It was halfway through the school day when Melena heard her phone ring in her bag. She stepped aside from her earthling friends (not that they knew she was half-alien on her dad's side and lived in the lost city of Atlantis) to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Get back to the SGC. Now." General Lorne's voice barked. Then he hung up. Melena rolled her eyes. He'd never had much patience in him. Miranda and Jack came running up. Melena guessed by the fact they had phones in their hands, they'd gotten the same call. They hurried to the parking lot to join the others that had gathered there.
"What's going on?" Kennedy asked. Melena shook her head.
"No clue. Let's get back and find out." They drove back to the SGC. Melena was already climbing out of the car before it had come to a complete stop. They jogged out of the garage and up into the base itself. Dr. Daniel Jackson was waiting there for them.
"What's going on?" Jack demanded, running a hand through his hair to keep it out of his eyes. Dr. Jackson started walking, motioning for them to follow him.
"General Lorne will explain in detail, but basically, John Sheppard and Dusty Mehra found a stash of ZPM's on the planet they went to. It was an old hide-y hole for the Ancients. They plugged them in and… well, it awoke an old system built into Atlantis." He explained.
"What system?" Miranda asked worriedly as they walked into General Lorne's office. General Lorne sat stick straight behind the desk, drumming his fingers against it as he waited for them. He stood up when they walked in. Dr. Samantha Carter was beside the desk, her long blonde and gray hair pulled into a lazy ponytail. The first person Melena noticed, however, was Torrren, standing on the other side of the desk, leaning against the wall.
"Come on, let's let General Lorne talk to Miranda, Jack, Melena and Torren alone." Carter said. She and Jackson led Kennedy, Kayla, Jacob Carter, the three Lorne children, Valerie Vega, Maia Beckett and Daniel Mitchell out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
"What is going on?" Melena all but yelled, looking between General Lorne and Torren for an explanation. Torren went over and put an arm around her shoulders. She recognized the motion. It was so he could hold her back in case she decided she wanted to get violent. She also recognized the look of worry on his face, not for what she might do, but for what she was about to hear.
"The system awoken in Atlantis is a security measure. To make sure no one took Atlantis from the Pegasus galaxy. Atlantis will self destruct in two hours…" He checked his watch. "Make that an hour and fifty minutes."
"Then we take it back to the Pegasus galaxy!" Jack said.
"It's not that simple and there's a risk. What if we don't get it back in time?"
"I read all the reports of anything that ever happened on Atlantis. Several of them stated that when it was brought here, it only took forty five minutes!" Miranda protested. Melena was suddenly glad of her best friend's nerdy-ness.
"Yes, I'm aware; I was on that mission with your parents, Ms. McKay. However, the government still has concerns. Such as the fact that doing a hyper drive jump like that could use up all the power in those ZPM's. Then there would be no way to contact the SGC. This is the President's final decision."
"So you're just going to let it explode?" Melena hissed. She felt Torren tense beside her and his arm tighten around her shoulders. He always knew when she was about to snap and then things would get messy.
"Yes, it appears so. My apologies, but no military action shall be taken. That's final, Ms. Dex." Melena shot General Lorne a look and shook Torren off.
"So our home is just going to be destroyed?" She seethed.
"I'm afraid so." A secretary poked her head in the door.
"I'm sorry sir, but SGC-3 just came back and they're demanding a de-briefing." General Lorne nodded.
"Excuse me." He told Melena, Torren, Jack and Miranda. He stepped out of the office into the de-briefing room. Once the door was shut, Melena turned to the others.
"That is not happening!"
"But, Mel, he said no military action will be taken." Miranda protested. Melena smiled slightly.
"But we're not military."