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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Reading Time: 28 Minutes“The IOA doesn’t think it’s a good idea to send more people and supplies to Pegasus.” Daniel glared pointedly at Landry. “Are you serious? Those are our people out there! They are barely surviving, General. We sent them out there and they deserve our support. This is obscene.” “It’s not my decision to make Dr. Jackson; the IOA has given me no room for maneuvering. They want to reserve the ZPM the expedition sent us for one of our own ships in order to fight the Ori. We have bigger concerns that must be considered.” Daniel’s gaze hardened. “Fine. I understand you’ll be reporting to Washington in two days to discuss this situation with the President and General O’Neill?” “Yes.” “Good, you can take my resignation from the program with you when you go. I won’t be part of a mission that would abandon our own people in another galaxy to fight a war they have no hope of winning.” Daniel cleared his throat. “I’ll have my office cleaned out and the resignation on your desk before your departure.” “Dr. Jackson, give yourself some time to calm down,” Landry advised. “I’m just as frustrated by this issue as you are—but I know the only way I can work to change it is to stay here and try. Leaving isn’t going to help the people on the Atlantis mission.” Daniel paused and inclined his head. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’ll think about what I want to do…

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Reading Time: 24 MinutesThe entire expedition was in a large room just off the gateroom that they’d used to store trade goods short-term since their arrival on the city. It had a large wall of windows on one side and when John had mentioned using it for the meeting—a series of tables and chairs had come up out of the floor. Rodney had taken the floor first and taught everyone how to use the datapads that Ally had presented him with. The slim, foldable little computer tablets were a big hit with everyone. Mostly because not only were they slick as hell, but Ally had put some very cool 3D holographic games on them. After they’d wasted an hour playing games, Elizabeth had taken over the meeting and people had grudgingly closed their snarky little interactive chess games in favor of a series of reports that Ally had generated, concerning Earth in general and the IOA specifically. John sat near the front of the room as the betrayal of their situation swept over them all. The sixty-three dead members of the expedition were like ghosts in the room to him—each of them just as betrayed and outraged as their living peers. Thankfully, he was no longer being bombarded with their thoughts—the gene therapy had granted each person some level of mental privacy. He could pick up emotions very easily but invading the mind of a Lantean took a serious effort on his part. “This is horrible,” Marcus Stackhouse snapped. “For…

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Reading Time: 29 MinutesRodney’s medical testing took place while John lay recovering in an isolation ward. Atlantis erected shields around him to allow his mind to heal and further his training. His gifts of telepathic interaction had exceeded her estimations. John had become the human equivalent of a lie detector. In a moment, he could gather information at will, invading a person’s mind with military precision. It was a startlingly complicated gift but he found it very easy to control with everyone he touched except for Rodney. The weakness of that galled him. His emotional attachment to Rodney had overridden his own ethics. By the time Rodney was ready for the Citizen Induction Center two days later, John was on his feet and pretending everything was absolutely normal so he could at least observe. The mental shields Ally had taught him to build in the CIC were flexible and easy to erect. If he didn’t think about it—it was almost as if he’d always had the gifts the gene therapy had given him. Keeping himself out of everyone’s head was pretty easy to do as long as he wasn’t around McKay. He’d done his level best to give his friend the privacy he deserved but more often than not, that meant he couldn’t even stay in the same room with him for a long period of time. The most startling part of the whole thing had been when he’d gone to shave and had found himself looking at a face…

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Reading Time: 26 MinutesRodney dropped down in a chair beside the bed John had been put in. The remains of a meal lay abandoned on a tray table. He hadn’t seen the Colonel in over six hours because he hadn’t been willing to put Miko in the chair and then just walk away from her. Carson had used the data he collected on John to work up a plan to manage the symptoms of over using the chair and Miko had been fitted with an IV for fluids. John shifted under the covers and turned in Rodney’s direction. McKay reached out and arranged his blankets around him carefully. “He’s fine, Dr. McKay.” Rodney glanced up and found one of the nurses standing on the other side of the bed. She had a tablet PC in her hand and was taking a series of readings from a panel by the bed. “Did you guys get any fun new toys?” She smiled. “Well, we got this slick healing pod thing that came out of the wall in the back but unfortunately it doesn’t respond to any of our genes. We’re hoping to get the Colonel to try for us later when he’s rested up.” Marie motioned towards the panel above the bed. “This is a diagnostic panel. We knew about it before but there was never enough power to run them. It keeps an eye on all of his vitals for us.” Rodney nodded. He’d been the one to restrict the use…

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Reading Time: 24 Minutes“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” — African proverb * * * * Rodney was shaking with a mixture of relief and excitement as he and John rushed through the wormhole and back into the safe embrace of Atlantis. Another Wraith fleet was heading their way and they’d done the unthinkable—they’d found a ZPM. A full ZPM. Everyone in the gate room stopped and stared at what he held, and John’s hand tightened on his shoulder. Elizabeth rushed down the stairs, her eyes dark and shining with emotion. “Rodney.” “Yeah.” Rodney nodded. She reached them and touched the ZPM with hesitant, reverent fingers. “How much of a charge?” “It’s full, Elizabeth.” John’s voice was hoarse with emotion. He cleared his throat. “Full.” “Teyla and Ford?” Elizabeth asked her hand curling around one of Rodney’s wrists to keep him moving. “They are finishing up negotiations. When we explained how dire our situation was, the leader of the village insisted we return to Atlantis immediately with their trade offering.” Elizabeth nodded and smiled, her fingers trembling against the cool, glossy surface of the ZPM. “How many of us have to sleep with them?” John started laughing. It had been a running joke on Atlantis for months that in the end, they would have to resort to selling their own asses to survive and everyone in the room started smiling. “Nothing like that.” His expression turned serious. “They want to join the Athosians on…

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