Author: Keira Marcos

Reading Time: 28 Minutes“General Sheppard, please report to the control room!” John’s head jerked up and he hissed when Anne Teldy followed through on her swing and smacked him broadly across the back with her bantos rod. He shook off her apologies and jogged over to retrieve his radio off the desk. They hadn’t used the citywide announcement system in weeks because Chuck had come out of the CIC with the unique ability to communicate with everyone, no matter their gene therapy status, telepathically. For him to get so flustered that he actually used the intercom was something to be concerned over. “Control. What’s going on?” John took the towel Teldy offered and exited the gym as Chuck excitedly told him that there were three ships of unknown origin on course for Atlantis. “How far out?” “Twenty minutes and closing fast, sir.” “Ally!” John shouted and stumbled on the stairs when she didn’t immediately appear. With the increase in the power of her systems, she could appear in ten different places at once without straining her central processor. He entered the control room and was stunned to not find her. “Atlantis Collective, designation Primitus Civitas, present yourself immediately!” “She can’t,” Rodney snapped as he left one console in favor of another. “Her central core is receiving an information dump on a level I’ve never seen in my entire life. All three ships are transmitting to her and have been since they dropped out of hyperspace. It’s taking up every bit…

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Reading Time: 42 MinutesThe new military uniforms were black, not much different in design or implementation from the ones they’d all worn from the SGC, outside of the use of pseudo leather in the field jackets, and combat boots. Rank insignia had been distributed much the same way the uniforms had and the military personnel had signed off on the new military code with little to no fanfare. John hadn’t been surprised—by the time he reached the enlisted personnel everyone had been informed so the surprise had worn off. It was the civilians that were the problem. One of them, and John wasn’t entirely sure which, was in the gateroom giving off a high level of anxiety and building anger.  There were about 30 people currently in the gateroom—preparing for a first contact mission that was going to last a week or more. A Jumper had already been prepped in the Jumper Bay and Elizabeth was going over the final points on the cultural information they’d managed to gather for Bates, who was leading the two teams off-world. Elizabeth separated from Bates and went over to Captain Chase Harris who had taken on the role of flight commander. All Jumpers on and off world were his responsibility and John was pleased with the level of competence and dedication the scientist had already demonstrated. He’d gone back into the simulator shortly after he’d signed his commission papers with the new military and completed a series of courses on the construction, repair,…

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Reading Time: 17 MinutesJohn decided mid-way through his sixth meeting on military procedures with the committee, which consisted of him, Rodney, Elizabeth, and two representatives from the mainland, that he absolutely hated meetings with very few exceptions. He cleared his throat suddenly and they all turned to look at him—the two men from the mainland were Genii and former soldiers in their military. He was pretty fucking sure one of them had been involved in the invasion of the city during the first year but for the sake of peace no one had brought that incident up. “All active military assets will have to reside on the city. Period. In order to live on the city, all active duty military assets must be gene carriers. The weapons and ships that the city will supply us with will only work for gene carriers. These points aren’t negotiable. However, I’m amenable to a militia on the mainland for defense against the Wraith if we are attacked from orbit again.” “Only the city can determine who receives the Lantean gene therapy,” one of the Genii men pointed out. “That means she will control who can join the military forces on the city.” “She will control who lives on her,” John clarified. “I think under the circumstances we can all agree that it is Atlantis’ right to determine who is allowed to live here and who isn’t. The city is a sentient life form and anyone who cannot treat Atlantis with the respect she…

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Reading Time: 17 Minutes“You mean the planet we’re on…”  Rodney trailed off. It had been three hours since the ZPM had come out of the NCL and they were in the regular staff meeting discussing Theseus’ desire to return to the planet he’d claimed for his home in Pegasus. It was a daunting and overwhelming subject for them to stay the least. “Isn’t the planet we originally chose once we reached this galaxy. In fact, we’ve been on over two hundred planets since arriving.” “And Earth?” John questioned. “Theseus matured on Earth and I was born there, but many of the materials that were integrated into the super structure came from different worlds within the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond.” A hologram spun gently over the center conference table, displaying a beautiful Earth-like world. “This is Lantea. It was chosen for its plentiful natural resources, fertile land, and abundant sea life. Theseus agreed with the choice because it was the most like Earth of all the planets they considered once we arrived here. He chose it as his homeworld in this galaxy.” “Why did the Ancients leave Lantea?” John leaned forward and took a deep breath. “Are there any problems in the local system that we need to worry about? Are any of the planets in orbit with Lantea inhabited? How many of them have functioning stargates?” “Scientific exploration. There was a time when we were used as a traveling research center. Then, when the Wraith conflict picked up, we…

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Reading Time: 31 MinutesJohn walked swiftly into his quarters and paused briefly at the sight of the sprawled form of McKay across the bed they’d been sharing for weeks. The scientist was unconscious, again. He wondered how he’d lasted through getting the new geeks settled considering the lack of sleep he’d gotten over the last four days. Sheppard sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his hand over Rodney’s t-shirt covered back. The scientist shifted under his hand and rolled over with a sigh. “Hey.” “Hey.” John leaned down and kissed his unresisting mouth with a smile. “Pretty interesting day we’ve had so far.” “Days that begin at the ass crack of dawn are always interesting—most of the time not in a good way.” Rodney wiggled under the covers and sighed. “The new people kept staring at me like I was a freak. I think I forgot about the appearance thing until they all just kept staring.” “Yeah, dropping ten years got old fast,” John admitted. “One of the new officers asked point blank about it. I was surprised that none of the Marines did when I met with them—I think the people from the SGC are generally very jaded.” He rolled onto his side and propped his head up. “I’m kind of surprised to see you here.” Rodney flushed. “My bed isn’t as comfortable as yours.” John quirked an eyebrow. “We have the same exact mattress, McKay.” “Not true,” Rodney insisted. “Besides, your quarters were closer…

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