Chapter Twelve: Shadows

Clark frowned again, quickly holding out his hand for Lana to take.

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, instantly accepting it.

Pulling her up, he quickly turned and jogged out of the hall, Lana following swiftly behind him.

Clark tightened his grip on Lana's hand slightly as they entered the large Gate Room.

The team had assembled around McKay, who stood where the Console lay dormant, waving the red crystal around like a sword.

"How do you do it, Kent! It's not working..." McKay said in frustration, when he saw Clark.

"Of course it's not." He said, taking the Crystal away from him. He quickly waved the crystal in an arch, and just like the last time, the console instantly sprang to life, weaving its way into existence.

Clark let go of Lana's hand, and moved her gently to stand next to Sam, before facing the console again.

"I know you don't want to see him again, Clark..." Sam said quietly, "But we need to know why it's flashing."

Clark nodded slightly, before dropping the crystal into the same tube.

A second later, the large face of Jor-El, once again, materialised in the centre of the room, looking sad and forlorn.

"If you are watching this recording..." He started off, "You are all in grave danger!"

Clark felt everyone tense up behind him. He turned around to find Lana standing next to him again, looking at Jor-El with mixed emotions;

Awe, in the fact that she was seeing a once great being, belonging to such a dignified race as the Ancients.

Sadness, that this man, and most like him, were wiped out by such a barbaric race such as the Wraith...

And fear. Fear in the knowledge that this man knew what he was talking about, and if he said you were in grave danger, you were most likely doomed.

She turned to face Clark, eyes beseeching him to try and find out more.

Clark stared at her silently for a moment, before nodding his head slightly. Turning around, he slowly stepped back up to the console.

"Why?" he asked loudly, his voice taking on an commanding tone that none there had heard before.

Jor-El nodded slightly, responding to the simple command to continue.

"The room in which this crystal was found was locked down for a reason. The two stasis chambers there housed two of the most dangerous criminals known to this universe.

Dru-Zod is the former General to the Altantian Military. He was the one that lead the experiments which created the Wraith. For reasons unknown to us, he tried mixing the DNA of a predator Insect with that of humanoid origin.

The experiment was a success. They obviously managed to combine the two strands of DNA together, but they never counted on the phenomenally fast tissue growth making it so hard to kill, or their rate of reproduction.

I myself, created Dru-Zod's most loyal accomplice; Brainiac. Otherwise known as the Brain Inter-Active Construct.

He was built from the foundations of Atlantis itself. He could fire the drones, to control the weather.

That is how we, ancients, met our downfall.

We grew lazy and arrogant. We relied too heavily on Artificial Intelligence and not enough on ourselves.

We grew tired of the powers that the yellow sun granted us, and those who chose to do so, gave up their powers.

Those who did not; ascended.

Dru-Zod was the first of many to grow discontent, so naturally, was one of the first to lose his powers. After we realised that those without powers were doomed to stay in their mortal form; Dru-Zod wanted his powers back.

That's what made him so angry with his own race. We could take away power, and yet were not worthy enough to be able to restore it.

He used his rank as General to command the Brain Inter-Active Construct to commit genocide. Hundreds of people died before I was able to restore my own powers, and take down Zod. As Commander of Atlantis, and with Zod out of the way, I was able to shut down the Brainiac.

We decided to put Zod into a stasis chamber. And as I deemed the Brainiac too easily corruptible, it, too, shared the same fate. I made sure that that room could only be unlocked by myself, but no plan is full proof. That is why I left this crystal, which contains all the knowledge about this particular subject.

If that room has been unlocked; power would have needed to be taken and diverted from the chambers and into the locking mechanism on the door.

It also means that General Dru-Zod and the Brainiac had enough time to escape!" Jor-El finished his explanation with a sad sigh.

Clark closed his eyes for a second, before turning back around to face the group.

"Search Team 1; you didn't happen to see two bodies in the room you found the crystal, did you?" Sheppard immediately asked his radio.

"Negative, Sir. Nothing but two empty chambers..."

Sheppard nodded with a sigh. "That's what I was afraid of." He said, tightening his grip on the rifle pinned to his vest.

Clark frowned slightly, before turning to face the memory of his father.

"Did Dru-Zod ever get his powers back?" He asked.

Jor-El slowly shook his head, before saying, "No. But the Brainiac, however, has. And it's the smartest thing in the universe. Or at least; it use to be."

Clark sighed, before taking the crystal out of the console, and turning back towards the team.

"What do we do?" He asked them, stepping down and letting the console submerge itself back into the floor. "For all we know the Brainiac has flew off to the mainland with Dru-Zod."

"All Units; we're on Code Red. Stand by for further orders." Sheppard said, activating the radio again.

Clark remained quiet, glancing around. He noticed the emergency teams based near the Stargate subtly tighten their grips on their rifles.