So I was thinking, hmmmm, not enough cookies to sustain me. Then I woke up this morning to a lovely box of Fudge Stripes and plenty other cookies that made me very happy :) I only have two more chapters written, but I'll try and get the rest written through the week!

Chapter 13

For the first time, Richard Woolsey wasn't going to send a report in on time. It would tarnish his impeccable record. But for once, he didn't care.

He sat staring at his tablet and the half-written document he started an hour before. The weekly report mostly covered the problems of the day to day running of the city, pretty much the same thing every week. Occasionally he would get to send back something interesting, like a new medicine found on a planet, or details on new life forms discovered. This report had none of these things. The most interesting part of it would be the disappearance of Sheppard's team, and he had nothing to say about that.

He wasn't sure if he should include the disappearance just yet. He had no information, received no communications as to their whereabouts or wellbeing. He couldn't even hazard a guess over their disappearance and certainly didn't wish to prematurely write them off.

Lorne was already on his way to Caronaa. In readiness of worst-case scenario, Woolsey had insisted Carson Beckett also attend. The Scottish doctor wasn't exactly pleased to be added to the crew manifest, stating that he'd had an argument with some doctor on Caronaa. Carson went with Lorne regardless of his mumblings, as he always did.

The Gate wooshed to life a little after eleven at night. Woolsey put down his tablet and hurried from his office.

"It's a communications from Major Lorne, sir," Chuck said.

Woolsey nodded and Chuck opened communications.

"This is Atlantis, what's happening Major Lorne?"

"Sir, we're above the planet but so far haven't been able to communicate with Colonel Sheppard's team. We're about to head inland in case they are within the dampening field."

"And what about the ship Zelenka said would be there?"

"Oh, it's here, sir. Sending back images, now."

A screen to the right of Chuck connected with a signal from across the galaxy. On it, Woolsey saw the crashed ship and the beings moving about it. The ship was huge, far bigger than the Daedalus though nothing compared to a Wraith Hive. Its hull was of red pitted metal, long lines of the stuff laid in plates across it much like sections of a spiderweb. Between each plate were thinner lengths of blue metal, in which lights were set every few meters. On its top was a cannon array, or at least, what Woolsey took to be one. Each cannon seemed wide enough to fire a car and there were three of them, each with its own independent turret. The ship had landed partially on its side. In the rear section was a massive, ragged hole; a possible reason for the crash. Evidently, the impact had been at speed as there was a gouge in the ground that stretched at least a mile back from the crash site.

Woolsey looked closer to the screen to get a better view of the creatures moving around the ship. Some crawled over the damaged section, hauling new metal plates into place. Others were fixing the plates in place with arcing light of a strange, green hue. Still others wandered around the crash site, holding peculiar weapons Woolsey hadn't seen before.

Perimeter guards, he presumed.

To the front of the ship were a number of creatures moving large, dark tanks of fluid on floating platforms. He thought they might be fuel canisters as the creatures moved them with great care. They were unlike any creature he'd seen but from their size and aggravation towards each other, he knew they were dangerous.

"Major Lorne, maintain radio silence in case these creatures are the reason AR-1 is missing. Don't land until close to Central City. I expect an update as soon as possible."

"Roger that, Lorne, out."

Woolsey returned to his office. He lifted the tablet and stared at it for a few moments then put it back down with a tired sigh. The report could wait a little longer. He had other things to attend to, like, providing backup to both Lorne and Sheppard's teams.

Having seen the ship, its size, and inhabitants, Woolsey knew the danger on Caronaa would require more than just one rescue team. Should Lorne's ship go down, it would be another four hours before backup could be sent for them. So Woolsey made the decision to send another two Jumpers. He hailed majors Stackhouse and Teldy and told them to muster teams for immediate deployment.

Anne Teldy arrived less than four minutes after he hailed her, fully kitted up with three of her teammates. Woolsey stood, feeling rather inadequate before the all-female team and their aura of strength.

"What's happening, sir?" Teldy asked as she checked her comm.

"There is a problem on Caronaa."

"Caronaa? What could possibly go wrong there? With the exception of the plague, those people could hold off an army of wraiths if they had to."

Woolsey lowered his eyes and pushed his tablet across the table. "Colonel Sheppard's team are missing. We've had no communication since they left. Major Lorne is there now, and sent back this."

Teldy regarded the tablet, her eyes widening at the sight of the heavily armoured craft.

"You think these beings are involved with their disappearance?"

"It's a possibility. That ship is big enough to take on the Daedalus and more."

"I doubt it," Teldy remarked. "Not with that amount of damage."

"Perhaps, but consider the creatures around it."

Teldy leaned closer, as did Dusty Mehra, the only other surviving member of Teldy's original team. Both their faces were grim as they watched the creatures mill around the craft.

"They must be what, ten feet tall?" Mehra asked.

"Maybe more," Teldy replied and pushed the tablet back across the desk. "We're ready to head out. Caran is already in the Jumper bay getting things set up," she said, referring to the fourth member of her team.

Woolsey nodded as he pulled the tablet in front of him and stopped the video. Stackhouse stepped into the office. He'd been promoted to major following the death of Major Leonard and both his and Teldy's teams made up AR-3 and AR-4. Stackhouse's team comprised of large, burly men who dwarfed the female team, yet Woolsey had no doubt Teldy's team were just as strong, efficient, and deadly.

"There is to be no interaction with the downed ship or its occupants. At this time we don't know if they have anything to do with AR-1's disappearance, although, that may be a possibility. I want one team on standby watching that ship at all times. The other will join Major Lorne with the search for the missing team. If these creatures attack, you have permission to return fire, but you will not engage if there is no hostility."

"We'll meet up with Major Lorne," Teldy said. "My copilot, Nara, is a good tracker and can help search for Colonel Sheppard's team on the ground."

Stackhouse nodded. "Makes sense. We will remain cloaked in the vicinity of the downed ship and relay messages back to Atlantis."

"Okay," Woolsey replied clapping his hands together. "So we have a plan. Report in as soon as you arrive."

The teams headed to their Jumpers and Woolsey watched them depart for Caronaa several minutes later. He returned to his office and picked up his tablet and sighed. To hell with Stargate Command and all the bureaucracy. He'd write the report once he had something solid to report back. In another life and on another world such a thought would never have entered his head. But his life was different now. He made decisions he never would have on Earth and took risks he would have run from previously. Since arriving on Atlantis, taking command and seeing how life ran in this galaxy, Woolsey came to understand that all the things that Earth demanded were not on any list of priorities here, and nor should they be.

Atlantis wasn't an extension of Stargate Command in any real sense. It was a colony, a family, all fighting to survive in a place they were never meant to be. It changed how one saw things, how one thought of things and ultimately how one acted and reacted as a result. No, Stargate Command could wait for his report, because Richard Woolsey was not the same man who walked through that gate on Earth. The man who stepped onto Atlantis was a very different man and one who cared more for the people who worked beneath him than he could ever show.

To be continued... Fat dragon? Never heard of it. COOKIES!