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Atlantis San Francisco Bay
LtCol Sheppard was quiet as he watched the nearby boats patrolling the edge of Atlantis’ cloak, “Colonel?” Lorne called out as he approached from the gate room.
“Yes Major?” John replied as his eyes continued to track the patrol boats.
“Supplies request forms,” Lorne stated as he handed a tablet over to Sheppard, “seems personnel are stockpiling…supplies,” he commented as John’s eyes widen slightly at the list of items being smuggled into the city by his men.
“Just the Marines?” he questioned.
“No,” Lorne shook his head, “it’s everybody,” he shrugged slightly, “do you want to put a stop to it or should I help with the order requests?”
“Help,” the Military Commander countered, “the IOA and SGC haven’t said anything, but let people get their supplies before orders come down.”
“You think they’ll let us go back?” Lorne replied.
“I don’t know,” Sheppard stated as he turned to face his XO. “Even if they say no to Pegasus, the city can’t remain in the Bay forever.”
“Agreed,” Lorne nodded his head in agreement, “I’ll start to slip in additional requisition requests, just in case.”
“Good,” Sheppard agreed as the pair entered the gate room, only the military was left in the city, all of the civilian personnel had been sent to either the mountain or to Area 51.
“Colonel, Major,” Stackhouse acknowledged the pair entered the gate room.
“Sergeant,” Lorne replied as he handed the tablet over, “start the order requests.”
Stackhouse’s eyes widen slightly in glee, “really?”
“Really,” Sheppard replied, “nothing illegal.”
“Yes sir,” Stackhouse headed down towards little Tripoli so he could let the others know they could continue to stockpile to their hearts content with the Colonel’s blessing.
*~*~*
A couple of weeks later after getting Colonel Sheppard’s blessing, the city was pretty well stocked with more supplies incoming either through the SGC or from private purchases as people started spending the combat pay that had been collecting interest in their bank accounts. There was even talk about setting up a store on one of the piers, the Marines were setting up tents and tables so people could set up items that they wanted to trade.
Lorne paused when he spotted General O’Neill walking down the hallway to him, “General,” Lorne called out in surprise, “I didn’t know you were onboard.”
“Hello Major,” Jack acknowledged as he glanced around at the city, “some very questioning news has reached my desk all the way in DC.”
“Oh?” Lorne frowned as he led the General to Colonel Sheppard’s office.
“Yes,” Jack stated as the pair entered the Military Commander’s office where Sheppard was reading a golf magazine, “Colonel.”
“General O’Neill,” John got to his feet as he motioned for the General to take a seat across from him as Lorne pulled his desk chair over to John’s desk, “I didn’t know you were visiting.”
“Not visiting this time,” Jack countered swiftly as he glanced between the two Military Commanders of Atlantis, “paperwork,” he glanced over at the Major, “people are concerned about some of the supply orders coming out of here.”
“Oh?” John commented with a frown in mild concern, “what’s the issue with the supply requests?”
“Stockpiling for a war Colonel?” Jack stated as he handed over the folder in his hands.
John looked through the documentation the general handed to him, “MREs?” John frowned in confusion, “that’s the problem?” he questioned with an odd hitch in his voice as he exchanged a confused glance with Lorne, out of everything that was on their request orders, MREs raised a red flag?
“The order requests are for four times the amount for the number of personnel stationed in Atlantis,” Jack replied as he took the paperwork back form the Military Commander.
“Major?” John glanced toward his second in command.
“Marines,” Lorne shrugged, “the mess isn’t opened round the clock anymore and they requested the MREs to be stocked for after hours.”
“Alright,” Jack nodded his head in acknowledgement, frowning slightly, “why isn’t the mess opened?”
“The civilians were pulled from the city,” Lorne replied, “we only get meal deliveries from the mainland once a week and we heat them at scheduled times.”
“That isn’t good,” O’Neill glanced out the nearby window at the Pacific Ocean as he thought over the Major’s statement, “I’ll get the mess restaffed full time, but keep the MRE orders the same until the mess personnel are back on station.”
“Yes sir,” Lorne nodded as he exchanged relieved looks with Sheppard, eating reheated food and packaged meals wasn’t the healthiest meal options.
“Next,” O’Neill glanced back through the documentation, “the armory?”
“SGT Rodriguez is getting the armory and weapons range up to regulation, “John replied instantly.
At the questioning look in Jack’s eyes Lorne supplied the additional information being requested, “we no longer had an excuse as to why we couldn’t let him update,” the Major offered simply.
“Excuse?”
“We couldn’t get the equipment when we were in Pegasus,” John bluntly stated, “so I couldn’t tell him no anymore since we’re now on earth without regulations being quoted at me so I ok’d the requests.”
“Regulations?” the General ruefully shook his head.
“Yes, sir,” Lorne replied with a grimace, “SGT Rodriguez is very…. passionate about regulations.”
“I understand,” Jack’s voice replied as he recalled the endless paperwork still residing in his inbox for his review and signature back at the SGC, “so the rest of the orders?”
“Getting offices up to code,” Sheppard replied with a shrug as he led the way into his and Lorne’s shared office, despite multiple office spaces available to two still decided to share the overcrowded space, which was now home to new cabinets and an overabundant collection of office supplies.
“Nice,” Jack stated as his gaze took in the still unopened filing folders lying precariously on top off what appeared to be a pile of pens and highlighters on a nearby chair as well as a new deluxe printer sitting on the floor waiting to be connected to the network. “Paper?”
“When on Earth,” Sheppard shrugged as he gestured toward the newly installed white board and the checklist that was slowly being whittled down.
“Do as earthlings do,” Jack continued as he glanced around the crowded space and didn’t see any paper, “Paper supplies?”
“West pier,” Lorne grimaced in dismay, “the Apollo transported the boxes onto the pier and we haven’t moved them yet,” glancing over at the white board and the to-do list that was growing and not shrinking like he and Sheppard wanted.
“Why the pier?”
“The gate room is currently packed with supplies that were beamed down by the Daedalus,” Lorne replied, “as is the conference room, jumper bay, the rest of the piers…” the Major’s voice trailed off slowly, “everything is getting moved but since the ships aren’t in orbit to help, we’ve been moving everything the old fashion way.”
“On the plus side, they got all of the supplies into the city,” Sheppard replied positively, “imagine if we had to bring everything in by jumper.”
“Yes sir,” the dread on the normally serene Major’s face was comical to the General.
“Find the positive,” Jack agreed with Sheppard, as he read the pending list, “greenhouses?” he questioned.
“The marines found greenhouses out on the west pier and they have been trying to get them operational in their spare time,” Sheppard supplied.
“Why?” at the General’s question about the greenhouses, they had decided to simply show them to him, “wow,” his voice trailed off as the trio came to a stop inside of greenhouse number one. The marines had cleared them out and was slowly repairing the damage from years of disuse.
“Is that you Colonel?” Rivers called out as he emerged form the back of the greenhouse,
“General!” he snapped to attention.
“At ease,” Jack waved him off as he glanced around and started to quiz him on the status of the greenhouses and about the reason for the push for fixing the greenhouses.
After their tour of the greenhouses the trio walked back toward the main tower, “your men are keeping busy,” Jack commented quietly as they passed by a group of Marines moving gym equipment to the newly open gym on the east pier.
“Yes sir,” John replied swiftly, “busy Marines are better than bored Marines.”
“So, how many projects are in process?” Jack questioned seriously, “off-the-record.”
“We finished clearing the rest of the city,” Sheppard gestured around them as they went out onto a nearby balcony, “all labs have been marked with a red warning sign.”
“Warning?”
“Yes sir,” Lorne nodded toward a group of Marines who were heading to the north pier, “people are spreading out throughout the city, bigger quarters, new gyms, parks, swimming pool…”
“You have found a lot,” Jack commented as he gazed around at the nearby towers, spotting what appeared to be a domed garden on top of a nearby tower, “what do you need?”
“Sir?” John frowned.
Jack waved around at the developing city, “you’re creating a community, the issue is that the IOA won’t let the civilian scientists return to the city outside of day trips,” he paused as he spotted a jumper appear through the cloak, “there is nothing I can do to undue that decision but I can provide their military equivalent.”
“Like military mess specialist,” Lorne commented understanding growing.
“Right,” he nodded, “I’ll arrange to get the Construction and Agriculture SG teams from the mountain sent over here to help.”
“Won’t Landry object?”
“I’ll deal with him,” O’Neill countered swiftly, “the teams mostly hangout in the mountain anyway, I don’t think they’ll raise any objections to actually having actual projects to complete.”
~*~*~*~*
Jack materialized in the gate room with Daniel standing beside him the next time he visited Atlantis three months later. He frowned at the awe that overtook Daniel’s face at the site of the gate room, “Daniel you have been here multiple times, it is no longer all shiny and new.”
“Yeah, but unlike you I don’t get to come here when I want to either,” Daniel countered, referring to the current ban of civilian personnel in the city by the IOA, “as it is I had to literally threaten to kidnap you to come along.”
“Yeah,” Jack paused, “why didn’t you just ask?”
“General Landry refused every single request I submitted,” Daniel revealed, “the only reason he didn’t stop me this time is because you outrank him.”
“That is true,” Jack nodded, “next time just ask me,” he ordered as he glanced around quickly spotting Sheppard approaching them form the control room.
“Fine,” Daniel replied with surprise on his face at Jack’s statement.
“General, Daniel,” his surprise at the civilian being in Atlantis was evident, “how…”
“Oh,” Daniel pointed at Jack, “I made Jack bring me along.”
“He was extremely adamant about coming along,” Jack glanced at Daniel who was now wondering toward the nearby balcony.
“I see,” John stated as handed over the tablet that he was carrying.
“Will you be joining us as we tour the newly opened parts of the city?” John asked.
“I would love too,” Daniel answered as he hurried back to join the pair as they headed to the transporter, “How much of the city have you investigated?”
“A good chunk of it,” John replied, as he tapped the screen for the southern pier, “in fact there is something that my men have recently found that I think that you will enjoy Doctor Jackson.”
As the trio entered the expansive room with shelves soring all the way to the dome roof, “Oh my god,” Daniel gasped in disbelief, “it’s a library, an actual physical library.”
Jack frowned as Daniel started trailing his fingers along the spines of the books on the nearby shelves, “you couldn’t keep this to last?” Jack complained lightly, “he’s not going to want to leave now.”
“True,” but he nodded at the expression of complete and utter bliss on Daniel’s face, “but keeping it to last wouldn’t let him enjoy it,” John replied referring to the fact that civilians weren’t allowed in the city.
“Right,” Jack sighed as he moved toward a nearby bench gesturing for Sheppard to sit down next to him as they started to go over the contents of the tablet that Jack had been glancing though during their walk.
Several hours later Daniel finally emerged form his immersion into the ancient library, and made his way back to where Jack and Colonel Sheppard were sitting. “I hope that I didn’t keep you from anything,” he stressed to the pair.
“Not at all,” Jack locked the tablet, “we just finished reviewing the reports.”
“Oh,” Daniel glanced between the pair in confusion, “what’s going on here Jack? You normally bug me when I get distracted, so what’s the deal?”
Jack frowned as he glanced around down at the life signs detector that Sheppard held loosely in his hand, displaying just the three of them in the area, “things are getting complicated in Washington with the new president,” he stated bluntly, “he’s not a fan of the whole program,” Jack waved his hand indicating the city.
“Is he going to shut down the program?” Daniel demanded as he glanced between the pair.
“Yes,” Jack acknowledged as he clutched the tablet tighter in his hands, “he plans to shut down the program when he makes his State of the Union speech in March.”
“That means,” Daniel muttered.
“Six months,” Sheppard stated bluntly, “the program gets shut down in six months.”
“But what about Atlantis…” Daniel stopped when he spotted the glance between the two, “you plan to have Atlantis leave earth before he announces the shut down,” he realized as he thought of the fact that Jack had been traveling to Atlantis more often recently, especially since his recent return from Washington.
“I told you he’d figure it out,” John informed the General with an easy grin overtaking his face.
“But Atlantis has a skeleton crew…”
“I’ve been increasing the number of personnel slowly,” Jack revealed, he’d been slowly shifting the veteran SGC personnel to the city, each person was vetted by O’Neill before he offered them the opportunity. Every single person so far had said yes, the desire to remain in the program was higher than their desire to stay on earth. All the personnel he had transferred so far had been single and held no major ties to earth, until two personnel he had spoken with yesterday, one a single father with two teenage sons and another married to a nurse at the base hospital with three children, both had requested permission to talk to their family about a move to a new base.
“Not civilians,” Daniel countered.
“No, the IOA won’t allow any civilian to travel to Atlantis for any reason,” John replied with a grimace.
“But I’m here,” Daniel glanced over at Jack with confusion, if there was really an issue even his bugging Jack wouldn’t have gotten him here.
“Yeah,” Jack glance around before replying, “I didn’t ask for permission.”
“Jack.”
“Look,” Jack stood up swiftly, “the point is this Daniel, do you want to go with Atlantis or do you want to remain on earth?”
“Atlantis,” he replied with an ease, “but the IOA…”
“Colonel?”
“Get everything you want to bring with you together,” John stated, “I’ll have Lorne arrange some jumper runs to move your belongings to Atlantis,” he gestured around the library, “this will be your office, and I will have living quarters arranged for you as well as for General O’Neill.”
“Alright,” Daniel nodded his head in agreement, “What about Sam?”
“You can’t tell anyone Daniel,” Jack ordered, “not Sam, Teal’c, Vala, or Cam. No one.”
“They’ll realize something is going on when my office and apartment gets emptied.”
“I’ll get Landry to tell them that you were loaned out to the Outpost to help cover for Doctor Soren,” Jack answered.
“What happened to Vance?”
“Broke his leg on the ice,” Jack replied, “he’s heading home to recover. They need support for a couple of months until his replacement arrives.”
“And once they do?”
“You’ll return to Atlantis where you will remain until they depart,” Jack stated bluntly.
“And until then?”
Jack waves his hand around the encompassing the entirety of the city, “enjoy.”
~*~*~*~*
Four months to go until D-day.
Jack studied the files in front of him; despite his best efforts he was still unable to get any civilian personnel reassigned to Atlantis in any capability. So, he instead filtered in as many non-gate team personnel to the city.
“General?” Walter paused at the doorway to the conference room which Jack was using as his office during his visit to the SGC.
“Yes Walter?” Jack questioned as he glanced up form the SG1 report he was currently reading over.
“Doctor Tran and Doctor Martinez,” he said both names with a strange ease.
“What about them?” Jack looked up sharply, both were scientists who specialized in ancient tech.
“Their both reservists,” Walter revealed as he handed over their reserve files, “although never have been on orders since they entered the program.”
“What?!” Jack exclaimed, “seriously?”
“I know that you’re trying to get scientists to Atlantis, but are restricted to military personnel,” Walter replied as he pulled out orders for both doctors, “their orders are already written and just need you signature so I can have them processed.”
“That’s,” he trailed off, “that’s very good work, are there any other…?” he questioned.
“Three more,” he replied, “Navy.”
“Pull.”
“Yes, sir,” Walter took the signed orders and replied that he would have both doctors report to the conference room.
“Walter,” Jack called after him.
“Yes sir?”
“Well,” Jack waved his hand lightly, knowing that the seasoned Master Sargeant knew what was going on even though no one had told him.
“I have my sons,” he replied with a frown.
“I know,” Jack replied simple, “and…?”
“I would need to talk to them.”
“Do it tonight and let me know by tomorrow,” Jack ordered, he paused and then added, “Tell Siler I’ll need his answer by then as well.”
“Yes sir,” Walter hurried out to complete his assigned tasks.
*~*~*~*~*
One month to go.
Jack appeared in a flash of light in the Atlantis gate room, “this seems familiar,” he drawled his visits had increases in the past month, to weekly.
“Welcome back General,” Lorne commented as he greeted the General, “Colonel Sheppard is in the chair running some checks on the cities engines and wormhole drive.”
“Excellent,” Jack clapped his hands together, “and did you get?”
“All five reservists have arrived,” Lorne smiled, “three specialists in Ancient tech, one biologist and one physicist,” Lorne paused, “how…”
“They were the only reservists in the mountain but there’s two more over at Area 51 I’m in the process of recruiting, both specialists in Ancient tech as well as both being pilots.”
“Still unable to get…”
“I’m afraid not,” Jack shook his head regretfully, McKay, Beckett, Zelenka, and the rest of the Atlantis civilians were being watched by the IOA and it was impossible to get close to any of them.
“Everyone whose signed on has already sent their belongings,” Lorne revealed as he walked toward the crates being transported form the jumper bay to the living quarters across the city.
“Was…”
“Doctor Jackson had your belongings moved to your room,” Lorne stated as they entered the transporter selecting the location for Jack’s room.
“How has Doctor Jackson been behaving since he’s arrived?” O’Neill questioned with a slight turn of his head.
“Happy as a toddler let lose in a toy store,” Lorne replied as the transporter door opened on the floor of the General’s rooms.
“So, normal,” Jack nodded his head as he followed the Major into his assigned quarters, “nice,” he whistled as he took in the floor to ceiling windows that gave him an unobstructed view of the city and the ocean beyond.
“Jack!” Daniel called out as he joined the pair in Jack’s quarters, “I just missed you in the gate room.”
“Yes, you did,” Jack nodded toward the hanging Simpsons poster, “I see you unpacked for me.”
“I had the time,” Daniel shrugged, he had unpacked Jack’s belongings when the IOA had been in the city for a random inspection a couple of weeks before, “oh, did you know that Jon is here?”
“I was aware,” Jack had reached out to his clone who had been traveling across the states since he had graduated. He had offered him the choice, to join the SGC as a member of Atlantis but never able to return to Earth. His clone had said yes without a second thought, “he hasn’t caused any problems?” he frowned at the Major, technically his clone offered nothing to the city as an adult, but he hadn’t been able to just leave him alone on a planet where everyone may turn on him if they ever discovered the truth about his origins.
“No,” Lorne shook his head, “in fact he’s been helping out as a light switch in the labs, which has freed up Colonel Sheppard and myself to finish getting the city ready.”
“Excellent,” Jack nodded, “I heard that you had some family troubles?” he questioned the Major, recalling the report from Sheppard about his second being off Atlantis for an emergency.
“My sister and her family were in a car crash,” he replied, sorrow filling his eyes at the memory of seeing his sister and her husband laying in the morgue.
“And…”
“I have custody of my nephews, they are all in the city now,” he replied.
“Good,” Jack nodded, “they haven’t had any issues?”
“General all three boys have the gene and take great joy in making the city light up like a disco ball.”
“It does?”
“Apparently,” the Major laughed at the memory of the first time it had happened, “the city behaves differently with the kids, the theory is that the city knows that they are children with the gene and prevents them from accessing anything dangerous to them.”
“That is good,” Daniel commented, imagining if one of the kids accessed one of the labs by accident.
“Yeah, parental controls,” Lorne replied, “the city also prevents them from piloting the jumpers.”
“You tested that?”
“The Colonel did, General,” Lorne answered, he left the General to his self as he headed down toward the western pier where the Daedalus had just transported in a new supply shipment as well as some additional supplies that the crew had ordered and had sent to an apartment that Colonel Sheppard was renting as a designated transportation spot. The apartment was located in the middle of San Francisco which allowed Atlantis personnel to go shopping or order items online without worrying about fitting everything into a jumper, standard policy was to label and leave all bulk items in the apartment and for Daedalus to transport items into the city whenever they were in orbit.
~*~*~*~*~*
“What the?” Lorne questioned as he joined Sheppard and the gathered Marines by the storage bins that Daedalus had just sent them, “Colonel what…” they were used to the supply runs but this wasn’t on the schedule.
“Spare naquadah generators,” Sheppard stated simply as Stackhouse lifted one partially out of its case, “this has to be a wrong delivery,” not even General O’Neill had been able to get that request approved.
“Colonel Sheppard,” Caldwell’s voice called out from behind them.
“Colonel Caldwell,” Sheppard acknowledged as his men acknowledged the other Colonel, “we didn’t order…”
“I know,” Caldwell replied with a dry laugh, “Doctor McKay sends his greetings.”
“McKay?!” Sheppard’s eyes widen slightly, “he hasn’t been…”
“Not Atlantis,” Caldwell pointed upward, “he’s been to Daedalus quite a few times since the lockdown was announced.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“All former Atlantis civilians’ emails and phone calls are being intercepted,” Caldwell replied, “the good doctor realized what was going on and has been moving behind the scenes without alerting the IOA of what he’s doing.”
“But how?”
“Doctor McKay and Doctor Zelenka have both been gradually collecting items for Atlantis, but didn’t have a way to get it safely to the city,” he paused as another collection of containers appeared on the pier.
“Then how?”
“McKay realized that things were off with the crew last time he was onboard,” Caldwell shook his head slightly, “he spotted the collection of containers and bags in the hanger bay that the crew had been bringing onboard whenever they came back from earth.”
“You know.”
“General O’Neill talked to each ship individually,” Caldwell confirmed, “he has shifted people around if they expressed a desire to remain on earth or join Atlantis.”
“But…”
“Everyone on Daedalus said yes as soon as they were told several months ago,” Caldwell stated bluntly, “we were instructed to not broadcast it to anyone to avoid issues with someone accidently overhearing.”
“But McKay,” Sheppard replied.
“Doctor McKay,” Caldwell confirmed.
“In that case tell your people to go ahead and send their belongings down and we’ll arrange quarters for everyone.”
“Will do,” Caldwell stepped away as he communicated with his ship to let them know they could send down the items sitting in the hanger bay.
Lorne quickly arranged for a series of working parties, a handful of men to get the equipment from the good doctors into storage and to arrange rooms for the Daedalus’ crew and arrange to get their bags moved once they arrived.
“They’re still helping,” Lorne commented softly.
“Yeah, but we can’t protect them if this blows up in their faces,” he glanced across the containers that Rodney and Radek had sent, “if the IOA finds out not even General O’Neill will be able to help them escape.”
“I can’t what?” Jack questioned as he approached them with Daniel following closely behind him.
“McKay,” Sheppard replied as he gestured toward the nearby containers that had Area 51 marked on the side.
“What did the good doctor do now?” Jack groaned.
“Sent us naquadah generators,” he drawled softly, “as well as spare computer equipment and what looks like the entire contents of a couple stores,” he spotted a couple crates containing DVDs and games and even more crates were being transported down.
“Damn,” Jack whistled quietly in admiration, “how’d they manage that?”
“It’s Rodney,” Daniel countered simply as a Marine handed a container over to Colonel Sheppard.
“Colonel, this one is labeled for you.”
John frowned as he set the container on a nearby crate and popped open the locks, and was greeted by the two ZPMs that had been at Area 51 for research, “damn.”
“That’s going to move up the schedule,” Caldwell commented as he returned to join them staring at the ZPMs.
“Colonels,” Jack addressed both, “you have 24 hours starting now. Get everything and everyone you need onboard.”
“Yes sir,” the pair responded as they realized that the waiting was finally over with but the danger had just increased a hundred hold.
~*~*~*~*~
Random transports occurred all over the planet throughout the night, people and equipment disappearing from behind locked doors in secured facilities. Despite being only given an hour notice, both Rodney and Radek were ready to go in the allotted timeframe when Colonel Caldwell contacted them. While there so many people they wanted to speak too and give the option of joining them, they couldn’t take the risk. While all of the ship’s commanders had been told of the plan only the Daedalus was leaving with Atlantis, the handful of crewmembers who had decided to go from the other ships were transported to Daedalus for departure.
The only other civilian from the Atlantis expedition to be told of the departure was Doctor David Parrish, who had been stationed down in Antarctica at the Outpost, and once he arrived onboard the Daedalus, carrying the ZPM that had been powering the ancient chair there.
“Is that?” Rodney was stunned, both he and Zelenka were onboard Daedalus, they couldn’t risk anyone noticing their sub-q transponders in Atlantis.
“Yes,” David nodded as he quickly handed it over to Rodney.
“We need it installed quickly Doctor,” Caldwell ordered sharply, pulling Rodney out of his confusion and into action running toward the engineering spaces with Radek following closely behind him, “Doctor Jackson said to leave you for last.”
“Yes,” David nodded, “I helped maintain Doctor Jackson’s cover at the Outpost when his teammates on SG1 tried to visit,” he answered dryly.
“You know that this is one way?”
“Yes,” David nodded, assuring the Colonel that he understood the situation, “I actually left my belongings on Atlantis, the same as Doctor McKay,” he smiled at Caldwell’s bewildered expression, “I always was planning on coming back.”
“How?” he frowned, “I thought that the IOA inspected your quarters after you left.”
“I stored my gear with a team mate,” he replied, reminding the Colonel that he had been on a gate team, “same as McKay and Zelenka did.”
“Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne and…?”
“LT Donovan,” he replied.
~*~*~*~*~
“Colonel Sheppard, what are you doing?” demanded General Landry over the radio in the chair room, “you are not authorized to depart the planet!”
“Sorry about that General,” Sheppard replied as he focused on keeping the ship leveled as they rose from the Pacific Ocean., “but we’re leaving the planet.”
“On whose orders?” the demand crackled over the radio.
“Mine,” growled Jack as he moved around the chair room as he kept watch over the nearby monitors on the city’s status, spotting Major Lorne’s youngest nephew, Linc hiding in the corner of the room.
“O’Neill!” Landry gasped in shock disbelief, “what have you done General?” he demanded as he called for someone to contact the President.
“Come on Hank,” Jack countered, “you know as well as I what’s coming and I’m not the only one whose been making plans!”
Landry cursed loudly as he shouted at Carter to take over, “Sir, what are you doing?” she questioned, the worry was evident in her voice.
“Oh, you know me,” Jack countered.
“I don’t,” Carter paused as she took in the technician sitting in the control room, “where’s Walter?” she questioned Cam who was standing nearby with Vala and Teal’c standing next to him.
“Family emergency,” Vala replied as she frowned trying to figure out what Sam was getting too.
Carter glanced around the room as she quickly grabbed General Landry’s shoulder and whispered, “find out whose missing from the base today,” Landry’s eyes widen as he realized what Carter was referring too, “Jack, this is not going to end well,” as Landry headed toward his office and the morning roster.
“Oh, I don’t know about that Colonel Carter,” Jack countered with ease, as he beckoned for Linc to come join him by the chair, “I think I did a pretty good job with everything.”
“The IOA won’t let you just take Atlantis,” she pleaded, attempting to get Jack to listen to her.
“Actually, I don’t think they’ll mind all that much,” he countered as he lifted Linc up and carried him closer so he could watch, “after all they were planning to sink the city after all,” he smiled softly as Linc scrutinized as the chair lite up as John controlled the city’s engines.
“Jack what are you talking about?” Sam demanded as she exchanged glances with Michaell and the rest of SG1.
“The President is shutting down the program in March,” he revealed over the channel, causing everyone listening to freeze in utter disbelief.
“What?”
“There’s no way that’s going to happen!” exclaimed Cameron as he spotted General Landry reenter the room with a clipboard in his hands, “General what exactly is going on here?” he questioned darkly.
“The President and the IOA will be announcing the closure of the Stargate Program in March during the President’s annual State the Union Address,” he stated simply as the people surrounding him gazed around in complete disbelief.
“So, Atlantis is making a break for it then,” Vala nodded her head in agreement, siding with the mutiny.
“Vala!” Carter exclaimed in surprise.
“Oh, don’t act all surprised,” Cam countered, “so I guess that Daniel is there as well?” he asked over the radio.
“Cameron,” Daniel’s voice came over the radio, “how are things going there?” he questioned.
“Oh, you know people going off the reservation,” he replied as he spotted the look of betrayal in Carter’s eyes, “I take it you knew all this?”
“Yeah,” Daniel replied with an ease that was evident over the radio, “Jack told me a while ago.
“But, why?” not tell me, was Carters unspoken question.
“Look I have to let you go Sam, we’re about to break orbit and I need to get ready,” Daniel shut off the radio as he gestured for Jack to pass over the still memorized Linc, “you little man are going to come with me, I’m sure that your brothers and babysitter is missing you.”
“Gate room,” John stated from the chair, “Parrish is watching over all of the kids there.”
“Understood,” Daniel nodded his head in agreement as he headed towards the control room in order to drop off his young charge.
“But,” Linc twisted around in Daniel’s arms to look back at John.
“I know that you want to watch, but you need to stay with the others,” Daniel paused mid-step, “I’m positive that your Uncle or Colonel John,” as the kids have all started to call him, “will bring you down after we land and let you watch for your heart’s content,” after all Rodney will need to do maintenance on the city’s system, and hopefully he wouldn’t mind the little boy hanging around since all three of the kids spent a good chunk of their time with either Colonel Sheppard or Major Lorne since the pair shared an office.
“Promise?”
“Promise,” he grinned in response, and he entered the transporter to travel he the gate room.
“Lincoln!” called out Doctor Parrish spotted Daniel carrying in the youngest of Major Lorne’s nephews, “where have you been?!”
“I followed Colonel John,” he grinned as he pushed out from Daniel’s hold and slid down to the floor and rushed over to join his brothers who were playing with toys with a handful of the other children.
“He escaped through the vent,” David said dryly as he gestured toward where an entrance panel was laying on the floor.
“An escape artist,” Daniels mused quietly, in order to avoid the other children to overhear their conversation.
“Unfortunately,” Jon O’Neill stated as he moved over to join them.
“Great,” Daniel closed his eyes as the jolted slightly as they vanished in a jump.
“Problems?” Jon questioned when spotted the worry on Daniel’s face.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “General Landry and Sam,” he didn’t need to expand beyond merely saying their names.
“Damn,” Jon sighed as he closed his eyes momentarily, the dread slowly growing in his chest.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Carter sat in silence with Cam sitting across from her, documents spread out across the conference room table between them, “I don’t know where to start,” she muttered.
“It seems pretty easy to me,” Mitchell countered with a steady ease in his voice, “the President shut down the Stargate program,” he stated bluntly, “and no one cares that Atlantis left,” in fact the President and the Joint Chiefs had seemed happy that the problem left and they no longer have to deal with the situation.
“But all these people are missing!” she gestured around at the various files labeled with a person’s name.
“They’re not missing though,” Cam countered as he rested his hands on the conference room table, “every single one of them decided to leave earth.”
“But…”
“Atlantis, Daedalus,” Cam pointed at each file, “hell even the Apollo and Odyssey left a month after Atlantis and Daedalus left.”
“But…”
“Carter, people leave, and they made the choice,” he stated bluntly, “it wouldn’t even surprise me if the Sun Tzu and the Hammon follow them as well,” he shrugged as he pushed himself to his feet, “the Stargate program is done and there are only two ways forward from here: either leave the earth and never return or remain.”
“I can’t,” she looked down as tears threaten to overtake her.
Mitchell sighed softly as he walked out of the conference room and headed down toward the gate room were Vala and Teal’c were waiting, “Teal’c, Vala,” he called out with a warmth in his voice that hadn’t been there when he had spoken with Carter, “heading out?”
“Yes, Colonel Mitchell,” Teal’c lowered his head in respect, “we are the last people to depart,” Teal’c glanced around the nearly empty base.
“I’m going to miss you two,” Mitchell said as he returned Vala’s hug as she grabbed her bag and followed Teal’c through the waiting gate.
“What are you going to do Cam?” Doctor Lam questioned as she approached him quietly.
“I got orders to head to McMurdo,” he replied as he glanced over at the doc, “how about you?”
“To the base hospital here,” she nodded her head to indicate the mountain.
“Good,” he nodded his head, “I got to head out,” he moved toward the blast door in a hurry.
“McMurdo?” she frowned, understanding slowly dawning on her face.
“Bye doc,” he waved goodbye over his shoulder as he headed toward the elevator.
~*~*~*~*~*~
One year later on the anniversary of their break from earth, the people of Atlantis gathered for a celebration of not just what they had gained upon their return to Pegasus but also what they had lost when they had broken away form earth. While some had left in the first wave, but more departed earth in the second and third wave.
The Sun Tzu and the George Hammond were the third and last wave of refugees from earth, the ships contained a ragtag collection of personnel, those who had attempted to remain on earth but in the end had discovered almost too late that earth wasn’t their home anymore and they weren’t able to just continuing to pretend that they had never step through the Stargate to stand on another planet.
“General Jack!” shouted Colonel Reynolds young daughter, Amber, “help,” quickly ducked behind him as a gaggle of kids came running around the corner after her.
“General Jack!” the kids greeted cheerfully as they tried to look around to see if the young Amber was in the room.
“Are you looking for something?” he mused as he glanced over the group of children, they each belongs to members of the SGC and for the first time in their young lives they had been given complete honesty form their parents.
“No,” the shook their heads as they hurried out of the office and quickly took off down the hallway toward the pier where the celebration was going to be taking place soon.
“Their gone,” Jack glanced down at Amber Reynolds who quickly giggled her thanks as she headed in the opposite direction away from where the other children had run toward.
Daniel slowly shook his head at Jack’s behavior, “ready too head over to the celebration?”
“Yeah,” he nodded as he stood up and gestured for Daniel to lead the way to the pier where the rest of the city was starting to gather.
They paused as they came to stand near the edge of the celebration, there was the original expedition personnel both the military and civilian personnel, who had joined them with the Apollo. There was also, SGC personnel and their families, as well as natives from Pegasus who had become friends, Teyla and her people as well as Ronon and the handful of survivors form his world who had joined him in coming to the city upon their return to Pegasus. There had been some rough parts but things have gradually settled down over the past year. His attention was drawn toward Colonel Mitchell and his family who had come in with the Sun Tzu as part of the final wave. Yes, they had to say goodbye to their planet and to dear friends but they had gained so much more in the process. Maybe they will contact earth in the future or maybe there would be a change in leadership on earth and they would restart the Stargate program and they would be the ones to reach out to Pegasus, but no matter what happened, they were all where they had chosen to be.
~~FIN~~