I honestly doubt if they'd survive being removed from stasis."
Martouf grunted as he shone his light around and Ronon mimicked him, glancing upwards as he absently counted twenty pods around him. "I doubt that they will respond as well as the aged Dr. Weir did when we removed her from stasis," the man said.
Ronon frowned at that and looked at the two Tok'ra. "What?" he asked.
Dr. Weir in Atlantis appeared only a decade older than Camilla, surely she wasn't that old?! How had she even gotten to be in one of these 'stasis pods'?
Camilla turned to look at him, her torch shinning to somewhere just past the Satedan's elbow. "The stasis pod that Teyla spoke of held what we once thought was an Ancient," she answered. "Instead, it turned out that from another reality, timeline, a Dr. Weir had travelled back in time to when the Ancient had last lived in the city before they evacuated." Camilla sighed, shaking her head. "She gave up the rest of her life to remain behind, unknown to the Ancients, to make sure the disaster that befell her expedition was not repeated.
"When we awoke her, she was ten thousand years old, weak and her body started to shut down. She died only days after we woke her up."
Martouf sighed, patting the woman's shoulder. "These Ancients are, in all likelihood, older than Dr. Weir when we awoke her," he said. "Removing them will kill them all."
Ronon had heard, had understood the words he'd heard, but he didn't understand the meaning of what they'd been saying beyond the fact that he people were too old to revived.
"Look at all the pods," Teyla breathed.
Ronon tore his gaze from the two Tok'ra and looked upwards, this time seeing the sheer number of pods above their heads in the dim light afforded by their torches.
"That's just on this deck," Sheppard commented, his tone awed. "Who knows how many more there are on the rest of this ship?"
A-A-A-A-A-A
Teyla calmly walked the corridors of the Ancestor's ship, Ronon walking on her left side as Camilla walked on her right. They all carried their weapons, though, Teyla noticed, Camilla's Staff Weapon was slung across her back as she carried a hand device and torch, both held in different hands.
Focusing her attention on the stasis pods, Teyla absently noted that the level they were on stood tall enough for seven pods to be stacked comfortably while the number of stacks changed from room to room. So far, having gone only three rooms away from Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay, she had counted a comfortable eighty-nine pod, most of which were filled by Ancestors while a few remained empty.
After having not encountered bodies, Teyla certainly felt saddened by the obvious sign of death amongst the Ancestors for those pods to have remained empty when the ship shut down to preserve energy.
Returning her gaze to the other two who walked with her, she noticed that they were also counting, though the leader of the Athosians was sure that Camilla was relying on Kel'an to keep a total number in her mind as she merely looked around herself, shining her torch around.
Teyla paused as she heard her radio making its usual electric sound. "Teyla," Dr. McKay spoke in her ear. Found any more of the pods?"
The Athosian nodded absently as she stopped walking. "Yes, many," she answered. "And there are many more decks we have yet to search."
"Are any of the pods empty?"
Teyla nodded again, remembering the empty stasis pods she, Camilla and Ronon had walked passed. "A few," she admitted.
"Perfect!"
Teyla frowned then, tilting her head as she glanced to Camilla, seeing the other woman's confused look before she sighed and shook her head. "Is there anything else we can help with, Dr. McKay?" she asked.
"If you've found any stasis pods that come in pairs, it would be useful if we set up camp by them," the man responded.
Teyla frowned at that. She remembered seeing a few empty stasis pods near each other, but she hadn't seen any next to each other. Camilla seemed to remember and she nodded, tapping her own radio ear piece.
"Rodney," she said. "About three corridors over from you is a room with stasis pods. There were two empty ones on the bottom rung. That going to be good enough for you?"
A-A-A-A-A-A
Rodney watched as the last of the newly written Ancient coding raced across his laptop screen as Camilla sat next to him, finally stopping her frantic typing to lean back slightly. He knew the signs that she'd accessed the Ancient Knowledge in her brain as her hands continued to twitch for a few more seconds before she shook her head.
He admired her dedication, even as he knew the risks of her accessing - consciously mind you - the Ancient Knowledge in her mind. Two doses of the knowledge had done some funny things to the minds of the few people to access them, and Camilla was no different.
"First time programming?" he asked her.
Camilla rolled her eyes at him. "With Ancient as the root, yes," she answered before she groaned quietly and knuckled her forehead viciously, followed by a mixed spate of Ancient and Goa'uld curses.
Rodney saw a hand gently grasp her shoulder and he let his gaze drift to see Martouf standing behind her, concern on his face. Shaking his head, Rodney focused on the computer screen in front of him, giving the two some privacy, even as he quickly became aware that Sheppard and Ronon were watching the two.
Sighing, Rodney activated his radio back to the Daedalus and talked Caldwell through their plan. They might not be able to get the Ancients to wake up and come to them, but they certainly could go the Ancients with a few empty pods.
"You sure this is such a good idea?" Sheppard asked.
Rodney looked up at the man as he stood and palmed the controls for the stasis pod they'd wired up. It was a comparatively simple task to think open and see the pod slide out. "What's the matter, Colonel?" he asked as he sat back down, smiling slightly. "Don't trust me?"
Sheppard smirked back at him. "No."
Rodney rolled his eyes. "Fine!" he muttered.
"You're proposing actually freezing yourelf in one of those things?" Caldwell asked.
It ha obviously taken the man longer than he'd originally thought to go through their idea and Rodney sighhed. "I should be able to tap into the neural network without actually initialising stasis," he replied calmly. "Look. It won't take long; I'll be in and out."
He shook his head and focused on tweaking a few lines of code, making sure that the stasis command wouldn't activate the final part of the stasis pod and he felt doubt coming from Sheppard. He sighed and looked back at the head of his team.
"Look, the quickest way to figure out what is going on is to tap into the system and communicate directly with the captain," he said. "Need I remind you of the obvious value in this?"
"But is it safe?" Teyla asked.
Rodney sighed and looked at the Athosian. "Would I be offering to do if it wasn't?" he asked her.
He really wouldn't be offering if he didn't believe and know that it would be safe. Rodney would only risk it if no one else could, would or wanted to go if it was the opposite.
"No," Ronon said.
Rodney nodded at him as he stepped closer, even as he heard Martouf sigh. "Which is why I believe Colonel Sheppard is willing to go in your stead," the Tok'ra said.
Rodney frowned at that and turned to the look at the man. "What?!" he asked.
"It's better to have you on the outside in case something goes wrong," Sheppard expanded as he shrugged off his P-90 and it's carry strap.
Rodney narrowed his eyes at the Colonel. "It won't," he said.
"But if it does-"
"It won't!" Rodney snapped at him. "How many times do I have to say this?!"
"Rodney," Camilla said. "Until the stasis pod's new programming is proven, between the two of you, if something were to go wrong, which would be the greater loss of understanding?"
Rodney looked at the woman and nodded. "Well," he said. "I've never thought of it that way before..." He looked at Sheppard and nodded. "They're right. You should go in."
He watched as Sheppard frowned and moved his narrowing eyes onto the Tok'ra beside him.
A-A-A-A-A-A
It wasn't all that different lying in the stasis pod to sitting in the Ancient Control Chair, John mused to himself as he got himself comfortable in the Ancient, obviously synthetic, material.
"Now remember," Rodney said. "The system creates a direct feedback loop between the processor and your brainwaves, so when you want to disconnect, you'll need to really... um... well, concentrate."
John shook his head with a smile. "You mean think it," he corrected.
Camilla chuckled from beside Rodney. "No, Colonel," she said. "Conectrate. Otherwise every time you thought of disconnecting, even sub-consciously, you would do so. So, it will take a concerted effort to remove yourself from the network."
John smirked. "So, 'there's no place like home'?" he asked.
Camilla snorted again and John turned his head to look at his team, seeing both Teyla and Ronon's confused expressions, even as he saw Rodney's tired one and Camilla and Martouf's mildly amused ones.
"If that's what works for you," the female Tok'ra said.
Rodney shook his head. "Now," he said. "I should be able to monitor your EEG readings, so in the highly unlikely event that something anomalous should present itself, I should be able to disconnect you manually."
John nodded and looked back up at the top of the open pod. "Good," he muttered.
"...Without permanent brain damage."
The Air Force Colonel looked back at the Canadian scientist. "Rodney?" he asked, half of his tone a warning.
He would have liked to have known that before he volunteered himself for guinea-pig duty. Rodney didn't look at him, instead he looked at the laptop's screen with a concerted effort.
"Well, the opportunity to speak with a living Ancient is worth the risk, hmmm?" the scientist replied. "Now, when I close the lid, the pod system should activate. Ready?"
John settled his body back into the grooves of the pod, doing his best to get his body comfortable while he mind went to go play. "I was," he muttered.
"Good."
After years of flying, John could easily feel the pod moving back into the wall and he closed his eyes, doing his best to relax his body as he felt something brush against his mind.
A sound like static echoed in his ears and like an old television that needed re-tuning, a visual lit up in front of his eyes. It took a few seconds and John felt his eyes widening to take in everything around him.
He was stood in a corridor that looked much like the one he'd been in, outside of the stasis pod, and yet it looked different. The stasis pods that had lined the walls outside of the pods weren't in attendance around him, the room more brightly lit and John could feel that the clothes he now wore were different.
He looked down at himself, taking in the off-white colour of the comparatively simple clothing he wore. He wore a jacket, a shirt under the jack from the feel of things, and trousers and boots that felt surprisingly comfortable.
Turning his hands over to look at them, he could see the childhood scarring on them and he smiled slightly. "This is weird," he muttered.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Cam stopped at the doors to the armoury, her hand raised, ready to swipe over the Ancient crystals that acted as the lock. She waited until she saw Teyla and Ronon nod before she swung her arm, the command to open the doors at the forefront of her mind. As soon as the doors began to slide open, she dropped her hand and picked up her pistol, aiming it into the room as they walked inside and she frowned at the darkness that engulfed the room.
Several Ancient commands later and Cam shook her head, slipping her weapon back into it's holster. "Carson's going to kill me," she muttered. "Do you have any spare cloth Teyla?"
You aren't... Kel'an breathed.
Cam sighed. I am, she answered. We need light and torches are not going to work.
Teyla nodded and held up a spare piece of cloth about a foot square. "You are going to do what you did to power the shields, are you not?" she asked.
Cam nodded as she pulled the sleeves of her uniform up, making sure that her palms and arms were exposed, clear of anything that could be damaged by her abilities. "I'm going to be trying something a little different, though," she said before she closed her eyes.
She took a deep breath and held her hands away from her body, placing her palms upwards as she began to meditate where she stood, feeling her pulse rate slowing, aided by Kel'an as her symbiote reluctantly helped her get in touch with the Ascended energy that was always close in her mind.
It took a few seconds before she felt the telltale burning in her palms and she snapped her eyes opening, focusing on the far wall from her before she gauged distances and reacted. She threw her arms back before snapping them forwards, hoping that she could dislodge the energy enough to get it to light the armoury up.
Sensing the two separate balls of energy like a pair of drones, she ruthlessly controlled them, stopping the one closer to her before stopping the other a bit away from the end wall. Once she was sure that the energy would stay where she'd put them, she let the pain in her hands into her mind, groaning quietly in pain before she started muttering, bringing her hands in close to herself, cradling them close to her.
She couldn't help her flinch when Teyla firmly gripped her wrists and pulled them away from her before pressing a cloth into her palms. She glanced at Ronon, seeing his wide eyes and she quickly looked away, back at Teyla.
"Sorry," she offered to the Satedan as she watched the Athosian carefully bind her palms. "Forgot the last time I used this was before..."
She bit her lip, the last time had been just weeks before Ronon had joined the expedition, on that trip back from Earth. She looked out of the corner of her eye at the man, well aware of the fact that her eyes were glowing that sharp white.
The man shrugged a shoulder. "What we looking for?" he asked.
Cam huffed a laugh then. "I'm staying still," she told him, "while I let you and Teyla take an inventory of the weapons available here."
A-A-A-A-A-A
John opened his eyes with a mute groan. It had taken more 'concentration' to get himself out of the program, but he'd done it. Eventually. It took a few seconds before he felt the pod slipping out from the wall and he looked around, seeing both Rodney and Camilla standing nearby, concerned expressions on their faces.
"And?!" Rodney pressed him.
John groaned again. "It works," he answered.
Rodney snorted. "Of course it worked!" he answered.
John took a moment before he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the base of the stasis pod. He shook his head as he looked at the two of them.
"For a minute," he began, "I thought I was going to get stuck there." He looked around, frowning at the lack of anyone else in the room. "Where are the others?"
Camilla smiled. "Colonel Caldwell sent myself and Ronon and Teyla to search the ship's armoury," she told him.
John perked up at the information. "Yeah?" he asked.
She shook her head and raised her hands. "I got my hands bloody for nothing," she told him. "Completely depleted of drones. So, they're going to carry on with the rest of the ship."
Rodney shook his head, glaring at the woman before he looked back at him, his hands crossed impatiently over his chest. "So, what happened?" he asked. "Were you able to communicate with the Captain?"
John nodded in answered. "Face-to-face," he answered. "Pretty impressive in there." He shrugged a shoulder. "They have the whole virtual reality going on in there."
Before Rodney could correct him - something that John liked to do just to irk the man - Camilla had elbowed him in the ribs, shaking her head. "So," she said gently. "What did you did out."
John reached for his radio headset and calmly slipped it back into place at his ear. "For starters," he said. "I have to go back."
A-A-A-A-A-A
Cam sat at the laptop, cradling her slowly healing hands in her lap as she watched the screen, her gaze not staying on one piece of information for too long. She made sure that everything was in order as she watched the information racing across the screen. After explaining to Caldwell the reasons for going back in, John had taken her to one side, talking with her.
"Was it really that smart to bring the energy into your palms?" he'd asked.
Cam had rolled her eyes, Kel'an adding a glow that showed her own displeasure. "The torches weren't working all that well in supplying what we needed to look around."
John had shaken his head and drawn her into a loose embrace, the Tok'ra letting him as they stayed outside of view of the others. "Don't want you to hurt yourself," he'd breathed.
Cam had clung to him. "Didn't want to," she'd told him, speaking the words into his neck. "Had to..."
John had sighed and tightened his grip on her for a few seconds before letting go and pulling back to look at her. "Don't do anything to hurt yourself if you can help it," he told her. "I hurt you and I don't like how you looked then... do anything you have to not get hurt like that again."
Cam had nodded at him. "I will," she'd told him. "Just don't make me have to give you helping hand in that pod."
John had laughed in response.
"Dr. McKay?" she heard Caldwell ask moments after their radio's started, bringing her out of her memories.
Rodney grunted as he barely looked up from his data-pad. "Go ahead," he answered.
"Long range sensors have just detected two Wraith cruisers heading this way," Caldwell told him. "No doubt coming to investigate why their scout ship was destroyed earlier."
Cam looked up at that, her eyes widening as she looked at Rodney, seeing his own wide eyes. "What's their ETA?" she asked.
"Little over an hour," Caldwell responded. "And I plan on being long gone by then. What's the status there?"
Cam shrugged a shoulder as she looked at the laptop screen again, shaking her head at Rodney. She knew the man had been 'playing' with the Ancient sensors that read all the brainwaves, but she highly doubted that that was what Caldwell was asking after.
"He's still in the pod, Colonel," she answered. "Life signs are good. Brainwaves are normal. Respiration and heart-rate are in normal range."
She heard Caldwell sigh. "Understood," he answered. "Just be aware of the time constraints with the Wraith ships approaching. We can't risk being discovered."
Rodney sighed and nodded, rolling a hand in the gesture that Cam easily recognised as being his prominently used one for 'hurry up!'. "Yes, yes," he said. "Ticking clock. Anything else?"
"If he's not out of there in thirty minutes, disconnect him manually."
The man clicked off then and Cam shared a look with Rodney...
A-A-A-A-A-A
Arethusawalked calmly through the corridors of the Aurora, keeping to her watch. After the 'Lieutenant Colonel' had appeared, the security department aboard had agreed that the watches were to be increased until the source of the threat could be identified and dealt with.
Pausing as she ran a hand over her hair, making sure that her brown hair was still in its utilitarian bun, Arethusa watched in surprise as everything around her faded for a split second before another woman stood in front of her.
She wore clothes that Arethusa had long associated with those who were ambassadors for their people, the long skirt of the dress and it's bodice darker than the Ancient's own, off-white clothing. The woman in front of her stood, her eyes closed, even as the Ancient saw that her hair was pulled back in a loose braid, her hair long behind her.
It took a moment before the woman's eyes opened and Arethusa looked at the blue eyes, even as she drew her weapon. The woman's gaze flickered downwards and widened as she raised her hands up into the air.
"Ego ani Tau'ri," she said in Atlantean and Arethusa frowned at that. ["I am Tau'ri."]
"Who are you?" she asked the woman, levelling her weapon at the woman's heart. "What are 'Tau'ri'?"
The woman relaxed slightly. "My name is Camilla Carter, ambassador to the Tok'ra," she answered. "Tau'ri refers to the planet of my birth. Earth. Terra." Arethusa found her eyes widening.
That was what the other intruder had said. That he and his people had come from Earth. Glancing at the woman, Arethusa was surprised by the sleeveless cut to the dress that exposed a tattoo that she had long associated with the Wraith and the Ancient made her mind up.
"Come with me," she said. "I'm taking you to where you need to go."
A-A-A-A-A-A
Sat in the ship version of Atlantis' holding cell, Cam sat, twiddling her thumbs as she waited. She felt Kel'an in her mind, the one thing she was thankful that the Ancient programming made it possible for her close friend to reside within her.
That could have gone better, Kel'an muttered.
Cam rolled her eyes at that, shaking her head. It could also have gone worse, she told her friend. At least we are still able to talk. Cam frowned then. How are you perceiving things?
Kel'an chuckled. It is a rather interesting mix between the virtual environment and the backs of your eyelids, she replied before Cam felt the distinct sensation that her friend was frowning. Can you hear that?
Cam looked up as she heard the door in front of her hissing open, revealing three men, two carrying another limp form between them and it didn't take Cam long to recognise the messy hair. She got to her feet before she raised her hands as one of the men raised their weapon at her.
She bowed her head and stepped to the side, a silent 'invitation' to let them inside. She watched as the cell door shuddered before lifting up, light flickering across it's surface as the two Ancient men walked into the cell and unceremoniously dropped John's body to the floor. Ignoring the guards, Cam moved to her friend quickly, kneeling on the floor to check him over.
Hearing the cell door slide back down, she allowed herself a glare at the men. "And to think that I respect the knowledge and wisdom of the Alterans that reside in my mind," she said, letting them hear her. "Mai'tac Altera."
She moved carefully, lifting John's body up onto the bench before she sat down, holding his head in her lap as she did what futile little she could to help the man wake.
A-A-A-A-A-A
John woke with a start, tensing when he didn't recognise where he was even as he remembered the stunner blast that had hit him. While it wasn't as bad as Ronon's weapon, his body tingled in pain and he groaned softly, even as he felt a hand carding gently though his hair.
He frowned at that.
"Camilla?" he asked quietly.
He received a chuckle in response. "Wondered when you'd wake up," she said and John groaned as he shifted until he was sitting beside her. "Took you long enough."
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed. "Least Ronon didn't shoot me," he muttered.
Camilla chuckled again, even as the pilot heard the familiar sound of the Ancient door in front of the cell opening, letting in a mildly upset voice.
"-ere are you taking me?" the voice was saying. "I told you - I'm with Colonel Sheppard and Camilla Carter. I'm a member of Colonel Sheppard's team. Colonel John Sheppard?"
John paused and opened his eyes, taking in the sight of McKay walking backwards into the room, his hands raised as he tried to talk with the two security guards that John had sadly gotten to know very well. It also looked as though the scientist was dressed in clothing similar to his, including the off-white colour and style.
With that thought, he looked to Camilla, arching an eyebrow at the long skirted dress she wore. While darker than the usual off-white he'd seen, he was surprised at the lack of sleeves. Camilla rolled her eyes in answer and John looked back at McKay in time to see him turn around and pause.
"Oh," was all the scientist managed to say.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Lantash paced the small corridor, moving between the three pods that housed his sister, his team leader and a team member. Lantash knew he wasn't entirely upset or angry, but Martouf's emotions were influencing his beyond what he normally felt.
Teyla and Ronon Dex were stood at McKay's pod as well as Camilla's and Lantash sighed as made his twelfth trip, remembering the words that Dr. McKay had said before Teyla had sent him into the neural network.
"...If I do not regain consciousness, go ahead and open Colonel Sheppard and Camilla's pods. Have all of us beamed directly to the Daedalus and make sure they have a medical team standing by."
Both Lantash and Martouf refused to think on the possibility on their friend and their sister never waking up from the neural network, but they could only applaud the man for thinking ahead on an obviously unwanted outcome. He glanced at Dr. McKay's pod and noticed the moisture misting on the inside of the stasis pod, something that looked stronger and 'worse' on both Camilla's and Colonel Sheppard's pods.
"Ten thousand years in one of these things, kept alive by life support," Ronon muttered from where he stood, leaning over one of the stasis pods, his hands pressing against the metal wall as he looked inside at the Ancient there. "I couldn't live that way."
Teyla shook her head. "Neither could I," she agreed.
Lantash sighed, remembering the events that had led him to spending close to a year without Martouf, even as he remembered what his host had gone through in the intervening time. "My host was in stasis for a time," he offered them. "Granted, it was not as long as ten thousand years, but..."
Lantash drifted off as he heard his radio activate. "Dr. McKay, what's your status?" Caldwell asked.
The Tok'ra felt his eyes widening in panic, something he saw mirrored on Teyla's face. "Dr. McKay is not here," the Athosian woman responded as she looked down at the stasis pod containing the man in question.
"What?!"
"He had to..." the woman began before Ronon sighed and activated his radio.
"He had to check something on the Wraith pod," the Satedan told Caldwell.
Grinning at the Satedan, he saw Teyla smirking, even as she nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "The Wraith pod. He had to check the bio-metrics receiver. He needed to reconfirm the frequencies of the neural feedback loop."
Lantash covered his host's mouth as he did his best to stifle his laughter as the two Pegasus Galaxy natives gave Caldwell the run-around. "Why isn't he on his radio?"
Teyla tilted her head for a moment, seeming to think. "Well, actually, we have been having trouble reaching him ourselves," she offered. "I think it might have something to do with the...um..." Lantash watched as Teyla floundered for a moment as she looked back down at Dr. McKay's pod and seemed to relax slightly, "the magnetic shielding of the pods."
Ronon nodded, a smirk on his face. "Yeah," he muttered. "Shielding."
If Lantash had not known that the two were doing their best to get more time for both Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard to finish their work – even as Lantash waited for his sister – he would have been hard–pressed to believe that the two were not saying something genuine as they waited for Dr. McKay to come into contact with them once more.
"Ronon was about to go check on him," Teyla offered calmly. "See what is taking him so long."
Caldwell seemed to sigh. "Alright, go get him," he said. "Light a fire under him."
Ronon grinned in response, even as Teyla nodded again. "Right away," she agreed.
"I want a status report as soon as his radio's working again. Caldwell out."
The second that Lantash heard the man cut the communication, he let out his laughter in a small bark of amusement, even as Ronon grinned.
"Nice stalling," the Satedan offered.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Sat in the Aurora's Brig, John watched as Rodney did the same, letting himself sit with a groan on his left as Camilla shifted slightly on his right.
"Have you been unable to disconnect yourself from the system?" Rodney asked him.
John shook his head. He hadn't felt like he'd lost that ability, he'd just been a bit busy."No!" he answered. "I'm still trying to get the information on that communiqué."
Rodney sighed. "Oh good," he said. "We thought maybe it was preventing you from exiting the program."
John frowned as he looked at the scientist. "'It'?" he asked.
He hoped there wasn't a bug in the system. John had no idea what that would do to the neural network and he, quite frankly, didn't want to find out any time soon. He felt Camilla stiffen next to him and he watched as Rodney seemed to fold in on himself.
"We found a Wraith in one of the stasis pods," he answered. "It's manipulating the neural feedback program. Your EEG patterns were irregular."
Camilla snorted then. "Yours would be, as well, Rodney," she said, "if you had been stunned like the good Colonel here."
Rodney nodded at that. "I didn't want to risk pulling either of you out until I knew more," he offered.
John nodded then. "First Officer," he said.
Rodney frowned and He felt Camilla tensing beside him. "What about him?" the Tok'ra asked.
John shook his head, remembering Trebal. "Her," he corrected her. "She's a Wraith; has to be." He shook his head again. "There's something very odd about here and she keeps preventing me from talking to the Captain."
Rodney's frown deepened. "The Wraith we found was male," he said. "The First Officer must have been female; took her place."
John nodded. "She knows I want that information and the Captain's the only one with access to it," he said.
Rodney grinned then, a manic grin that had John worrying for a moment. "We don't need the Captain," he said. "I've been able to decipher enough of the program to overwrite the protocols. All I have to do is get to terminal within the virtual environment and I should be able to access any files stored within the database."
"So we just need to break out of here," John muttered.
He'd dealt with worse prognosis. He was about to deal with another. "Hold that thought," Rodney told him.
With that, the scientist disappeared from view and John shook his head.
"Well," Camilla breathed. "Well I never. And no goodbye."
John snorted at that and shook his head again, this time pausing as he heard the sound of the forcefield around the cell dropping seconds before the door opened. He stood slowly and offered a hand to Camilla as he moved towards the open door, freezing when the guards stepped inside and raised their weapons at him.
Moving in front of the Tok'ra, he watched as the two men took several, meaningful steps towards them before collapsing in a heap. Moving to one side to get a better look, John felt he program shift slightly before Rodney appeared beside him.
"Nice timing," he told the scientist, grinning all the way.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Cam moved to the Ancient terminal and set to work, navigating the systems with relative ease, letting the Ancient knowledge do some of the work as she coded her way through the Alteran system in front of her. It took several seconds before she started to swear.
It took her even longer to pull her anger under control. "The communiqué's been erased," she said through gritted teeth. "There's nothing in the file."
She closed her eyes and moved away from the console as Rodney moved over and the woman let Kel'an take control, closing her eyes for a moment before Kel'an opened them to the world.
"Now I am mad," she said.
A-A-A-A-A-A
As the Captain of the Aurora, Brul had a lot of responsibility weighing on his shoulders. More, in these last few hours, as more and more intruders appeared in the ship. He had the communiqué that had to get back to Atlantis and he refused to believe the claims of the first male intruder, not even when a woman and another man appeared.
Trebal cleared her throat quietly and Brul turned to look at her, seeing the Alteran datapad in her hands. "Hyperdrive modification commands have been successfully entered," she said softly. "Auxiliary power is now online."
Brul nodded in acknowledgement. "Very good," he said. "Prepare to engage drive."
"Stop!" "Comdo, desina!" ["Please, stop!"]
The words spoken in High Alteran got Brul's attention as he looked to the entrance to the bridge, seeing both the man and the woman there, the man carrying a weapon as the woman walked calmly, her hands out to her sides, her eyes glowing as two balls of energy floated at her palms.
The man moved to stand just in front of the woman as he lowered his weapon slightly, even as Brul was aware that everyone else on the bridge had drawn their own weapons. "Your First Officer is a Wraith," the man said. "She's using you."
"Security to the Bridge," Brul heard Trebal order softly into her comm. unit.
The woman behind the man moved slightly, her eyes still glowing. "The Wraith gained access to this virtual environment by killing your First Officer," she said gently. "Your First Officer is dead, the Wraith in her place."
"She's getting you to modify your Hyperdrive so that she can upgrade the Wraith Hyperdrive," the man continued.
"Don't listen to them, sir," Trebal hissed at him.
"They need to modify their Hyperdrives so that they may make it to our planet," the woman said firmly. "We call it Earth, you call it Terra. I think we all agree that we do not wish the Wraith to get there."
Trebal shook her head as Brul looked at her. "This is nonsense," she muttered.
The man shook his head. "I'm telling you, she is a Wraith," he said firmly.
Brul shook his head, settling hisd gaze on the man and his companion. "Officer Trebal has served with me for many years," he told them. "I can't possibly believe tha–"
"Sir," Trebal interrupted. "With your permission I'd like t–"
Brul watched in astonishment as his First Officer froze and started convulsing. For a few seconds, the man watched as the entirety of what he was seeing shifted like a data–point screen having problems before it seemed to clear, but Trebal continued to convulse before her face faded and merged with that of what Brul knew to be a Wraith. Staring at what Brul had once called his First Officer, he watched as she finally faded from view with a resounding snap.
Brul looked back to the two intruders, seeing the woman relaxing as the glow disappeared from her eyes and the energy faded from her hands, leaving behind bloodied palms. "I hope that proof enough," the man said.
A-A-A-A-A-A
John stood beside the Aurora's Captain, Camilla beside him as she wrapped her hands with several mutters in both Ancient and Goa'uld. He had no doubt that outside, in the pod, her hands were dripping blood, but he hoped otherwise, for both her and Kel'an's sakes.
He'd formally introduced himself and Camilla to the Captain, even as they now looked out on the starry–scope in front of them. "All this time I thought we had evaded the enemy," the Captain said. "Instead, I've been unwittingly assisting them."
Camilla shook her head. "No, you haven't," she told him. "The Wraith aboard hasn't succeeded."
John nodded his agreement. "Please, tell us the information in the communiqué," he said. "We may be able to defeat the Wraith once and for all."
The Captain nodded. "The information is in the ship's computer," he said. "I can give you my access codes."
John shook his head. "We checked," he told the Ancient. "Can't you tell me yourself?"
The Captain shook his head. "I'm afraid I was never made aware of its contents, Colonel Sheppard," he said sadly. "The Council feared the possibility of our capture was too great. The information in that communiqué is gone." He sighed then, running a hand through his short hair. "Ten thousand years... Even in stasis, our physical bodies must be..."
John sighed and nodded, understanding the man's words. "Very old," he finished for him. "Too old."
The Air Force Pilot watched as the Captain turned slightly to look at everyone on the Bridge, all of them focused intently on their jobs, unaware of what was being said. "My crew deserves to know," he said.
Camilla nodded and reached out to touch the Captain gently on his shoulder. "They do, yes," she agreed quietly. "But we do not have all the time available to us."
John nodded at that. "There are two Wraith ships on the way," he said.
The Captain continued to look at the people on the Bridge and John felt for the man. "We longed for nothing more than returning to Atlantis," he said softly. "To raise a toast to our home and victory." His blue gaze moved back to him and John watched him closely. "We may not return home, but we'll do whatever we can to ensure that victory. For that, I will need your help."
Camilla raised a hand, pausing the Captain. "Might I be able to access one of your data–points?" she asked. "I will need to gather some information and now is the only time I might be able to do that."
A-A-A-A-A-A
Martouf stood on the bridge of the Daedalus, worry filling him as he watched the Tau'ri ship prepare to fight, the Ancient battle ship in front of them and the two Wraith Hive's further beyond. His sister was still on the Ancient ship and he was well and truly afraid that Caldwell would open fire on the ship despite that fact.
"Daedalus, this is Sheppard," the ship's radio chirped. "We're ready."
Caldwell nodded. "Beam them directly to the bridge," he ordered.
Martouf relaxed as three beams of light manifested on the bridge and as soon as the lights were clear, both he and Camilla moved to embrace the other. He ignored her bloodied palms as he held her. He had come far too close to losing her again and he was certain any more missions with his sister would result in something terminal for him.
"Targets are in range," one of the technicians said.
Sheppard shook his head. "Sir, we really need to get out of here," he said.
"We need to eliminate those cruisers," Caldwell told him firmly. "The informati–"
McKay shook his head and waved his hands. "No–no–no–no, we need to get far away," he said.
"What?"
Camilla shook her head. "The Wraith on the ship is dead," she said. "But the Captain gave the codes for the self–destruct sequence. We need to get out of here."
"He assures me that it will take care of the Wraith ships so," Sheppard said. "But we need to get clear."
Martouf frowned at that and watched as Caldwell seemed to think things over before he nodded and turned to one of his men. "Bring the sub–light engines to military thrust," he ordered.
A-A-A-A-A-A
Sat in Dr. Weir's office off of the Ancestral Ring's Control Room, Ronon Dex watched the others, seeing both Martouf and his sister leaning against one of the walls, both of them dressed as casually as he had ever seen them, even as the others spoke.
"We monitored all transmissions from the Wraith cruisers prior to that explosion," McKay was saying, the man somehow managing to lack his usual impatience. "They never got a chance to board the Aurora or upload any of the Ancient information."
Caldwell nodded from where he was stood at another wall in the office as Dr, Weir sat at her desk. "Both cruisers were destroyed in the explosion," he said. "No life–signs were picked up afterwards."
Ronon sighed then. "It's too bad we weren't able to figure out the Wraith weakness," he said.
Sheppard nodded from where he was sat in one of the many chairs in the room. "At least we found out they had one," he said softly.
Dr. Weir sighed sadly and nodded. "Good work," she said. "Thank you, everyone."
As Ronon shifted to get to his feet, he watched as Sheppard stiffened. "Uh, before we break up the party, there's something I'd like to do," he said before he shifted slightly and reached down for a dark green bottle that Ronon had seen the man carry into the room.
Ronon stood, watching as Dr. Weir wordlessly stood and reached for a metal tray holding a number of glasses, even as he saw Sheppard standing.
"Might seem a little strange," the Colonel said. "But I promised to do something when we got home."
Ronon took a glass from the tray that Dr, Weir offered to him, watching as the others did the same while Sheppard removed the top of the bottle. Holding the glass beside Teyla's and the others as the Colonel poured into all the glasses.
As soon as he was done filling them all, Ronon watched as Sheppard took one from Weir while he set down the bottle. The man paused for a moment before he raised his glass.
"To the crew of the Aurora," he said.
Ronon mimicked Caldwell and the others from Earth as the gently tapped the glasses together before they pulled back. The Satedan paused in drinking his to take a quiet sniff and a small taste before he downed the rest of the drink. He felt for the Ancients that had died on their ship, never to return to the City,. He felt for them, much like he did for his fellow Satedans that had died.
A-A-A-A-A-A
John paused outside Camilla's quarters, unsure of whether or not he'd be welcome inside, but swung his right arm over the sensor. It took a moment, but he heard a chime from inside before the doors opened seconds later. He saw Camilla there and he smiled slightly.
"Thought you could do with some company," he told her.
When he saw the smile that drifted across her face, the pilot felt his neck heating up slightly. "It is admirable, Colonel, that you thought so," Kel'an said. "Camilla is currently asleep. But please, come in."
John nodded and stepped inside, hearing the doors close behind him. He'd never been in the Tok'ra's quarters, but he was amazed at the sight of the woven tapestries hanging on the walls as well as several paintings. Kel'an chuckled from where she stood at a coffee table in the room, holding an earthenware mug in her hands.
"The tapestries are considered signs of status," she told him as she reached for another mug and stepped over to him, holding it out to him. "Some of the paintings hanging were bought, others Camilla made."
John took the mug and took a sip of the alcohol inside, arching an eyebrow at one of the pictures around him. Kel'an smiled gently and nodded at the picture. John looked at it a little closer and saw the hesitation marks that came from an artist working on something themselves and he nodded.
"She's really good," he said. "Has she worked on anything else?"
Kel'an chuckled and smiled. "She has," she said. "But, I believe she is waiting to be done doing all of them before she begins to consider showing them to anyone."
John frowned at that. "How many is she planning on drawing?" he asked.
Kel'an shrugged a shoulder in a manner that he knew wasn't Camilla. "At the last count, some four to five hundred," she answered blithely. "She has already done some twenty, but she has a lot more to go."
John frowned as he looked at the Tok'ra. "You sure you can't show me?" he asked.
The Tok'ra seemed torn and she bit her lip before she nodded. She placed her mug down and the pilot watched as she moved to a lower chest of drawers, opening one before pulling something out. It took a few seconds, but John watched as she flipped through a sheaf of paper before removing one piece.
"I do not think she will mind if you see this one," Kel'an muttered as she walked back over.
Taking the paper when she held it out to him, John froze at the sight that met him. The Captain of the Aurora looked out at him, a small smile on the man's face, beneath it, written in English stood the words 'Captain Brul of the Ancient ship Aurora, may he and his men never be forgotten for their sacrifice.'
He looked at it in awe before he smiled slightly. The Ancient had been denied the chance to return to his home, to get his people their last wish. But this picture meant that he and his people would live on in the memories of everyone.
"It's fitting," he said. "Not entirely, but it's the best."
This is the second chapter (obviously) so I hope that this lives up to the standards everyone's used to. If not, please do let me know. I look forward to reading everyone's reviews. :D
Until next time!