Author's Chapter Notes: So chapter 3. Some fluff, the anticipated meeting and humor. Enjoy and tell me how you liked it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis.
Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions.
I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
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Chapter Three
New Lantea
She had never seen Rodney so agitated. Even when the Wraith had almost been at their doorstep, he had never been like this. Stalking quickly from one corner to the other, his arms firmly tucked under his elbows, as if protecting himself in an unconscious gesture, he emanated a discomfort that was rarely seen in him.
It had been morning in Atlantis, the sun just peaking over the horizon, when Rodney had dialled in from New Valion. They had all known that there was a possibility that the newcomers were from Earth, but after five years of no contact nobody truly believed that the Earth-born would ever re-establish contact with their birth planet. Now that their identities were confirmed, they didn’t know what to do. Over the years every single one of them lost the hope of seeing Earth ever again. They had known that the Expedition could be a one-way street when they had embarked on it and they now saw themselves not as people from Earth but as Lanteans.
“Well, this could be a problem.” Elizabeth quietly stated.
The people sitting around the briefing room were her inner council. Although Atlantis was still under over-all control of Elizabeth and John managed the military aspect of things, the Council, as it was dubbed by the inhabitants of New Lantea, had a voice when important decisions were made. Their friendship had been one forged in the fire and blood of Pegasus. So it was not surprising that she trusted each and every one of them.
Teyla of the Athosians had surprisingly enough become one of her dearest friends. Both women were courageous and in a position of leadership in a male dominated galaxy. Over the course of time their bond had grown strong. Whenever there were concerns about something from the Athosians, it would be Teyla who settled them or came to her for help.
Ronon, the Satedan, had taken over a lot of the training of their military alongside Arkion. A cunning hunter and warrior, he taught the Lanteans how to fight in the Pegasus galaxy. The Satedans they had found in their second year in Pegasus had been a welcome addition to their forces. They had pledged themselves to Atlantis and were now an integral part of the city.
“You think the people from your homeworld could be dangerous to Atlantis?” Teyla asked softly and looked on in confusion as Elizabeth and John exchanged a silent glance.
“From what I remember General O’Neill was a pretty decent guy.” John answered, trying to reassure her. Still, the slight unease in his voice was discernable.
“SG-1 had always had the reputation of doing the right thing. They are decent people; I have no doubt about that.” Elizabeth explained further and her sparkling green eyes darkened. “No, the ones I’m worried about are the IOA. They are politicians and politicians always do everything they can to further their power.” She paused, her hand rubbing her forehead, trying to fend off the threatening headache.
“And Atlantis is power.” John stated grimly. He was under no illusions. At first, the reunion would be a happy event but it could quickly get very ugly.
“Exactly.” Elizabeth nodded. “Technically, we’re still an Expedition sent out by the international powers of Earth to find and utilize the technology of Atlantis. This would mean that we’re under IOA control.”
“They will try to pull you from your position.” Rodney stopped and spoke with a glimmer of fear. “You’re married! And while that’s not forbidden because Sheppard’s military and you’re not, it will be still frowned upon. Additionally, Sheppard’s not their original candidate for Military Commander.” He stilled, all of them remembering the horrible death of Colonel Sumner.
“Well,” Ronon smirked darkly, “they can try. I’m certain that no one in the city will let that happen. They will not only have five hundred angry people ready to wage war on them but they’ll also know why the Lanteans are feared by their enemies!” He patted his blaster affectionately and the tension slowly seeped out of the Earth-born Lanteans.
“Ronon is right. They can’t expect you to not settle here after five years of no contact! You are now Lanteans of the city of Atlantis and nobody can take that from you!” With Teyla’s words the remaining tension completely evaporated.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far. But what should we do? Meet them on New Valion or invite them to Atlantis?”
“Perhaps Atlantis would be better.” John mused. His brows were furrowed. Of all of them, his position was the most vulnerable when they came. “We have our people here and they won’t know where the planet is, if we dial before they see the stargate.”
The others nodded. It was agreed. Tomorrow SG-1 would come to Atlantis. Now they had only to brief the rest of their people.
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After talking briefly with the Cerberus, which was now in orbit over New Valion, they had set out into the city, hoping to get some more information about New Valion and their new found people. Now, after a whole day of exploration, they had gathered in a cosy café-like establishment, drinking fresh Athosian tea and eating little Irdonian cakes, which were sweet and apparently a speciality of the house.
“This is good!” Jack exclaimed with his mouth full of the treat. The others grinned. Their commander and friend had always had a sweet tooth, especially when it came to something like cake. Everyone who was with the program in the early years still remembered Argos very well.
“Indeed, O’Neill.” Agreed Teal’c, who sipped his Sorian juice with a smile.
“So, what do you have?” Jack asked, now serious again. The behaviour of McKay and his people was not one he would have expected and certainly not one he liked. Something must have happened, if a scientist of a scientific expedition walked around with armour and weapons. Adding to that the cautious attitude and you had a picture that was not very pretty.
Daniel sighed, his eyes dimming a little, and pushed his glasses up his nose.
“Well, we were right, when we thought that not everything here was sunshine and roses. I asked around a bit, mentioned the Lanteans.”
“And?”
“Apparently, they appeared here five years ago.”
“So they are our people!” Sam concluded, her eyes lightening up.
“Yes, it seems so. As I said, they appeared five years ago, exploring planets and making their presence known. At the same time, beings known as Wraith became more aggressive and the Lanteans stumbled upon them. From that point on they were at war.”
The statement gained a loud groan from Jack.
“Of course they were! It’s like wherever we go, we end up right in the middle of the chaos!” He sighed. “So, who are the Wraith?”
“The Wraith are beings who use humans as livestock and suck their life-force out of them.”
“Oh, come on! Space vampires?”
“Yes, Jack. Seems like they’re fighting against space vampires.” Daniel nodded. “And they’re doing a good job, from what the people here say. New Valion is one of the Lantean outposts open to the other Pegasus inhabitants. Its purpose is to be able to trade with other people, without the threat of the Wraith. Somehow, on this planet, Wraith technology doesn’t work, so the Wraith stay away from here. Nobody knows how but it is one of the only places, where it is safe to live. The traders here pay a small fee each year for the rent and have protection all year round.”
“A good system.” Sam agreed, while moving her blond hair out of her eyes. The implications that came with the new revelations about the Wraith were not lost on her. The scientific expedition, which should have been somewhat safe, had gotten themselves involved in a galactic war with a fearsome enemy. “What about Atlantis?”
“The inhabitants of the city speak with great respect about Atlantis.” Teal’c answered. “One person I spoke with called it `the city of the Ancestors`.”
“Nobody really knows where it is. The Lanteans don’t allow others into the city. Rumours say that someone once tried to take it from them and they had to fight the invaders off.”
They were silent for a long time after that. It was not a nice thought that these people had to fight a war without support. Even in their early years fighting the Goa’uld, they had always had a good infrastructure behind them. There was no shortage of things necessary in a war effort.
“Well, shit.” Jack’s face was drawn into a grimace, as he thought about the situation.
“Indeed.”
The others exchanged a look. They all knew how war could change people. And that was as true in the Pegasus galaxy as it had been in the Milky Way. McKay was a good example for that. It would not be easy to gain the trust of people who had been fighting a war on their own. The situation had changed drastically.
“Let’s head back to the tower. Tomorrow, we go to Atlantis.”
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Not one of them had slept through the night. The events which had transpired only the day before had all members of SG-1 concerned and excited. They couldn’t know what would happen on Atlantis, especially considering the cautious attitudes of the Expedition members. So it was a somewhat tired SG-1 that followed McKay into the basement of the tower, where a stargate was already activated and waiting for them.
“You have a second stargate?” Sam was surprised. As far as they knew, there could only be one stargate per planet, or more but then they had to be coordinated very precisely.
“It’s safer to gate from here, than from the outside.” Not saying anything more, he motioned for them to step through and after a slight hesitation, they did. One moment they were in a basement and the next they stood in a sunlight filled room.
Stairs in front of them were leading up to a kind of raised control room. To one side an office behind glass walls could be seen. Everything was airy and softly glowing, the beautiful architecture of the Ancients magnificent in its simplistic, geometric forms. But for all the beauty that was undoubtedly Atlantis, they still saw the guards at various strategic points. Some of them Jack recognized as Marines from the Expedition, while others he didn’t know.
He didn’t like going into the unknown lightly armed and confronted with superior numbers, but he could see the tension leaving the body of McKay for the first time, since he had met him. Jack personally knew what it meant to be home, to not need to be on guard all the time and that is what he saw in the scientist. Yes, he decided, it was a good thing that they had agreed to meet on Atlantis.
His attention was drawn to the top of the stairs and his eyebrow unintentionally rose, as he considered what he was seeing.
Form-fitting brown leather trousers, combat boots and a formal looking but also comfortable red shirt were her choice of outfit. Her dark-brown hair was shorter than he remembered and her green eyes shone brightly, though they, too, were cautious like McKay’s had been. But the biggest change in Doctor Elizabeth Weir was the holsters on each of her thighs. Some kind of small weapons were resting comfortably in them and she seemed not the slightest bit bothered by being armed. Jack knew very well Weir’s reputation for being a pacifist and while he himself had never believed that there was always a diplomatic solution to everything, he had admired that dream. Now, it seemed, that the doctor had changed enough to carry a deadly weapon on her.
Slightly behind her was Major John Sheppard, the pilot that had flown him from McMurdo to the Antarctica Outpost. The young man from five years ago looked older. His unruly dark hair was the same but he looked more haggard than Jack remembered. Stress lines were discernible on his face and a small scar was visible on his chin. The major stood only a step behind Dr. Weir, far enough to submit to her leadership but near enough to watch her back, if so needed.
There were others in the control room, of course, but all deferred to Dr. Weir. The silence stretched for a moment, before the doctor plastered a small smile onto her face and began walking down the stairs. Her gaze was assessing them, as they did her. This was a precarious situation and all of them knew it.
“General O’Neill.” She welcomed him and shook his hand, when it was offered.
“Dr. Weir.”
“Colonel Carter. Dr. Jackson. Teal’c.” She nodded at each of them, her smile getting bigger, when they greeted her back. Dr. Weir motioned to the silent sentinel behind her and introduced him as well.
“You remember my Second in Command, Major John Sheppard?” The major nodded at them but Jack still couldn’t quite dismiss what had been said. If Major Sheppard was the Military Commander of Atlantis, then Colonel Sumner was probably dead. A chill went down his spine. He hadn’t known Sumner very well but before he had gotten involved with the Atlantis Expedition, Sumner had been in command of SG-26, a group of very capable marines that had often been a good back-up for SG-1. With the major threat being the Wraith, the probable death of the Colonel couldn’t have been pleasant.
“Major.” He acknowledged the man.
“Well,” Weir said after a long pause, “why don’t we head to the conference room. There are a lot of things you don’t know. Your arrival in Pegasus was certainly not something we anticipated.”
“That’s SG-1 for you. We always arrive when you least expect us!” Jack quipped and the tension that had filled the room since their arrival lessened slightly.
“Jack!” The quiet reprimand came quickly from his favourite archaeologist.
“Daniel!”
“Jack.”
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“What?”
The playful banter was typical for the two of them and in the end Daniel simply rolled his eyes, sighed loudly and looked up, as if asking the heavens what he had done wrong to deserve this.
They entered the conference room through a series of multi-panel doors. It was a basic space with a large table and directly across the gate room from the operations centre. A few seats at the massive table were already taken. Some people Jack remembered from the Expedition files, while others were completely unknown to him.
SG-1 seated themselves on one side of the triangle-like table, while Weir, Sheppard and McKay sat directly opposite them.
With a diplomatic smile Weir began to speak.
“First, I’d like to introduce some of the people at the table, as I’m sure that you do not know everyone here.” When Jack did a `go on` gesture with his hand, she continued. “As you already know, to my right is Major John Sheppard, my Second in Command, to my left is Dr. Rodney McKay, Chief Scientist of Atlantis.”
Her gaze further drifted to her left side, where a dark-haired, kind-faced man sat. “Our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Carson Beckett.” The doctor nodded at them. He had that kind of air about him that all good doctors had. It was the determination and stubbornness that seemed inherent in most medical personnel attached to the Stargate Program. Doctor Beckett reminded Jack very strongly of one Dr. Janet Fraiser, who had fallen in their seventh year of the program.
“Our Chief of Security, Sergeant Eugene Bates.” The man beside Beckett nodded also.
Finally she turned to the two people who Jack did not know.
“This is Specialist Ronon Dex of the Satedans, team leader of AR-2 and Fighting Instructor.” The exotic looking man grunted softly in acknowledgement. From his attitude it was clear that he wasn’t happy with their presence in Atlantis and somehow, Jack felt, that this man could be as dangerous as Teal’c, when provoked.
“And this is Teyla Emmagan of the Athosians, team leader of AR-3.” The woman inclined her head in a graceful greeting but did not say anything.
There was silence for a moment, before he caught the meaning behind the expectant face of Elizabeth Weir. Jack coughed a little but then spread his arms to encompass all of his former team mates.
“Yes, well. I’m Lieutenant General Jack O’Neill. This is Colonel Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and, of course, last but not least, Teal’c.”
Carter nodded, while Daniel smiled friendly and Teal’c bowed his head in his typical cool Jaffa way. He himself grinned slightly. SG-1 was treating this as a first contact situation and all of them had fallen into their normal roles, even after more than five years of not being on the same team. It was somewhat encouraging that he knew them well enough to feel safe with going into this situation.
“After we finally got our hands on some of the intergalactic hyperspace drives, a search and rescue mission was allowed to go to Pegasus. We’ve been searching for you for the past three weeks but, apparently, it’s you that found us.” Jack shrugged nonchalantly and looked around at the people of Atlantis, who shared a few significant glances.
An apologetic smile settled over Dr. Weir’s face, as she spoke.
“You have to forgive us for our caution in regards to you, but this galaxy is not without its dangers and many of our enemies would like to know where Atlantis exactly is. We had to be sure that you were who you said you were.”
“I can tell you that I’m pretty sure that I’m me.” Jack nodded seriously. The statement would have been funny had the Stargate Program not had problems with clones, mechanical duplicates and alternate dimension versions of the same people before.
“Then it’s time to tell you a little bit about our situation.”
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The banto sticks crashed against each other, vibrating with the power they had put into their movements. Heavy breathing was heard in the dimly lit room, sweat rolling down their skin making their training clothes sticky and wet. With a precise and quick move, she twisted aside, feinting right and trying to hit him from the left. The impeding blow was blocked hastily, adrenaline pumping through his body, and he moved to counterattack, aiming at her head but not succeeding, as she too blocked him. Both of them were now trapped in an intimate embrace, neither having the ability to move due to the fact that should either one do so, the advantage would fall to the other.
His harsh breathing kissed the back of her neck, making shivers travel down her body. She could feel him smirking at the effect he had on her and wanted to wipe it off his face. Arching her body back, fully knowing what that kind of contact did to him, she could only smile mischievously as he groaned. Many of their sessions ended with one of them against the wall and their clothes on the floor. But even though she wished for nothing more than that, there were some more important topics to talk about first.
“So, what do you think of them?” she asked quietly.
He voiced a silent protest at the interruption of their game but answered nonetheless.
“Seemed OK, so far. Very careful in what they said and how. I do not think that they want to harm us and you seemed to think that they were the true thing.”
In mutual agreement they both detangled themselves from each other and took their former guarding positions, their banto sticks poised and ready to defend or attack.
“They’re good. The best SG team the SGC ever had and they were the premier first-contact team on base. They got Earth more alliances than practically anybody else.”
He nodded and attacked her, trading a fast series of blows, then backed down again. They moved to circle each other like tigers, their steps careful, graceful and silent.
“Seems like people I would want on my side.”
“Jackson opened the stargate and our way to the stars. Carter is a genius. Teal’c a highly placed Jaffa and O’Neill is well liked by the government and Earth’s alien allies. I heard that the Asgard and especially Supreme Commander Thor love him to pieces.” Her eyes glowed with amusement and a quirky smile was on her lips.
“So, influential people, right?” He asked as she struck out, landing a glancing blow on his thigh before he could stop her.
“Yes. Hopefully, we can win them over. The files should make them understand what we went through and explain our attitude.”
“You think it’s a good idea to give them so much access?” His concern was genuine. Though he had not as much experience as her with these kinds of things, even he knew that not all parts of the US government were to be trusted.
“They’re not the N.I.D., thankfully. I do not want to think what could have happened, if it was them that had found us.” She shuddered slightly.
“So the famous SG-1, huh?” He distracted her from her previous thoughts and attacked her again, striking her on her arm and then backing away. “There were a lot of rumours going around the SGC, especially about Carter and O’Neill, when we were there.”
A flurry of movements had him pinned against a wall, her body against his, banto sticks and arms pressed to the hard surface over his head. Something wicked passed through her eyes, as she nibbled at his throat and his heart began to beat faster. His eyes darkened with desire and he leaned his head back, giving her more access and groaned.
“Seems like it’s tradition in the Stargate Program for CO and 2IC to fall in love with each other.” Her seductive whisper caressed his ear and his muscles tensed further, knowing that in a few moments their clothes would be discarded on the floor and a different, though similar, game would begin.
“I like traditions.” He grinned. “And we wouldn’t want to be the first to break them, now would we, Dr. Weir?”
Her gaze trailed down his body, finally settling on the evidence of his enthusiasm for the SGC traditions. Elizabeth raised an elegant eyebrow, an expression he knew well from various diplomatic talks, when she wanted to give an appearance of nonchalance.
“Indeed not, Major Sheppard.”
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Sam stared at the ocean and the towers of Atlantis, shimmering in the pale moonlight of New Lantea. It was truly a beautiful city, both a wonder of architecture and technology. To be here, on Atlantis, was a strange feeling. It had been revered through the ages, never forgotten, and had sparked myths and legends, which to this day still fascinated the majority of people on Earth. But even though a quiet peace lay over Atlantis, it was still deceitful. This galaxy was in a war with beings that were possibly even more horrible than the Goa’uld. At least with the Goa’uld, there was hope of freeing the host. The Wraith only used humans as food.
“What are you thinking, Sam?” The voice of her beloved general asked from behind her. After the introductions had been given, the Atlantis leadership had talked about their first year in the Pegasus galaxy, before they had been interrupted by a soldier, who had informed them about an emergency. Apparently a team, AR-7, had been captured by some locals on their mission because of some cultural misunderstanding and were now in dire need of some help. Needless to say, the meeting between SG-1 and the Atlantis personnel was aborted and set up to be continued tomorrow morning. Dr. Weir had given them some files and mission reports to read and promptly ordered one of the soldiers to lead them to the guest quarters.
“Wondering who’s worse, Goa’uld or Wraith.” She stated, turning around and looking at her team. SG-1 had wandered out to the balcony of the guest quarters – which, by the way, were a series of rooms, connected to each other by a small living room – and seated themselves on some kind of comfortable but strange looking couches.
He nodded thoughtfully, before answering.
“Difficult decision. On the one hand, you’ve got snakes, who want you as transportation and on the other hand, you got vampires, who think of you as an energy drink.” Jack looked at his hands and began moving them up and down, as if weighting one evil against the other. “Well, for me I think it’s the Goa’uld but perhaps I’m a bit biased. You can only be sucked dry once. But a car can always be repaired.” He spoke in a joking tone but Sam could see that his eyes remained serious. He, too, was not overly pleased with the new enemies in Pegasus.
“Have you already looked at the files?”
He nodded and they seated themselves beside Daniel, who was engrossed in the Atlantis Expedition Files. Teal’c was trying to Kel’no’rem on the other side of Daniel.
“A quarter of their original expedition is dead.” Daniel suddenly spoke up, his voice saddened by that fact. “And the first year in this galaxy was apparently hell. If not for the Athosians, they all would have starved to death. Viruses, an attempt to capture the city by the Genii and apparently an alternate version of Dr. Weir, who sacrificed herself in order to save the Expedition.” He shook his head, before he sighed loudly. This was definitely not what he had expected to find.
“At least the majority of them are still alive, Daniel.” Jack countered. “And doing well, from what I see. Dr. Weir seems respected and the marines are willing to follow Sheppard as Military Commander.”
“The IOA won’t like that, Jack. Sumner had the reputation of being a strict and by-the-book Colonel. They won’t like that the lose cannon Sheppard is doing his job.”
“Colonel Carter is right, O’Neill. Your IOA is most unreasonable in such things.”
“Then they will have to be reasonable, because I don’t think that the people here would be pleased, if we just oust one of their leaders. That is, if we even can.”
He was interrupted by a loud knock on the living room door.
“Come in!”
The door swished open and Rodney McKay walked in. He looked a lot more relaxed than that morning and only one weapon seemed to be in the weapon’s holster on his thigh.
“Hello.” He said somewhat self-consciously. “I, eh, wanted to know if you want some dinner.” Rodney shifted from one foot to another, clearly uncomfortable in the answering silence.
“Sure.” Sam smiled and put him at ease, as he gave her a small smile back. It was strange to see the arrogant doctor behave this way, but even she knew that sometimes people changed, especially if thrown into life-threatening circumstances. The other members of her team nodded and Rodney began to lead them to the mess hall. Lights in the corridors were dimmed and so it was easy to see the stars in the night sky through each window they passed. It was not long after they entered a transporter that they heard voices growing louder.
The mess hall was large and filled with people. Scientists, soldiers and what she assumed were locals of Pegasus ate together and laughed. The various languages of Earth gave the whole thing an appealing international flair. On one side of the hall were huge windows which gave an amazing view of one of Atlantis’ piers.
McKay quickly grabbed a tray and began loading his plate with food, commenting occasionally on what was good. And the advice was sorely needed, as nothing looked familiar. There was some kind of blue soup that was called Tarmik Soup and was apparently very popular on New Lantea.
“It’s good.” Assured them McKay, when he saw their sceptical looks. “A little bit like tomato soup but spiced up and fruity. It’s made of Tarmik fruits, only found here on New Lantea on the mainland.”
Sam, despite some misgivings, took some and ignored the way Jack seemed to be staring at her meal.
“You sure that’s edible, Carter? I know you like blue jell-o but this is taking it a bit far, don’t cha think?”
She glared at him and then looked at his very red steak. It was massive and looked more normal than the soup but still too big to be normal. As a side dish he had taken some kinds of yellow vegetables.
When everyone was loaded with food, SG-1 and McKay were soon seated at one of the bigger tables, right next to a huge window. The stars were shining brightly tonight and the sea was calm. Two moons were seen in the sky, one big and silvery, the other blood red. Lights flickered over the atmosphere, similar to the effect of Earth’s aurora borealis. Emerald green, various shades of yellow and red and a magnificent, shocking blue spread all over the sky. Sam had seen many wondrous things in her years in the stargate program but almost nothing had been as beautiful as this.
She took her spoon and carefully tasted the soup. It was, surprisingly, very good. A little bit spicy and definitely nothing like you’d find on Earth but good.
“Tastes good, doesn’t it?” A voice said from her side. The two locals Dr. Weir had introduced as Ronon and Teyla were both in the process of seating themselves on either side of McKay, their trays, too, filled with food.
“I remember that Rodney had been a bit sceptical about the Tarmik Soup, too, when we found the fruits.” Teyla gave as an explanation.
“Hey!” Rodney’s indignant cry made Ronon smirk and Teyla smile sweetly at him. “I thought it was some kind of citrus fruit and you know that I’m deadly allergic to it!” He scowled as he saw the expressions on the faces of his friends. “Yeah, yeah…Laugh it up! We’ll see what you’ll do when we have the next crisis and the Chief Scientist of Atlantis is lying in the infirmary dying of anaphylactic shock!”
Teyla patted him apologetically on the arm and his scowl lessened, before he huffed and turned to his meal, which was, amusingly enough, Tarmik Soup.
SG-1, who had watched the interaction with various amounts of amusement, noticed that all around them people seemed to lose a little bit of the tension that had gathered, when they entered the mess hall. Nobody had missed the glances people had given them and Sam was grateful that little by little the Atlantis inhabitants relaxed around them.
“How’s the steak?” Ronon asked, pointing at Jack’s meal and smirking proudly when the answer was positive. “I was on the hunting party that killed it.” He explained further, fierce pride shining in his eyes.
Rodney rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, only you and your Satedans would be crazy enough to go to M1M-316 and hunt dinosaurs.”
Jack choked and quickly grabbed a glass of water, gulping a bit down.
“Dinosaurs?” He asked, incredulous.
“Yes.” McKay nodded. “We considered the planet as an Alpha Site in our first year here but of course it couldn’t be a nice, uninhabited planet. No! Just as we were walking back to the gate there was a loud roar.”
“And you squeaked like a little girl, McKay!” needled Ronon.
Rodney glared at him, though he continued the story.
“Well, excuse me if I’m not as calm as some people when I see a five meters tall T-Rex looking at me like I was dinner!” Jack’s eyes bulged and the rest of his team was equally unnerved, though Teal’c had only raised an eyebrow. In that moment Sam remembered that they had shown their alien friend Jurassic Park and that he had also been quite keen to measure his might against one of those `truly magnificent specimen`. It took quite some time to convince him that there were no longer any dinosaurs around.
“We barely escaped from that planet.” Finished McKay, then added. “But do you think that this bulk of muscles would leave that planet alone? No, of course not! Every few weeks, he and a few other Satedans gate to the planet and hunt dinosaurs! It’s a miracle that they all come back alive!”
Ronon shrugged, obviously not concerned by Rodney’s words.
“I only wanted to measure my might against a worthy foe. Those dinosaurs are a cunning and powerful prey.” He said, as if that explained everything.
“When is the next hunting party? I would like to participate, if you would allow it.” Teal’c stated and Sam coughed to hide her laughter, when she looked at Jack and saw his horror-filled eyes. As Ronon and Teal’c stared at each other, then both grinned fiercely, she had the disconcerted feeling that this was the beginning of a truly terrifying and long friendship. Daniel only palmed his head and muttered something that sounded quite derogatory, while Teyla smiled indulgingly and McKay was shaking his head, as if not believing that they had found another one crazy enough to go dino-hunting.
The silence was interrupted when a small blur crashed into Rodney, who stiffened before sighing heavily and turning around. A little boy of no more than ten years had attached himself to his side and was hugging him tightly. Dark locks hung over his face and curious, innocent green eyes looked trustingly up at the astrophysicist.
“What is it, Aras?” McKay’s voice had softened somewhat, though it had not lost its annoyed tone.
“Have you seen my darius or nia?”
“No, I haven’t. Ronon?” He looked at the warrior questioningly as he lifted the young boy and settled him between himself and Teyla, who ruffled his hair. The boy pouted but smiled when she gave him a little orange fruit that looked like a grape.
“Last I heard they were sparring in the east spire.” A smirk settled on Ronon’s face and it got only bigger, when Rodney flushed a bright red.
“Ah. Again?” Rodney coughed.
“Sparring?” Daniel asked, interested.
“Yes, ah, sparring. They, uhm, have very intense sparring sessions.” The scientist looked flustered, his hands moving around nervously, though he tried to keep them still.
“Yes, very intense.” Ronon added. His eyes were full of mischief, as he obviously enjoyed seeing the unflappable scientist rendered into a stuttering, flushing mess. “I believe that you once walked into one of their sessions.” He turned towards SG-1. “From that point on everyone in the city knew not to disturb them, when they were in the middle of one.”
Understanding settled into the eyes of SG-1 and Jack, too, began to smirk. Sparring sessions, indeed.
Further talk was interrupted by the arrival of Major Sheppard and Dr. Weir through the mess hall doors. Both looked a bit tired but happy. Casually dressed in leather trousers and a white and red shirt, respectively, they looked relaxed. Each had a pair of sticks in their hands and they were smiling as they glanced at their table.
Aras, the little boy, sprang up from his seat and raced towards them.
“Darius! Nia!” He shouted and jumped at Sheppard, who twirled him around and then hugged him tightly, his face lightening up even more. Dr. Weir chuckled and stroked his hair, kissing his head lovingly.
Jack’s eyebrows rose and he glanced at the Atlantis people, catching the eye of McKay, who coughed again.
“Eh, nobody told you that they are married, huh?”
The general’s expression told him that no, he had not known that. Then wicked amusement began to displace the shock.
“So. Sparring?”
Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions.
I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
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Chapter Three
New Lantea
She had never seen Rodney so agitated. Even when the Wraith had almost been at their doorstep, he had never been like this. Stalking quickly from one corner to the other, his arms firmly tucked under his elbows, as if protecting himself in an unconscious gesture, he emanated a discomfort that was rarely seen in him.
It had been morning in Atlantis, the sun just peaking over the horizon, when Rodney had dialled in from New Valion. They had all known that there was a possibility that the newcomers were from Earth, but after five years of no contact nobody truly believed that the Earth-born would ever re-establish contact with their birth planet. Now that their identities were confirmed, they didn’t know what to do. Over the years every single one of them lost the hope of seeing Earth ever again. They had known that the Expedition could be a one-way street when they had embarked on it and they now saw themselves not as people from Earth but as Lanteans.
“Well, this could be a problem.” Elizabeth quietly stated.
The people sitting around the briefing room were her inner council. Although Atlantis was still under over-all control of Elizabeth and John managed the military aspect of things, the Council, as it was dubbed by the inhabitants of New Lantea, had a voice when important decisions were made. Their friendship had been one forged in the fire and blood of Pegasus. So it was not surprising that she trusted each and every one of them.
Teyla of the Athosians had surprisingly enough become one of her dearest friends. Both women were courageous and in a position of leadership in a male dominated galaxy. Over the course of time their bond had grown strong. Whenever there were concerns about something from the Athosians, it would be Teyla who settled them or came to her for help.
Ronon, the Satedan, had taken over a lot of the training of their military alongside Arkion. A cunning hunter and warrior, he taught the Lanteans how to fight in the Pegasus galaxy. The Satedans they had found in their second year in Pegasus had been a welcome addition to their forces. They had pledged themselves to Atlantis and were now an integral part of the city.
“You think the people from your homeworld could be dangerous to Atlantis?” Teyla asked softly and looked on in confusion as Elizabeth and John exchanged a silent glance.
“From what I remember General O’Neill was a pretty decent guy.” John answered, trying to reassure her. Still, the slight unease in his voice was discernable.
“SG-1 had always had the reputation of doing the right thing. They are decent people; I have no doubt about that.” Elizabeth explained further and her sparkling green eyes darkened. “No, the ones I’m worried about are the IOA. They are politicians and politicians always do everything they can to further their power.” She paused, her hand rubbing her forehead, trying to fend off the threatening headache.
“And Atlantis is power.” John stated grimly. He was under no illusions. At first, the reunion would be a happy event but it could quickly get very ugly.
“Exactly.” Elizabeth nodded. “Technically, we’re still an Expedition sent out by the international powers of Earth to find and utilize the technology of Atlantis. This would mean that we’re under IOA control.”
“They will try to pull you from your position.” Rodney stopped and spoke with a glimmer of fear. “You’re married! And while that’s not forbidden because Sheppard’s military and you’re not, it will be still frowned upon. Additionally, Sheppard’s not their original candidate for Military Commander.” He stilled, all of them remembering the horrible death of Colonel Sumner.
“Well,” Ronon smirked darkly, “they can try. I’m certain that no one in the city will let that happen. They will not only have five hundred angry people ready to wage war on them but they’ll also know why the Lanteans are feared by their enemies!” He patted his blaster affectionately and the tension slowly seeped out of the Earth-born Lanteans.
“Ronon is right. They can’t expect you to not settle here after five years of no contact! You are now Lanteans of the city of Atlantis and nobody can take that from you!” With Teyla’s words the remaining tension completely evaporated.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far. But what should we do? Meet them on New Valion or invite them to Atlantis?”
“Perhaps Atlantis would be better.” John mused. His brows were furrowed. Of all of them, his position was the most vulnerable when they came. “We have our people here and they won’t know where the planet is, if we dial before they see the stargate.”
The others nodded. It was agreed. Tomorrow SG-1 would come to Atlantis. Now they had only to brief the rest of their people.
__________________________________________________________
After talking briefly with the Cerberus, which was now in orbit over New Valion, they had set out into the city, hoping to get some more information about New Valion and their new found people. Now, after a whole day of exploration, they had gathered in a cosy café-like establishment, drinking fresh Athosian tea and eating little Irdonian cakes, which were sweet and apparently a speciality of the house.
“This is good!” Jack exclaimed with his mouth full of the treat. The others grinned. Their commander and friend had always had a sweet tooth, especially when it came to something like cake. Everyone who was with the program in the early years still remembered Argos very well.
“Indeed, O’Neill.” Agreed Teal’c, who sipped his Sorian juice with a smile.
“So, what do you have?” Jack asked, now serious again. The behaviour of McKay and his people was not one he would have expected and certainly not one he liked. Something must have happened, if a scientist of a scientific expedition walked around with armour and weapons. Adding to that the cautious attitude and you had a picture that was not very pretty.
Daniel sighed, his eyes dimming a little, and pushed his glasses up his nose.
“Well, we were right, when we thought that not everything here was sunshine and roses. I asked around a bit, mentioned the Lanteans.”
“And?”
“Apparently, they appeared here five years ago.”
“So they are our people!” Sam concluded, her eyes lightening up.
“Yes, it seems so. As I said, they appeared five years ago, exploring planets and making their presence known. At the same time, beings known as Wraith became more aggressive and the Lanteans stumbled upon them. From that point on they were at war.”
The statement gained a loud groan from Jack.
“Of course they were! It’s like wherever we go, we end up right in the middle of the chaos!” He sighed. “So, who are the Wraith?”
“The Wraith are beings who use humans as livestock and suck their life-force out of them.”
“Oh, come on! Space vampires?”
“Yes, Jack. Seems like they’re fighting against space vampires.” Daniel nodded. “And they’re doing a good job, from what the people here say. New Valion is one of the Lantean outposts open to the other Pegasus inhabitants. Its purpose is to be able to trade with other people, without the threat of the Wraith. Somehow, on this planet, Wraith technology doesn’t work, so the Wraith stay away from here. Nobody knows how but it is one of the only places, where it is safe to live. The traders here pay a small fee each year for the rent and have protection all year round.”
“A good system.” Sam agreed, while moving her blond hair out of her eyes. The implications that came with the new revelations about the Wraith were not lost on her. The scientific expedition, which should have been somewhat safe, had gotten themselves involved in a galactic war with a fearsome enemy. “What about Atlantis?”
“The inhabitants of the city speak with great respect about Atlantis.” Teal’c answered. “One person I spoke with called it `the city of the Ancestors`.”
“Nobody really knows where it is. The Lanteans don’t allow others into the city. Rumours say that someone once tried to take it from them and they had to fight the invaders off.”
They were silent for a long time after that. It was not a nice thought that these people had to fight a war without support. Even in their early years fighting the Goa’uld, they had always had a good infrastructure behind them. There was no shortage of things necessary in a war effort.
“Well, shit.” Jack’s face was drawn into a grimace, as he thought about the situation.
“Indeed.”
The others exchanged a look. They all knew how war could change people. And that was as true in the Pegasus galaxy as it had been in the Milky Way. McKay was a good example for that. It would not be easy to gain the trust of people who had been fighting a war on their own. The situation had changed drastically.
“Let’s head back to the tower. Tomorrow, we go to Atlantis.”
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Not one of them had slept through the night. The events which had transpired only the day before had all members of SG-1 concerned and excited. They couldn’t know what would happen on Atlantis, especially considering the cautious attitudes of the Expedition members. So it was a somewhat tired SG-1 that followed McKay into the basement of the tower, where a stargate was already activated and waiting for them.
“You have a second stargate?” Sam was surprised. As far as they knew, there could only be one stargate per planet, or more but then they had to be coordinated very precisely.
“It’s safer to gate from here, than from the outside.” Not saying anything more, he motioned for them to step through and after a slight hesitation, they did. One moment they were in a basement and the next they stood in a sunlight filled room.
Stairs in front of them were leading up to a kind of raised control room. To one side an office behind glass walls could be seen. Everything was airy and softly glowing, the beautiful architecture of the Ancients magnificent in its simplistic, geometric forms. But for all the beauty that was undoubtedly Atlantis, they still saw the guards at various strategic points. Some of them Jack recognized as Marines from the Expedition, while others he didn’t know.
He didn’t like going into the unknown lightly armed and confronted with superior numbers, but he could see the tension leaving the body of McKay for the first time, since he had met him. Jack personally knew what it meant to be home, to not need to be on guard all the time and that is what he saw in the scientist. Yes, he decided, it was a good thing that they had agreed to meet on Atlantis.
His attention was drawn to the top of the stairs and his eyebrow unintentionally rose, as he considered what he was seeing.
Form-fitting brown leather trousers, combat boots and a formal looking but also comfortable red shirt were her choice of outfit. Her dark-brown hair was shorter than he remembered and her green eyes shone brightly, though they, too, were cautious like McKay’s had been. But the biggest change in Doctor Elizabeth Weir was the holsters on each of her thighs. Some kind of small weapons were resting comfortably in them and she seemed not the slightest bit bothered by being armed. Jack knew very well Weir’s reputation for being a pacifist and while he himself had never believed that there was always a diplomatic solution to everything, he had admired that dream. Now, it seemed, that the doctor had changed enough to carry a deadly weapon on her.
Slightly behind her was Major John Sheppard, the pilot that had flown him from McMurdo to the Antarctica Outpost. The young man from five years ago looked older. His unruly dark hair was the same but he looked more haggard than Jack remembered. Stress lines were discernible on his face and a small scar was visible on his chin. The major stood only a step behind Dr. Weir, far enough to submit to her leadership but near enough to watch her back, if so needed.
There were others in the control room, of course, but all deferred to Dr. Weir. The silence stretched for a moment, before the doctor plastered a small smile onto her face and began walking down the stairs. Her gaze was assessing them, as they did her. This was a precarious situation and all of them knew it.
“General O’Neill.” She welcomed him and shook his hand, when it was offered.
“Dr. Weir.”
“Colonel Carter. Dr. Jackson. Teal’c.” She nodded at each of them, her smile getting bigger, when they greeted her back. Dr. Weir motioned to the silent sentinel behind her and introduced him as well.
“You remember my Second in Command, Major John Sheppard?” The major nodded at them but Jack still couldn’t quite dismiss what had been said. If Major Sheppard was the Military Commander of Atlantis, then Colonel Sumner was probably dead. A chill went down his spine. He hadn’t known Sumner very well but before he had gotten involved with the Atlantis Expedition, Sumner had been in command of SG-26, a group of very capable marines that had often been a good back-up for SG-1. With the major threat being the Wraith, the probable death of the Colonel couldn’t have been pleasant.
“Major.” He acknowledged the man.
“Well,” Weir said after a long pause, “why don’t we head to the conference room. There are a lot of things you don’t know. Your arrival in Pegasus was certainly not something we anticipated.”
“That’s SG-1 for you. We always arrive when you least expect us!” Jack quipped and the tension that had filled the room since their arrival lessened slightly.
“Jack!” The quiet reprimand came quickly from his favourite archaeologist.
“Daniel!”
“Jack.”
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“What?”
The playful banter was typical for the two of them and in the end Daniel simply rolled his eyes, sighed loudly and looked up, as if asking the heavens what he had done wrong to deserve this.
They entered the conference room through a series of multi-panel doors. It was a basic space with a large table and directly across the gate room from the operations centre. A few seats at the massive table were already taken. Some people Jack remembered from the Expedition files, while others were completely unknown to him.
SG-1 seated themselves on one side of the triangle-like table, while Weir, Sheppard and McKay sat directly opposite them.
With a diplomatic smile Weir began to speak.
“First, I’d like to introduce some of the people at the table, as I’m sure that you do not know everyone here.” When Jack did a `go on` gesture with his hand, she continued. “As you already know, to my right is Major John Sheppard, my Second in Command, to my left is Dr. Rodney McKay, Chief Scientist of Atlantis.”
Her gaze further drifted to her left side, where a dark-haired, kind-faced man sat. “Our Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Carson Beckett.” The doctor nodded at them. He had that kind of air about him that all good doctors had. It was the determination and stubbornness that seemed inherent in most medical personnel attached to the Stargate Program. Doctor Beckett reminded Jack very strongly of one Dr. Janet Fraiser, who had fallen in their seventh year of the program.
“Our Chief of Security, Sergeant Eugene Bates.” The man beside Beckett nodded also.
Finally she turned to the two people who Jack did not know.
“This is Specialist Ronon Dex of the Satedans, team leader of AR-2 and Fighting Instructor.” The exotic looking man grunted softly in acknowledgement. From his attitude it was clear that he wasn’t happy with their presence in Atlantis and somehow, Jack felt, that this man could be as dangerous as Teal’c, when provoked.
“And this is Teyla Emmagan of the Athosians, team leader of AR-3.” The woman inclined her head in a graceful greeting but did not say anything.
There was silence for a moment, before he caught the meaning behind the expectant face of Elizabeth Weir. Jack coughed a little but then spread his arms to encompass all of his former team mates.
“Yes, well. I’m Lieutenant General Jack O’Neill. This is Colonel Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and, of course, last but not least, Teal’c.”
Carter nodded, while Daniel smiled friendly and Teal’c bowed his head in his typical cool Jaffa way. He himself grinned slightly. SG-1 was treating this as a first contact situation and all of them had fallen into their normal roles, even after more than five years of not being on the same team. It was somewhat encouraging that he knew them well enough to feel safe with going into this situation.
“After we finally got our hands on some of the intergalactic hyperspace drives, a search and rescue mission was allowed to go to Pegasus. We’ve been searching for you for the past three weeks but, apparently, it’s you that found us.” Jack shrugged nonchalantly and looked around at the people of Atlantis, who shared a few significant glances.
An apologetic smile settled over Dr. Weir’s face, as she spoke.
“You have to forgive us for our caution in regards to you, but this galaxy is not without its dangers and many of our enemies would like to know where Atlantis exactly is. We had to be sure that you were who you said you were.”
“I can tell you that I’m pretty sure that I’m me.” Jack nodded seriously. The statement would have been funny had the Stargate Program not had problems with clones, mechanical duplicates and alternate dimension versions of the same people before.
“Then it’s time to tell you a little bit about our situation.”
__________________________________________________________
The banto sticks crashed against each other, vibrating with the power they had put into their movements. Heavy breathing was heard in the dimly lit room, sweat rolling down their skin making their training clothes sticky and wet. With a precise and quick move, she twisted aside, feinting right and trying to hit him from the left. The impeding blow was blocked hastily, adrenaline pumping through his body, and he moved to counterattack, aiming at her head but not succeeding, as she too blocked him. Both of them were now trapped in an intimate embrace, neither having the ability to move due to the fact that should either one do so, the advantage would fall to the other.
His harsh breathing kissed the back of her neck, making shivers travel down her body. She could feel him smirking at the effect he had on her and wanted to wipe it off his face. Arching her body back, fully knowing what that kind of contact did to him, she could only smile mischievously as he groaned. Many of their sessions ended with one of them against the wall and their clothes on the floor. But even though she wished for nothing more than that, there were some more important topics to talk about first.
“So, what do you think of them?” she asked quietly.
He voiced a silent protest at the interruption of their game but answered nonetheless.
“Seemed OK, so far. Very careful in what they said and how. I do not think that they want to harm us and you seemed to think that they were the true thing.”
In mutual agreement they both detangled themselves from each other and took their former guarding positions, their banto sticks poised and ready to defend or attack.
“They’re good. The best SG team the SGC ever had and they were the premier first-contact team on base. They got Earth more alliances than practically anybody else.”
He nodded and attacked her, trading a fast series of blows, then backed down again. They moved to circle each other like tigers, their steps careful, graceful and silent.
“Seems like people I would want on my side.”
“Jackson opened the stargate and our way to the stars. Carter is a genius. Teal’c a highly placed Jaffa and O’Neill is well liked by the government and Earth’s alien allies. I heard that the Asgard and especially Supreme Commander Thor love him to pieces.” Her eyes glowed with amusement and a quirky smile was on her lips.
“So, influential people, right?” He asked as she struck out, landing a glancing blow on his thigh before he could stop her.
“Yes. Hopefully, we can win them over. The files should make them understand what we went through and explain our attitude.”
“You think it’s a good idea to give them so much access?” His concern was genuine. Though he had not as much experience as her with these kinds of things, even he knew that not all parts of the US government were to be trusted.
“They’re not the N.I.D., thankfully. I do not want to think what could have happened, if it was them that had found us.” She shuddered slightly.
“So the famous SG-1, huh?” He distracted her from her previous thoughts and attacked her again, striking her on her arm and then backing away. “There were a lot of rumours going around the SGC, especially about Carter and O’Neill, when we were there.”
A flurry of movements had him pinned against a wall, her body against his, banto sticks and arms pressed to the hard surface over his head. Something wicked passed through her eyes, as she nibbled at his throat and his heart began to beat faster. His eyes darkened with desire and he leaned his head back, giving her more access and groaned.
“Seems like it’s tradition in the Stargate Program for CO and 2IC to fall in love with each other.” Her seductive whisper caressed his ear and his muscles tensed further, knowing that in a few moments their clothes would be discarded on the floor and a different, though similar, game would begin.
“I like traditions.” He grinned. “And we wouldn’t want to be the first to break them, now would we, Dr. Weir?”
Her gaze trailed down his body, finally settling on the evidence of his enthusiasm for the SGC traditions. Elizabeth raised an elegant eyebrow, an expression he knew well from various diplomatic talks, when she wanted to give an appearance of nonchalance.
“Indeed not, Major Sheppard.”
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Sam stared at the ocean and the towers of Atlantis, shimmering in the pale moonlight of New Lantea. It was truly a beautiful city, both a wonder of architecture and technology. To be here, on Atlantis, was a strange feeling. It had been revered through the ages, never forgotten, and had sparked myths and legends, which to this day still fascinated the majority of people on Earth. But even though a quiet peace lay over Atlantis, it was still deceitful. This galaxy was in a war with beings that were possibly even more horrible than the Goa’uld. At least with the Goa’uld, there was hope of freeing the host. The Wraith only used humans as food.
“What are you thinking, Sam?” The voice of her beloved general asked from behind her. After the introductions had been given, the Atlantis leadership had talked about their first year in the Pegasus galaxy, before they had been interrupted by a soldier, who had informed them about an emergency. Apparently a team, AR-7, had been captured by some locals on their mission because of some cultural misunderstanding and were now in dire need of some help. Needless to say, the meeting between SG-1 and the Atlantis personnel was aborted and set up to be continued tomorrow morning. Dr. Weir had given them some files and mission reports to read and promptly ordered one of the soldiers to lead them to the guest quarters.
“Wondering who’s worse, Goa’uld or Wraith.” She stated, turning around and looking at her team. SG-1 had wandered out to the balcony of the guest quarters – which, by the way, were a series of rooms, connected to each other by a small living room – and seated themselves on some kind of comfortable but strange looking couches.
He nodded thoughtfully, before answering.
“Difficult decision. On the one hand, you’ve got snakes, who want you as transportation and on the other hand, you got vampires, who think of you as an energy drink.” Jack looked at his hands and began moving them up and down, as if weighting one evil against the other. “Well, for me I think it’s the Goa’uld but perhaps I’m a bit biased. You can only be sucked dry once. But a car can always be repaired.” He spoke in a joking tone but Sam could see that his eyes remained serious. He, too, was not overly pleased with the new enemies in Pegasus.
“Have you already looked at the files?”
He nodded and they seated themselves beside Daniel, who was engrossed in the Atlantis Expedition Files. Teal’c was trying to Kel’no’rem on the other side of Daniel.
“A quarter of their original expedition is dead.” Daniel suddenly spoke up, his voice saddened by that fact. “And the first year in this galaxy was apparently hell. If not for the Athosians, they all would have starved to death. Viruses, an attempt to capture the city by the Genii and apparently an alternate version of Dr. Weir, who sacrificed herself in order to save the Expedition.” He shook his head, before he sighed loudly. This was definitely not what he had expected to find.
“At least the majority of them are still alive, Daniel.” Jack countered. “And doing well, from what I see. Dr. Weir seems respected and the marines are willing to follow Sheppard as Military Commander.”
“The IOA won’t like that, Jack. Sumner had the reputation of being a strict and by-the-book Colonel. They won’t like that the lose cannon Sheppard is doing his job.”
“Colonel Carter is right, O’Neill. Your IOA is most unreasonable in such things.”
“Then they will have to be reasonable, because I don’t think that the people here would be pleased, if we just oust one of their leaders. That is, if we even can.”
He was interrupted by a loud knock on the living room door.
“Come in!”
The door swished open and Rodney McKay walked in. He looked a lot more relaxed than that morning and only one weapon seemed to be in the weapon’s holster on his thigh.
“Hello.” He said somewhat self-consciously. “I, eh, wanted to know if you want some dinner.” Rodney shifted from one foot to another, clearly uncomfortable in the answering silence.
“Sure.” Sam smiled and put him at ease, as he gave her a small smile back. It was strange to see the arrogant doctor behave this way, but even she knew that sometimes people changed, especially if thrown into life-threatening circumstances. The other members of her team nodded and Rodney began to lead them to the mess hall. Lights in the corridors were dimmed and so it was easy to see the stars in the night sky through each window they passed. It was not long after they entered a transporter that they heard voices growing louder.
The mess hall was large and filled with people. Scientists, soldiers and what she assumed were locals of Pegasus ate together and laughed. The various languages of Earth gave the whole thing an appealing international flair. On one side of the hall were huge windows which gave an amazing view of one of Atlantis’ piers.
McKay quickly grabbed a tray and began loading his plate with food, commenting occasionally on what was good. And the advice was sorely needed, as nothing looked familiar. There was some kind of blue soup that was called Tarmik Soup and was apparently very popular on New Lantea.
“It’s good.” Assured them McKay, when he saw their sceptical looks. “A little bit like tomato soup but spiced up and fruity. It’s made of Tarmik fruits, only found here on New Lantea on the mainland.”
Sam, despite some misgivings, took some and ignored the way Jack seemed to be staring at her meal.
“You sure that’s edible, Carter? I know you like blue jell-o but this is taking it a bit far, don’t cha think?”
She glared at him and then looked at his very red steak. It was massive and looked more normal than the soup but still too big to be normal. As a side dish he had taken some kinds of yellow vegetables.
When everyone was loaded with food, SG-1 and McKay were soon seated at one of the bigger tables, right next to a huge window. The stars were shining brightly tonight and the sea was calm. Two moons were seen in the sky, one big and silvery, the other blood red. Lights flickered over the atmosphere, similar to the effect of Earth’s aurora borealis. Emerald green, various shades of yellow and red and a magnificent, shocking blue spread all over the sky. Sam had seen many wondrous things in her years in the stargate program but almost nothing had been as beautiful as this.
She took her spoon and carefully tasted the soup. It was, surprisingly, very good. A little bit spicy and definitely nothing like you’d find on Earth but good.
“Tastes good, doesn’t it?” A voice said from her side. The two locals Dr. Weir had introduced as Ronon and Teyla were both in the process of seating themselves on either side of McKay, their trays, too, filled with food.
“I remember that Rodney had been a bit sceptical about the Tarmik Soup, too, when we found the fruits.” Teyla gave as an explanation.
“Hey!” Rodney’s indignant cry made Ronon smirk and Teyla smile sweetly at him. “I thought it was some kind of citrus fruit and you know that I’m deadly allergic to it!” He scowled as he saw the expressions on the faces of his friends. “Yeah, yeah…Laugh it up! We’ll see what you’ll do when we have the next crisis and the Chief Scientist of Atlantis is lying in the infirmary dying of anaphylactic shock!”
Teyla patted him apologetically on the arm and his scowl lessened, before he huffed and turned to his meal, which was, amusingly enough, Tarmik Soup.
SG-1, who had watched the interaction with various amounts of amusement, noticed that all around them people seemed to lose a little bit of the tension that had gathered, when they entered the mess hall. Nobody had missed the glances people had given them and Sam was grateful that little by little the Atlantis inhabitants relaxed around them.
“How’s the steak?” Ronon asked, pointing at Jack’s meal and smirking proudly when the answer was positive. “I was on the hunting party that killed it.” He explained further, fierce pride shining in his eyes.
Rodney rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, only you and your Satedans would be crazy enough to go to M1M-316 and hunt dinosaurs.”
Jack choked and quickly grabbed a glass of water, gulping a bit down.
“Dinosaurs?” He asked, incredulous.
“Yes.” McKay nodded. “We considered the planet as an Alpha Site in our first year here but of course it couldn’t be a nice, uninhabited planet. No! Just as we were walking back to the gate there was a loud roar.”
“And you squeaked like a little girl, McKay!” needled Ronon.
Rodney glared at him, though he continued the story.
“Well, excuse me if I’m not as calm as some people when I see a five meters tall T-Rex looking at me like I was dinner!” Jack’s eyes bulged and the rest of his team was equally unnerved, though Teal’c had only raised an eyebrow. In that moment Sam remembered that they had shown their alien friend Jurassic Park and that he had also been quite keen to measure his might against one of those `truly magnificent specimen`. It took quite some time to convince him that there were no longer any dinosaurs around.
“We barely escaped from that planet.” Finished McKay, then added. “But do you think that this bulk of muscles would leave that planet alone? No, of course not! Every few weeks, he and a few other Satedans gate to the planet and hunt dinosaurs! It’s a miracle that they all come back alive!”
Ronon shrugged, obviously not concerned by Rodney’s words.
“I only wanted to measure my might against a worthy foe. Those dinosaurs are a cunning and powerful prey.” He said, as if that explained everything.
“When is the next hunting party? I would like to participate, if you would allow it.” Teal’c stated and Sam coughed to hide her laughter, when she looked at Jack and saw his horror-filled eyes. As Ronon and Teal’c stared at each other, then both grinned fiercely, she had the disconcerted feeling that this was the beginning of a truly terrifying and long friendship. Daniel only palmed his head and muttered something that sounded quite derogatory, while Teyla smiled indulgingly and McKay was shaking his head, as if not believing that they had found another one crazy enough to go dino-hunting.
The silence was interrupted when a small blur crashed into Rodney, who stiffened before sighing heavily and turning around. A little boy of no more than ten years had attached himself to his side and was hugging him tightly. Dark locks hung over his face and curious, innocent green eyes looked trustingly up at the astrophysicist.
“What is it, Aras?” McKay’s voice had softened somewhat, though it had not lost its annoyed tone.
“Have you seen my darius or nia?”
“No, I haven’t. Ronon?” He looked at the warrior questioningly as he lifted the young boy and settled him between himself and Teyla, who ruffled his hair. The boy pouted but smiled when she gave him a little orange fruit that looked like a grape.
“Last I heard they were sparring in the east spire.” A smirk settled on Ronon’s face and it got only bigger, when Rodney flushed a bright red.
“Ah. Again?” Rodney coughed.
“Sparring?” Daniel asked, interested.
“Yes, ah, sparring. They, uhm, have very intense sparring sessions.” The scientist looked flustered, his hands moving around nervously, though he tried to keep them still.
“Yes, very intense.” Ronon added. His eyes were full of mischief, as he obviously enjoyed seeing the unflappable scientist rendered into a stuttering, flushing mess. “I believe that you once walked into one of their sessions.” He turned towards SG-1. “From that point on everyone in the city knew not to disturb them, when they were in the middle of one.”
Understanding settled into the eyes of SG-1 and Jack, too, began to smirk. Sparring sessions, indeed.
Further talk was interrupted by the arrival of Major Sheppard and Dr. Weir through the mess hall doors. Both looked a bit tired but happy. Casually dressed in leather trousers and a white and red shirt, respectively, they looked relaxed. Each had a pair of sticks in their hands and they were smiling as they glanced at their table.
Aras, the little boy, sprang up from his seat and raced towards them.
“Darius! Nia!” He shouted and jumped at Sheppard, who twirled him around and then hugged him tightly, his face lightening up even more. Dr. Weir chuckled and stroked his hair, kissing his head lovingly.
Jack’s eyebrows rose and he glanced at the Atlantis people, catching the eye of McKay, who coughed again.
“Eh, nobody told you that they are married, huh?”
The general’s expression told him that no, he had not known that. Then wicked amusement began to displace the shock.
“So. Sparring?”