Sorry this was late guys! I had a really tiring day and accidentally fell asleep. I had to rush myself to get this finished up, so I apologize for any mistakes I may have made while writing this. I'll correct it later if necessary.
Sorry for the tense switch by the way. I wanted to try and write this story in the present tense as a challenge to myself, but I am simply too used to writing in the past tense when it comes to fiction. I keep slipping back into it as a write and having to make the corrections is pretty annoying. So I'm just going to stick with past tense from now on. Have fun reading!
STARGATE ATLANTIS: JOURNEYS FOR PEGASUS
Written by Niko DelValle
Some ideas were borrowed from Joseph Mallozzi
PREVIOUSLY ON STARGATE ATLANTIS
SHEPPARD: "Using the Wormhole Drive drained power. The battle with the Wraith drained power. Hell, even landing drained power. The ZPMs are out of juice."
RONON: "It's been more than a month. I'm starting to get agitated."
MCKAY: "I've got a plan to get some new ZPMs."
MCKAY: "…remember Janus? Or, more specifically, his time machine?"
MCKAY: "…while Zalenka still doesn't completely understand the device, working together we've managed to design a version for a bigger ship. Namely, the Daedalus."
CALDWELL: "You want to go back in time to get more ZPMs?"
TEYLA: "Do we not stand at risk of altering past events if we go back to contact the Ancestors? Is there even a guarantee they would provide us with what we need?"
MCKAY: "That's why we're not going to steal them either. Instead, we're going to go and find some that the Ancients were forced to leave behind during the war with the Wraith. That's why we need Todd."
MCKAY: "He was at the place I want to go ten-thousand years ago."
MCKAY: "…we just gotta walk in, take the ZPMs, and walk out. Also, because the Ancients destroyed this place, we can't alter any events by taking two of the ZPMs that are there and leaving the last one to the Ancients original plan of catastrophic overload."
The team enters the city-ship abandoned by the Ancients in a cloaked puddle jumper and retrieves the ZPMs. Just as they grab them, they realize that there are twenty minutes left on the self-destruct timer.
TODD: "The self-destruct should still have thirty minutes according to my calculations."
CALDWELL: "Sheppard! Two dozen Wraith Hive Ships just dropped out of hyperspace in orbit!"
TODD: "They have detected our lifesigns! Their first target will be the central spire where your ship is!"
MCKAY: "The underwater bay should have some extra jumpers, but there's no way we can make it…"
MCKAY: "The entire area is flooded. There are no windows yet, the entire thing is still under construction."
SHEPPARD: "You want me to fly the city?"
MCKAY: "Yea! If you can get us off the surface, all of the water will run out of the jumper bay and we should be able to get down there."
The cloaked Puddle Jumper the team is travelling in is hit by the Wraith Hive Ship while they're trying to escape, and they are all knocked out except for Todd and Ronon. Ronon is injured and unable to move.
CALDWELL: "Sheppard! This is Caldwell! We're reading that your cloak is gone! Should we beam you? Respond!"
TODD: "You will tell him that Doctor McKay is repairing the jumper and said that because of something you don't understand, beaming us from anywhere in this solar system would kill us all. If you don't, I will kill all your friends."
RONON: "This is Ronon. Don't beam us… McKay said that doing that in this solar system would kill us. I don't understand why. He's… fixing the jumper. Ronon out."
Todd goes to sit in the forward section of the jumper and chuckles as he waits for the Wraith Hive Ship to pick them up.
S06E02: Chronicles - Part II
Year 7988 BC
The crew of the Daedalus on the bridge were in a panic as the ship headed back into beaming range of the planet. They could detect the damaged jumper, but thanks to Ronon's warning, were unable to do anything to interfere.
"Sir, the jumper has been retrieved by one of the ships that was at the back of the battle line." Major Marks said. "The Wraith have also stopped their bombardment of the city now that the shields are down. They are dispatching darts to check it out, though it seems they are waiting for it to fall back to the surface first…"
"Shouldn't we help them, sir?" Bishop wondered. "Sheppard's team, I mean…"
"You heard what Ronon said. If Doctor McKay says we can't beam them, then we've got no choice but to wait." Caldwell said, placing his chin upon his fits. "We don't know what would happen if we tried to interfere directly, and even if we did we're outnumbered. They're on their own. But they've probably been in worse situations then this. I'm sure if we wait, they can take care of this on their own. We just have to be patient…"
"Yes sir…" The man trailed off in response.
"Sir, I don't mean to question you, but didn't Ronon's communication sound a little… coerced?" Major Marks asked. "Also, why didn't Doctor McKay just contact us himself? Is he really that busy?"
"So, you noticed it too?" Caldwell asked, sitting up straight and turning to look at Marks. "I agree, but I don't see what we can do about it. Considering the hit that ship took, it could've sounded that way just because he was delirious from any injuries he took… And maybe Doctor McKay is really that busy…"
"Yes sir. I understand completely."
"Stay ready just in-case. If I feel the situation has gotten too desperate, we're going to do it anyways. I just want to give them a chance first."
Major Marks nodded and got back to work.
"I just hope I'm making the right choice…" Caldwell trailed off.
A SHORT WHILE LATER, ON BOARD A WRAITH HIVE SHIP…
Todd the Wraith was escorted through the corridors of the Hive Ship at gunpoint. Atlantis Recon 1 was nowhere to be seen as he was taken right into the throne chamber where his old queen waited. His old queen… and his old self. A look of shock crossed both of their faces as their eyes fell onto the familiar Todd, who went to the center of the room with a large grin on his face. The past version of Todd cleared his shock quickly, as the future Todd had expected.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Queen wondered, waving the Wraith warrior drones away.
"Please, my Queen, just because this one bears an uncanny resemblance to myself means nothing…" The past Todd said.
"You don't need the charade. We both know who's really in charge here." The future Todd said with a chuckle.
"He speaks like you too?" Then Queen said. "And he knows…"
"Why were you helping the humans!?" The past Todd asked. He walked aggressively toward the future Todd, who grinned… as things were going exactly as he predicted. "A Wraith taking the side of food… it doesn't make sense!"
"So young, and so foolish." Todd said in reply. The past Todd reached out a hand and grabbed the future Todd by the throat.
"Your mind… it is mine…" The past Todd said. Suddenly, he grabbed future Todd's right hand with his left as it went in for a strike with a hidden knife. "And… you are the same as I am in that way too…"
"Ah, but there is a key way in which we are different." The future Todd replied, not letting his grin lapse for even a moment.
"And what is that?"
Suddenly, the entire ship is rocked as the city-ship below explodes in an enormous resounding fireball. The shaking distracts the past version of Todd just long enough for the future version to take his knife back. The noise of the stab resounds throughout the room. Future Todd dropped his hand from the knife in past Todd's chest, whose eyes went wide as he dropped to the ground. The past Todd looked up at his future self from the ground as a pool of blood spread.
"You weren't prepared for the real plan." The future Todd said. He turned to the Queen. "I am in charge now. Do you understand?"
They looked at each other for a long moment.
"Yes…" She replied. The future Todd turned back to look at the past Todd. He gave it a long moment, before stomping on the knife, driving it deeper into his chest and finishing the job. The past Todd died with a gasp.
"Now, have someone get rid of him, and deal with the mess outside. I have things I must attend to."
Todd left his past selves corpse and his past selves Queen behind in the room as he departed, hands crossed behind his back. He retrieved the gear of Sheppard's team and then found his way to the detention cells. There, the team was just waking up, except for Ronon who remained unconscious due to clear loss of blood despite bandages that had been wrapped around his wounds.
"Oh no, this is a Hive Ship…" Rodney complained. John spotted Todd coming quickly.
"Todd! You betrayed us, again!" He yelled annoyed.
"Are you really surprised?" Todd wondered.
"Well, no, but that doesn't make me any less annoyed."
"Well, maybe this will."
Todd opened the cell and gave them back their gear. Including their weapons.
"You are free to have your ship beam you away."
"He has to come with us! He'll screw up time!"
"But, I have to stay Doctor McKay." Todd said with a grin. "If I didn't, you would be removing me as a factor. We have no idea what that might cause, correct?"
"What did you do?" Rodney wonders. "Where is the other version of you?"
"I killed him."
"But, shouldn't you have dis-? Oh. Oh no… I understand."
"What is it Rodney?" Teyla wondered.
"We theorized that if someone went back and killed someone off, the target would just disappear as the timeline shifted and a parallel universe was created. Well, that or they would just be erased altogether. One of the two…" Rodney explained. "But, anyways, since we're in the past we must be somehow either vulnerable to changes in the timeline or shielded from a grandfather paradox disappearance effect. So we ended up in the same parallel universe that Todd did."
"So, basically, time doesn't make sense." John replied.
"Of course it makes sense. Everything has rules, we just haven't figured them all out yet."
"I don't think it matters." Teyla replied crouching down next to Ronon. "He needs medical attention."
"Well I'm not leaving until I make good on my promise." John said raising his P90. Todd put his hands up with a small chuckle.
"No! You can't!" McKay called grabbing his shoulder. "He's the only one here now. If we don't leave him alone, it could irreparably damage the timeline."
"Wouldn't leaving him here do the same?" Teyla asked.
"She's got a point." John said.
"I only plan to change a few tiny things." Todd assured them. "Believe me, I could care less about your planet as long as I'm the most powerful among my kind. With knowledge of the future, I can change my standing.
"Besides, wouldn't that help you spread your cure once it is finished? If I am the most powerful Wraith, I can force all of the others to adopt it."
"Looks like he's got a point too." McKay said.
"I made a deal with your injured companion. I said that if he told your ship not to beam you, I would make sure you all lived. Have I not lived up to my end of that deal?" Todd asked.
"Well… sure… but you shouldn't have crossed us to begin with." John responded.
"You have your ZPMs and now when you get back to the future, you should have a powerful advantage as long as we continue to work together. If you don't kill me, then I will try to have as little effect on the timeline as possible, just enough that I end up in charge. Is that not preferable?"
"Hey, Sheppard, I don't think we have much of a choice other than to trust him…" McKay said.
"Fine." John said, lowering his weapon. "But you know what happens if you betray us again Todd."
"Of course."
"I told you this was a bad plan…" Sheppard said, grabbing his radio. "Daedalus, this is Sheppard."
"It's good to hear from you. We were starting to fear the worst." Caldwell responded. "We're here to render any assistance you need. Maybe I can offer a distraction so you can escape? You know, since we can't beam you…"
"You can beam us. Ronon was forced to say that by Todd."
"Sounds like a long story."
"Yea, and we'll tell you all about it once we're on board."
"Your Wraith friend's locator beacon isn't showing up. I'm assuming he's dead?"
"No. But you don't need to worry about him anyways. Just beam us. Make sure Ronon gets to the infirmary, he's in pretty bad shape."
"Alright, on it."
The team disappeared in a flash of light as Todd turned and left. John, McKay, and Teyla arrived on board the bridge.
"Hey, thanks for the save." John said. "Mission was mostly successful. We've got the ZPMs. But, we'll save the debrief for later. Let's get back to the future before something else bad happens."
"Sounds good to me." Caldwell said. "Marks, activate the Time Travel Drive and get us back home."
"Yes sir." He replied.
At first, everything worked fine, and the ship travelled back to the present. Only, the second they got there, they were being bombarded from all sides by Wraith Hive Ships. Sparks shot across the bridge and pipes exploded to release clouds of steam.
"Get the shields online now!" Caldwell suddenly shouted as the alarms went off. "All crew, get to your battlestations! Damage report! How are the Asgard weapons?"
"They're offline along with the hyperdrive!" Marks yelled back. "They were targeted in the initial attack! I managed to switch the cloak to a shield before we lost any other major systems, but we've taken a lot of hull damage."
"Return fire with all railguns and missiles then! We're not going down without a fight!"
"Yes sir!"
"Sir, I'm getting familiar readings." Bishop said. "At least one of those ships is powered by a ZPM."
"How did they know we were here!? Our cloak was online!" Rodney wondered confused. "Unless… they were already here waiting for us."
"Looks like Todd reneged on his deal. So much for being trustworthy." John said.
"He must've marked our position when we jumped forward in time." Rodney said. "He tracked the energy burst and then surrounded our position with ships when he knew we would be here."
"There's no way we can compete with this fleet. There are too many ships and they got the jump on us. Any suggestions?" Caldwell asked. "I could try to jump to hyperspace, but we're surrounded. I'd need to open up a path, and without Asgard weapons…"
"What about the Time Travel Drive?" Teyla wondered. "Can we not escape to a different time?"
"No. We can't activate that when we're under attack." McKay responded. "When we activate the Time Travel Drive, we become very sensitive to energy variations in the immediate vicinity of the ship. If we activated the time travel drive when being hit by a weapon, it would carry foreign exotic particles through time with us."
"In English?" Caldwell asked.
"The ship would explode. That's not a percentage chance either, it's guaranteed. One-hundred percent."
"Then hyperspace it is. Can you get our ZPMs connected to help us get out of this situation?"
"Yea! Good plan!" McKay replied. He checked his bags for the ZPMs, but they were gone. Replaced with rocks that had simulated their weight. "Oh no! Damn it! Todd took them!"
"Of course he did. Crap." John commented. "But how were we going to escape into hyperspace with that anyways? You said we're trapped here, right?"
"That's right. So ZPMs or no ZPMs, now might be a time for a brilliant plan Doctor McKay!"
"Yep, that's me! Brilliance on demand!" McKay said crouching over his tablet.
"You know, there is one way we escaped from the Wraith before…" John said. "But it was with Atlantis. I think it might work here."
"I'm all ears." Rodney replied.
"Remember when we detonated that nuke above Atlantis and activated the cloak?"
"To make it look like Atlantis self-destructed… yea… So you want to detonate a number of nukes around us with the shield active, then switch to cloak to confuse them not firing, then we travel back in time."
"Uh… yea. More or less." John said.
"That could work. But we need to do it now, and also we need to move at least a bit first… If we travel back in time now we'll be in the same exact position we were when we left. We don't want to risk ending up inside of our own ship. That could cause problems."
"Why would we go back there?" Teyla wondered.
"To kill Todd of course." John replied.
"No, to rescue him actually." Rodney said. "I'm going to set up the Time Travel Drive to take us back to when we were on the jumper. We can board the ship and stop Todd from killing his past self. Then, there shouldn't be any interference with the timeline at all, and we can come back totally fine."
"I can still kill the future version, right?"
"I guess, but then how are we going to disseminate that cure?"
"This isn't really the time." Caldwell interrupted as another salvo shook the ship. The shaking was much more tolerable with the shield online. "You should go reprogram the Time Travel Drive Doctor McKay."
"Oh, yea, of course. I'm on my way. I'll make the calculations and send you the coordinates for those nukes."
Rodney left the bridge.
"You know, Todd did allow us to live." Teyla said. "Does it really make sense that he would plan this attack when he could've simply had us killed while we were unconscious?"
"You've got a point…" Sheppard admitted. "Also, I feel like he would've contacted us when we got here. He may not have been behind this. I guess we'll never find out since we won't be spending any time here."
"We can ask him of his plans when we take him prisoner again." She replied. "Though, I do have to wonder what the result of Todd's actions are. If the Wraith are here in such force, then our galaxy… and your planet…"
"I don't want to think about it." Sheppard cut her off and turned on his radio. "McKay, how's this plan of yours going?"
"It's almost ready! Just give me a couple more seconds!"
The ship takes another salvo of fire. Another shower of sparks cascades across the bridge as a fire starts in the rear.
"Shields are down to twenty percent!" Marks yells.
"Transfer all power from secondary systems and give McKay the time he needs!"
"On it sir!"
"Rodney, if you don't hurry up we're not going to have power left for the cloak or to bear the force of the nukes!" Sheppard yelled.
"I sent my calculations over to Marks and the Time Travel Drive is ready to go!" Rodney called back.
"Launch those nukes as soon as you are ready Marks!" Caldwell yelled.
"Ordinance is away!" Marks called back. "Everyone cover your eyes!"
They all did as suggested as the nuclear weapons detonated outside of the ship. The light shone even through their shut eyes.
"Transition to the cloak on my mark! Make sure to move the ship once we transition so we don't get hit by any follow-up volleys while the Time Travel Drive is charging! And, of course, so we don't end up in the same spot as ourselves…" Rodney said over the radio. "We've just got to wait until the radiation drops to levels that won't penetrate the hull!"
"Get your finger on that button Marks!" Caldwell ordered.
"Already there, sir!" He responded. Several seconds passed and the light began to fade.
"Mark!" McKay shouted. Marks immediately switched the ship to cloak.
"Get the ship moving to a safer space before they open fire again!" Caldwell ordered.
"We're on the move!" Marks replied.
"Activate the Time Travel Drive!" Rodney called.
"Already done!"
It doesn't take long for the Time Travel Drive to finish charging, and the Wraith ships to disappear from view.
"Good job Doctor McKay. Your plan worked." Caldwell said.
"Hey, it was my plan." John complained. "Oh god. I just sounded like McKay, didn't I? Pretend I didn't say that."
"Sorry but we don't have the time for banter." Rodney replied. "You're going to need to beam us aboard since we don't have a jumper anymore."
"I thought I was only supposed to use it once." Caldwell reminded him.
"We haven't used it yet. The version of us here is still being picked up by the jumper, remember?"
"Ah…"
"How about once we're on board Rodney?" Sheppard wondered.
"Our first priority should be getting those ZPMs back. We might even be able to kill two birds with one stone if they escorted Todd along with us." Rodney replied.
"What about the us that's here? I don't think shooting bullets their way is going to be very diplomatic with their Daedalus."
"Then we'll need to get to the armory first and pick up some stunners. If we give them some too, then we should be able to storm the throne chamber together and get our Todd back. Assuming of course we didn't capture him already."
"Aren't those ZPMs rightfully theirs?" Teyla wondered.
"Speaking of, if we both go back to the present, won't there be two of us now?" Sheppard wondered.
"Look, it's very complicated, but as long as we talk to the other me and make it clear that we go back to the same exact time then there won't be a problem. The universe can't account for two versions of us arriving at the same time, so it should split us into our own distinct timelines." Rodney replied. "As for the ZPMs, I don't know… maybe we can share?"
"No. If we do that, Atlantis won't be able to take off. We need at least two ZPMs, right?" Sheppard replied.
"Yea, that's right. So we'll just have to beam them back to the ship and they'll have to find their own." Rodney answered. "If it makes you feel any better Teyla, we're helping them break out of captivity a little early."
"We're just going to have to lie to them. We'll tell them that the ZPMs are still stored with their gear. They can go and search by themselves once we stop Todd, but we'll already be long gone."
"I do not like it, but I understand why it's necessary." Teyla said.
"Are you all ready to go then?" Caldwell wondered.
"Not yet. I need to switch our subcutaneous transmitters to a different broadcast frequency." Rodney answered. "Also, for external communication, we've gotta switch that frequency up too."
"Why?" Caldwell wondered.
"We don't want to conflict with the other Daedalus floating around here." He answered.
"This is all making my head hurt, but if you say so Doctor McKay…"
"Anyways, once we beam in there, you've gotta be prepared to break that one beam limit. If we can't make it back to the dart bay it'll be our only way out."
"But what about the Wraith figuring out the jamming codes?" Caldwell asked.
"We have to risk it to get Todd out of there. Besides, last time we beamed nukes. They might not have even noticed the transporter beam last time. I'm pretty sure they'd actually have to be actively looking for it to detect it."
"Pretty sure?"
"Okay, I'm sure. Does that make you feel better?"
"No."
"Well it's all I've got. Anyways, I'm ready to go when everyone else is. Transport us to the armory near the dart bay."
"Will the schematics we have work on ten thousand year old ships?"
"Yes. They were sleeping most of that time. Not like they were adjusting their design specs all that much."
"Got it. Are you two ready?"
"Yes." Sheppard and Teyla said in unison. The two disappeared in a flash of light and appeared inside the ship. The compartment they were in was full of wraith weapons.
"Make sure to grab enough stunners for the other us to help out." Rodney said.
"Can you be so sure they will help us?" Teyla wondered as she grabbed a stunner and slotted another into her belt.
"They're us. You shouldn't need to ask that question."
"The other me definitely won't pass up the opportunity to stop Todd." Sheppard commented. "But that doesn't matter right now. They'll be here any minute, and I want to be in position."
"I am prepared." Teyla said.
"Yep, me too." Rodney confirmed.
"Well, lead the way."
"On it."
They exited the armory through the door and into the hallway. Rodney navigated them through the ship towards the dart bay as quickly as possible. He stopped them once they were nearby.
"We're a little late but it's okay. They're bringing us right toward us." McKay said. "I can't tell whether Todd is there or not. All I know is I'm detecting four human life signs headed this way."
"Take cover behind the walls here. When they get close, you two can blindly fire into the hallway." Sheppard ordered.
"Where are you gonna go?"
"I'm going to go around and take them from behind. Just hold them here until then."
"Okay. Sounds good."
"Good luck John. Be careful." Teyla said.
"I always am…" He replied before starting into another hallway. He stopped. "Oh, and aim high. We don't want to give ourselves a double whammy when we should be waking up soon."
With that said, he took off.
"I will fire on your lead Rodney." Teyla said as she hid herself against the wall so that she could not be spotted from the hallway. McKay nodded as he did the same, not taking his eyes off of the lifesigns detector as he waited for the right time to attack. When he saw them approaching close enough, he raised his hand and silently counted down from five. When he hit zero, both of them pointing their stunners around the wall and opened fire. The initial storm of stun bolts caught several wraith off guard as the others returned fire while retreating.
Only they backed up right into Sheppard who swung from around the wall and took them from behind. He managed to take out three before they turned around to attack him.
"Push them now!" John called out to his allies as he returned fire from around his wall. Teyla moved up from her position and into the hallway, cleaning up the last of the active wraith warrior drones. "Nice."
Rodney joined them as they dug through the ocean of unconscious wraith to find themselves. It didn't take them long, all lying face up and unconscious.
"Let's find those ZPMs and get a beacon on them." Sheppard ordered. "Then we can hide them in an empty room and the Daedalus can beam them at the same time as us."
"They should still be in my bag… and here it is." Rodney said as he pulled it from the hands of an unconscious wraith. He dug through it and managed to find the ZPMs. With that, he dropped a tracking beacon (configured with a signal only the future Daedalus could detect). "I'll just leave the whole bag so the other me doesn't get suspicious when we tell him it's somewhere else."
"Teyla why don't you take the bag and go put it somewhere while we work on waking these guys up?" John asked. "Anywhere out of sight is fine, we won't be here long. And don't go far. They'll get suspicious when these guys show up and I don't want you caught by yourself."
"Very well." She said with a nod, taking the bag from Rodney and heading out of the hallway.
"We didn't wake up until at least twenty minutes after this. What's the plan?" Rodney asked.
"It's a simple but effective one." John said kneeling down beside the past Rodney. He wound up, and slapped him across the face. Hard.
"Ow." Both Rodney's said simultaneously, rubbing their cheek. Though at widely different volumes as the past McKay sat up in a flash.
"What the hell was that for!?" The past Rodney asked looking at Sheppard.
"Time to wake up sleepyhead."
"You could've tried shaking me!"
"It was too good an opportunity to pass up."
"What's going on? How did you-?"
The past Rodney trailed off as he noticed the presence of not only the future Rodney, but the past Sheppard.
"Hi." John said with a little wave. "We're from the future."
"Oh, nonononono. That must mean something went very wrong."
"You could say that. But, uh, we don't have much time to talk. We need to wake the others up and get moving."
"Why?"
"We need to stop Todd from killing his past self and taking over the galaxy." The future Rodney answered. "Or at least, that's what the future looked like when we went there."
"Wouldn't he…?" The past Rodney started to ask.
"Disappear? Yea, that's what we thought, but being in the past…"
"Stops the alternative reality effect? What if…?"
"Yea I thought we might also be shielded from…"
"Paradox."
"Exactly."
"Ugh… I'm just going to wake the other me up." Sheppard said moving to the past Sheppard. He shook the man's shoulders a bit. "Wake up sunshine. It's time to get up."
The past Sheppard's eyes slowly opened. Upon waking up and seeing himself waving at him, he jumped back with a start.
"Not again…" The past John said. "So, what is it this time?"
"We're from the future." The future John answered.
"Where is the other me, then…?" The past Teyla wondered as she woke up. "Or the other Ronon, for that matter…"
"He's in our Daedalus' infirmary." The future Teyla answered as she reappeared. "Speaking of, you might want to call your Daedalus and send him back. He is not well."
The past Teyla went over to the past Ronon to confirm this, and nodded. The past Sheppard went and dug his radio out from the Wraith.
"Daedalus, this is Sheppard." John said.
"It's good to hear from you. We were starting to fear the worst." Caldwell responded. "We're here to render any assistance you need. Maybe I can offer a distraction so you can escape? You know, since we can't beam you…"
"That was a lie Todd forced Ronon to tell you." The future Rodney said.
"Todd made Ronon say that. It's safe to beam us, but we can't go just yet… we've gotta get Todd back. You should at least beam Ronon. He needs medical attention."
"But what about the beaming limit imposed by Doctor McKay? If I beam Ronon now, I won't be able to beam you later."
"We're going to have to go over it." The future Rodney said.
"Couldn't we escape in a dart?" The past Rodney asked.
"That was what I was thinking, but there's no guarantee we'll be able to get there after we stop Todd."
"Yes, I see your point… besides, they might not have even detected the beam. It's not like they're actively looking for it right now."
"Exactly."
"He says it's fine now." The past Sheppard replied.
"I'm guessing it's more complicated than that." Caldwell said.
"Yea… Sheppard out." The past Sheppard said as he stood up. "So… what's the plan?"
The future versions of the team handed the past versions their extra stunners.
"We have to storm the throne chamber and capture Todd before he kills his past self." Rodney said.
"Of course, killing him would also be just fine in my book." Sheppard replied.
"That's a thought." The past Sheppard said.
"What about the-?" Past Rodney started to ask.
"Not now Rodney. I'm assuming you're mine."
"Yea."
"Anyways, your plan sounds good… uh… John."
"I thought you'd like it… John." The future Sheppard replied.
"This kind of stuff never stops being weird."
"Just another day at the office."
"Ha, you've got a point."
The two Teyla's seemed satisfied to give a stoic nod to each other.
"What about the ZPMs?" Past Rodney asked.
"They weren't with you. They must be keeping them somewhere else." Future Sheppard said. "I bet you the guards that took Todd have it."
"Wow. I can't believe they actually searched for them."
"There's always a first. But, we don't have time."
"Well, at least we know we're successful." The past Rodney said.
"What do you mean?" Past Sheppard asked.
"If we failed then wouldn't another us show up right about now?" Future Rodney answered.
"That's only if we aren't dead." Future Sheppard responded.
"Oh… yea…"
"We must not assume our success." Future Teyla said.
"Agreed, it would only serve to have us make rash decisions." Past Teyla said with a nod.
"Either way, we need to stay quiet and get moving." Past Sheppard interjected. "McKay and McKay, get a move on."
"On it." Both McKay's said.
"So, you think we should…?" The past McKay asked pointing at the screen to decide a route.
"Yea that should work." The future McKay confirmed.
"This way folks." They both said in unison. "Ah, a man after- this is weird."
"Just go." Both Sheppard's said in unison, causing them to look at each other.
"Yep, totally weird…" Past Sheppard said as he followed the McKays.
Once everyone had fallen silent, progress was quickly made as they cut across the ship. Once they were approaching the throne chamber and found a fork in the road, both Sheppard's spoke up at exactly the same time.
"We'll split up here." They both said. They looked at each other, and both continued speaking dubiously. "We'll meet back up inside…"
"We understand the plan." Both Teyla's said in unison.
"I must say, I understand their feelings. This is very strange." Past Teyla said.
"I feel the same." Future Teyla said.
"Anyways, we have a plan, so let's do it." Future Sheppard said.
"I was just about to say that…" Past Sheppard started.
"…but you thought better of it."
"Yep… See you on the other side."
"Hopefully this doesn't take long. This is creeping me out a little too much."
"Something else we agree on. Okay, so my team, let's go." Past Sheppard said.
"Which Sheppard are you?" Past McKay wondered.
"Uh… the… one that didn't go into the future." He answered.
"Oh, good, you're mine."
"Did you really have to phrase it like that?"
"What?"
"Never mind. Coming Teyla?"
"Yes." Past Teyla responded joining them. They started down the hallway.
"We'll be on Channel 3." Future Sheppard said fiddling with his radio. "Tell me when you're in position with three clicks."
"Will do." Past Sheppard replied. Future Sheppard signaled his own team with his hand, having them follow up the corridor until they were near the throne room. They encountered several warrior drones on the way and managed to clear them without issue. Past Sheppard's team were in position first as they gave the three click signal. Once future Sheppard's team was also in position around the door.
"Go!" Future Sheppard gave the order as they went in.
"So young, and so foolish." They heard Todd say as they entered and opened fire with stunners. It took both teams mere seconds to clear the room. The explosion didn't rock the planet below and shake the ship until they were already finished.
"Huh, that was easier than I thought it would be." Past Sheppard said as he lowered his weapon.
"Rodney, get a beacon on our Todd."
"Which one is that?" Future Rodney asked.
"The one who just talked. So, it would be the one on bottom…"
Both Todd's were lying on top of each other. Rodney extricated the one on bottom and placed a beacon on him.
"Too bad we couldn't kill him." Past Sheppard said. "But I guess that wouldn't be very gracious of us. So we'll let you guys have him. Now, we just have to find the ZPMs… Where do you think they put them McKay?"
"Probably the armory." Past McKay answered. "But I can't know that. They could've put my bag anywhere if they knew what those things were. Were the ships you encountered in the future…?"
"ZPM powered?" Future Rodney asked. "Yes."
Future Sheppard gave him a little glare.
"But… uh… it wasn't from us." Future McKay continued. "They must've gotten some other ZPMs because we have ours. Todd gave them to us when he let us go."
"Long story short, we've got what we need." Future Sheppard said.
"Anyways, uh… me. Set your Time Travel Drive to exactly one second after we left." Future Rodney said.
"Oh, so we get distinct timelines. It would be pretty awkward with two of us all around."
"Yep."
"Will do."
"First we've gotta get those ZPMs." Past Sheppard said. "We can't just let the Wraith keep them or that future you saw before might happen anyways."
"Uh, we were hoping to leave now…" Future Sheppard said. "But… I guess you've got a point."
"There's something they are not telling us." Past Teyla said. "First it was their Rodney, now it is him…"
"Yea I picked up on that." Past Sheppard said.
"It is true that we are not telling you the full story." Future Teyla said, attempting to defuse the situation before it became volatile.
"Todd didn't really give you guys the ZPMs, did he?" Past McKay asked. "He stole them from our bag."
"Yes… and you know why we can't give them back to you." Future Sheppard said. "I'm sorry but if you want ZPMs you'll have to get your own."
Just as the past version of Sheppard was about to continue the argument, a wraith stun blast suddenly came from the door. He barely managed to duck in time as a storm of Wraith warrior drones entered. Both teams drew out their P90s and opened fire. There were too many for them to take on. Especially as the explosion rocked the planet below and unsteadied their aim.
"Guess they were getting reinforcements together…!" Future Sheppard yelled over the gunfire. "I'm sorry about the ZPM's, but we've both gotta get out of here!"
"Fine!" Past Sheppard replied. He opened a channel to his Daedalus. "Daedalus! Beam us out now! We're going to get overwhelmed!"
Future Sheppard did the same, and said the same thing except for adding that they should beam the ZPMs. It was only seconds before both teams disappeared in flashes of light. But something went wrong during the transference. The original Sheppard's team, along with the bag that had the ZPMs, flew out of the beam onto the bridge of the Daedalus, rather than appearing normally. They were thrown into the bridge consoles.
"What the hell?" Sheppard wondered. The ship suddenly shook and the bridge sparked as the Wraith Hive Ships opened fire.
"Switch to shields now!" Caldwell called. "We're still close to that moon, hide us behind it!"
"Setting course now!" Bishop assured him.
"What happened!?" McKay asked as he stood up.
"When we beamed you the system overloaded." Marks answered. "Colonel, our shields still haven't recovered! They're already down to ten percent!"
"Then don't waste time returning fire! Just get every ounce of power to the shield!" Caldwell ordered.
"It overloaded?" Rodney wondered out loud. "Oh, no… I should've thought of that!"
"What is it Rodney?" Teyla asked.
"When we beamed at the same time as the other us… our beaming technology is the exact same. It operates on the same wavelength. There must've been a conflict. The system had to overcompensate to resolve the issue and make sure we all arrived at our destination. That power spike gave away our position."
"I guess time confuses the best of us." Sheppard said.
"Can't argue with you there."
"You can talk later." Caldwell interrupted. "I need you to get to the Time Travel Drive and configure the destination Doctor McKay."
"I'm on it. Teyla, grab those ZPMs and bring them down to engineering, could you?" He said running off. "I've got to get down there fast."
"Very well! I'll be right behind you!" Teyla called after him as she grabbed the bag.
"Meanwhile, I'm going to take Todd back down to the brig." Sheppard said grabbing the unconscious Todd on the floor and starting to drag him.
"We've successfully escaped behind the moon." Marks said as Sheppard exited the bridge. "The enemy no longer has a targeting solution."
"How long until they catch up?" Caldwell asked.
"Ten minutes at most."
"Not much time…"
"Colonel Caldwell, do we have the hyperdrive?" Rodney asked over the radio.
"Why do we need that?" Caldwell inquired. "Just activate the Time Travel Drive and let's get out of here."
"We can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"Because, we can't use the Time Travel Drive in the proximity of this moon. I started a scan on its composition when we got here. There's a high likelihood it could interrupt us because of its unique magnetic field. The way it interacts with the drive's internal components could cause problems. So it would be best if we jumped forward from somewhere else."
"Marks, what's the status of the hyperdrive?" Caldwell asked.
"It's still offline. We've been working on fixing it since we were attacked in the future, but it doesn't look like it's going well. It'll be hours."
"Can we put some distance between us and the Hive Ships?"
"We'll still be in weapons range if we leave the radius of the moon."
"Damn it. Doctor McKay, we can't survive another engagement with those Hive Ships. What happens if the moon interrupts the function of the drive? Do we just not jump?"
"I honestly have no idea. We've never tested the drive in this environment."
"We're going to have to risk it. If those Hive Ships catch up, we're dead anyways."
"Alright… I'm setting our destination right now. Activate the drive on my mark."
"I'm ready when you are Doctor McKay." Marks assured him. "You might want to hurry. The Hive Ships will round the moon and be able to open fire on us within the next three minutes."
"I'm going as fast as I can… and… there! Go ahead! Activate the drive!"
"Engaging now."
The Daedalus disappeared from the past and reappeared in the future.
"Drive activation successful. The enemy Hives have disappeared from sensors." Marks said.
"Good job Doctor McKay." Colonel Caldwell said over the radio.
"Don't congratulate me. We've got a problem." Rodney said over the radio.
"What is it?"
"The drive burned out from being forced to make the jump in those conditions."
"We have what we needed. I don't see how that's a problem."
"Do you remember how we showed up in the past about ten minutes later than we wanted?" McKay asked.
"Yes. What about it?"
"I've configured the drive to give me more feedback and it looks like the targeting program Zalenka and I made for the device had a fatal flaw. Something we didn't know when we made the bigger version for the Daedalus." McKay began to explain.
"You see, while we expanded the field to encompass the Daedalus, we didn't reconfigure the field to act properly on a larger object." Zalenka said.
"So? What? Were we ten minutes off?" Caldwell wondered. "That's not really a problem Doctor McKay."
"We only would've been if it weren't for an aggravating problem." McKay continued. "The magnetic field of the moon we were orbiting disrupted the drive, and it aggravated the variance of the Time Travel Drive when we jumped."
"What are you saying?" Caldwell asked.
"We overshot our destination by two years. We left in the year 2010, but we've arrived in the year 2012. And with the Time Travel Drive burnt out, we have no way home."
STARGATE ATLANTIS: JOURNEYS FOR PEGASUS
A Fan-Written Conclusion to Stargate: Atlantis
Stargate initially conceived by…
Roland Emmerich
Dean Devlin
Television Show originally created by…
Brad Wright
Robert C. Cooper
Writing ideas gleaned from…
Johnathan Mallozzi
Written by…
Niko DelValle
All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
NEXT TIME ON STARGATE ATLANTIS
AR-1 has become stuck in the future. With no other options, they decide to return to Earth with the ZPMs retrieved from the past, albeit two years later than they imagined. They find the conditions on their home planet far more problematic than when they left, and they find that the Atlantis expedition has gone on without them in a way they never could've imagined.