~~~Atlantis, Present Time~~~
"Well, it looks stable enough." Rodney said, watching the projection from the MALP's video camera. The MALP was exploring the second city on the list he'd found in Merlin's library. The first one had been lost – it seemed that that city had caved in somehow. It was amazing the wormhole had even engaged itself.
Now they were looking at the city on P3X-2938. Rodney sat at a console in the control room, watching the readings on a laptop as they came in. John, Teyla, and Kleit stood behind him, but they watched the video feed on the main screen with Carter.
The city appeared intact. If anything, it seemed much like Atlantis did when the expedition team first arrived. It was called Safehaven; or, at least, that's what the city's name in Ancient meant. According to Rodney's book, it was on a planet in the outskirts of the Pegasus Galaxy, opposite from the Milky Way Galaxy and Earth. Thanks to that, it was well hidden from the Wraith, which was why it would live up to its name quite nicely.
John looked at Carter, struck again by the stark differences between the colonel and Elizabeth. Carter was watching the screen, obviously assessing the new city's tactical advantage. In their current situation, Elizabeth would be blabbering about the potential "wealth of knowledge" the city could contain. She'd only watch the screen long enough to ascertain the city's stabilities before practically shoving John's team through the Stargate. Carter always waited until she could se that his team wouldn't be in any immediate danger.
Deciding that it was safe enough to send a team through, Carter finally looked towards John. "You have a go. Dial back once you've explored some."
John nodded, eager to leave. "Will do." He motioned for his team and Kleit to follow him to the Stargate.
Five minutes later, the team was in Safehaven's 'gateroom. Just as they did on Atlantis, Safehaven's lights flickered on in response to John's Ancient gene.
The room before them was exactly like Atlantis' was when they'd first arrived. After checking the room for hostiles, John trotted up the steps to the control room. He blinked, surprised when he saw the room just as intact as it was on Atlantis. He admonished himself; it shouldn't have been surprising at all, seeing the rest of the room's condition first. "All clear," he called to his team.
"John, you need to see this." Teyla called back. He followed her voice to where she stood beside a large window nearby.
John's jaw dropped. He'd expected the city to be on water, like Atlantis was. He was wrong. "Wow."
"Safehaven sat in the middle of a large grassy field. The grass seemed like what he'd find in Africa on a safari. The plains were speckled with sparse trees and a lake glistening in the distance. Strange animals slurped from the lake's water.
Our zoologists will have a field day, John thought. One set off animals looked like a cross between a cheetah and a jaguar. These cats had the muscles of the jaguar and the legs of the cheetah. John watched as the incredible creatures darted across the field, hunting the antelope/zebra creatures grazing around them. The creatures' black coat streaked with their orange spots, blending together in a blur of strength and speed.
"John!" Rodney called excitedly from a control console. "Look at this!"
"What?" He asked without turning from the window's view of the field.
"Safehaven's shields are intact."
That got John's attention. "What?" He said as he moved towards Rodney.
"Bringing up a power diagnostic…" Rodney mumbled, punching buttons on the console. His jaw dropped.
"What is it?" Kleit asked from Rodney's left. John was standing behind the scientist, and Teyla had moved to the man's right.
John squinted, not sure if he was reading the screen right. "No way."
"John?" Teyla questioned. She still couldn't make any sense of the readings her co-workers used on their computers.
The military commander turned to her. "Safehaven has a store of ZPM's, beside the ones already in use."
Teyla's eyes grew. "How many are there?"
"Ten." Rodney answered definitively. "Ten fully powered ZedPM's."
"Just ten?" Kleit asked. "You're getting excited over ten?"
Rodney rolled his eyes. "We've only found a handful in five years, and most of those were either in use or partially depleted."
Kleit seemed slightly less confused. "But then how are the shields still working? What's powering them?"
"Three ZedPM's, all of which are halfway gone. They'll last for a little while before depleting themselves completely." Rodney asked. "We can minimize the effect by stretching the power further."
John nodded. "Run a full diagnostic. See what condition this place is in. Teyla, stay with him. Kleit come with me. We'll be visiting the hologram if you need us."
"Keep your radio on, Sheppard." Rodney called after him.
John rolled his eyes, dragging Kleit to the transport with him.
Not long after, John and Kleit had reached Safehaven's hologram. John stepped up to the podium and powered up the machine. A man of five feet with long red hair appeared before him. "Greetings, I am Loren. Ask your question."
"What happened here? Why did the Alterrans leave Safehaven?" John asked.
The man seemed to pause before answering. "One question at a time, please."
John counted to five in his head. "Why. Did. The. Alterrans. Leave. Safehaven."
"The Alterrans of Safehaven left when the Alterrans of Northtower fell to the Wraith." Loren replied.
"Northtower?" John asked.
Loren brought up a star map. "Northtower lies even further north than Safehaven. The city fell a thousand years after the Alterrans of Atlantis fled to Earth."
Recognizing Northtower's position in the stars as the planet they'd first visited from the list, John continued. "Where did the Alterrans of Safehaven go?"
"The Alterrans of Safehaven moved to Earth, like the Alterrans of Atlantis." Loren answered.
"Did any Alterrans remain in the Pegasus Galaxy after they left?" John questioned.
"Those of Icetower remained for another hundred years before they, too, moved to Earth." Loren responded. The last city's position was displayed on the star map. "Icetower could not sustain itself long after their bretheren left the galaxy. Its people had traded with the other four cities heavily for food and water, serving their bretheren as an armory and a space dock."
"Space dock?" John asked. That sounded promising.
"As shown in the map, Icetower is situated at the center of the Pegasus Galaxy, a strategic placement for a space dock."
"What of the fourth city?" John asked, though he already knew the answer.
"The fourth city was abandoned a hundred years before the Alterrans of Atlantis left the Pegasus Galaxy. It was deemed too dangerous for continued use."
"Why?" John asked.
"The Wraith had discovered its location." Loren answered. "The city was in constant danger of attack."
"Why didn't they just move it? You said the city could fly." Kleit asked.
"It'd defeat the purpose of having a space dock in the center of the galaxy." John answered before stepping down from the podium, causing the hologram to disappear. "Ok, I think we've learned what we need from this. Rodney's team can come in later if they want."
"So what exactly was that? Not even magic can replicate a human being that accurately." Kleit asked.
"That was a hologram, it's a computer-generated image of (in this case) a person, probably one of the Ancients that used to live here in Safehaven." John answered. "There's one of these on Atlantis." John stopped. "Hold on. Rodney?" He asked into his radio.
"Yeah, Sheppard." Rodney answered.
"Did you get a power reading from the hologram's room just now?" John asked, suspicious.
"Yeah. Looks like it's a true hologram this time." Rodney said.
"Great. We're headed back your way. Dial Atlantis and tell them what we've found. Sheppard out." John said.
"What was that about?" Kleit asked, overhearing the conversation on his radio.
"Atlantis's hologram was actually an ascended Ancient, wanting to have some influence with what's going on out here." John said.
Kleit frowned. "Why don't they just use their 'influence' normally?"
"Something about rules and regulations." John shrugged. "I've never had much use for them myself. C'mon, we're probably going to have to go back to Atlantis." With that, the two marched up to the nearest teleporter and returned to the control room.
Sirius watched as the mage's arm motion was put into effect. The water built itself into a humongous tidal wave, and surged forward until it covered the entire cottage. Sirius's gaze shot back to Marcus, who stood to his left.
Marcus hastily murmered a Latin phrase and arched his wand arm from front to back. A shield appeared over his home just before the tidal wave came crashing down.
Sirius gaped. No mere child should have that much magical power; no Earth child did, at least. It was incredible to watch the boy's wards fluctuate with the power of the magical waves, but it was even more incredible to watch them hold against the onslaught of water attacking them. Soon the waves dissipated, leaving Marcus and his cottage still standing.
Marcus gave a haughty smirk to the mage. "Achnid, you have angered the Lord Ventrius and attacked his home. Leave now and know that if you or any of your kind ever returns to Lorena they will suffer a slow and painful death. Warn your leaders. I will not bow to their demands."
The mage was, naturally, stunned, and Apparated away without a word to the young Lord.
The vision faded into a blinding white light.
Earth, Washington DC, Present Time
"Uh, General?" An Airman poked his head into the office.
General Jack O'Neill had his feet up on his expensive Pentagon desk. He lounged back in his expensive leather chair, his hands crossed behind his head. The only answer the Airman in the room got was a loud snore.
"General!" the Airman shouted.
"Huh?" Jack opened his eyes. "Oh for cryin' out loud! I was dreaming about… well, never mind; that's not important. Why the heck did you wake me from my dream, Airman?"
"Sorry sir. You've got a phone call from the British Prime Minister." Came the reply.
"What's it about?" Jack questioned, trying to gauge its importance. He'd been having a really good dream. He'd gotten the chance to chain Ba'al up to a wall and kick his family jewels repeatedly. And he hadn't been reprimanded for it, either.
The Airman raised his eyebrow with a smile. "Sir? It's the British. Prime. Minister."
"Ok, I get it. I'm up." Much as I don't want to be… The Airman left the room and Jack picked up the phone. "O'Neill, two L's."
"Good morning –er, evening, to you, I suppose – General. I'm Prime Minister Eric McCormick." The voice on the other line answered with a purely British accent.
Jack stifled a yawn. "With all do respect, sir, can we cut to the chase? It's nearing midnight here." And I'm still in my office. Again. Why'd I take this stinking promotion?
"Certainly, my good fellow! I know a group of people who are interested in the project at Cheyenne Mountain. I didn't leak anything – just that their, er, special talents may provide use in the future." The Minister paused. "They wish to meet with you tomorrow morning – our time – in my office."
Jack thought. He could bring Major Davies. And he'd have to tell the President what was going on. "Does this group's leader have a name?"
"Percy Weasley, a member of one of Britain's oldest families." The Minister answered.
Another Brit. Peachy. "I'll be bringing a few consultants, and telling my President what's going on."
The Minister hesitated. "Do you trust them?"
What kind of question is that? "With my life." Jack answered, for it was mostly true; Davies had proven trustworthy, and Jackson was practically family.
"This group is rather secretive; I never knew about them until I became Minister. They will prove valuable allies, though, should you accept their aid and their conditions."
Jack's eyes narrowed. "Conditions?" Oh, boy, Danny's gonna love this.
"You'll find out more tomorrow morning." The Minister replied. The line went dead.
Jack called in the Airman again. "Ok, buddy, get Cheyenne Mountain on the horn and have them warn Daniel that he's going to be coming with me to England tomorrow night. Tell them to tell him whatever doohickey he's examining can wait."
The Airman smiled. "Yes, sir." He saluted.
"And Airman?" Jack called. The man paused in the doorway, turning to face his CO. "Don't call me 'sir'."
"Yes, sir." The Airman turned on his heel and walked sharply out the door.
A/N: I know it's short. Forgive me; I'm graduating, and quite busy at the moment, so you'll have to wait until next time for a longer update.
Thank you for those who've reviewed/alerted during the last two weeks, and please review/alert in the coming weeks. Really, I do actually like constructive criticism. I don't know to fix my writing if no one says anything.