It had been a long time since Teyla had been with so many people.

She walked into the crowded room, wearing her backpack, carrying her P-90. People from all over the world, were crowding around what she assumed was the Stargate. As she scanned over the crowd, she saw someone who she didn’t necessarily want to see.

Still, she was not going to be intimidated by this man. Confidently, she walked up to him. “Colonel Sumner,” she greeted civilly.

From the look he gave her, she knew he did not want her to be here.

Before he could speak, Dr. Weir walked into the room. “Could I have everyone’s attention please?” she called over the crowd.

Within three seconds, the room was silent. Teyla was impressed; Dr. Weir commanded her presence.

Elizabeth looked around the room. “Alright, here we go. We are about to try to make a connection. We have been unable to predict exactly how much power this is going to take and we may only get the one chance at this, so if we are able to achieve a stable wormhole, we're not going to risk shutting the Gate down. We'll send in the MALP robot probe, check for viability and go. Everything in one shot.”

It still sounded strange to Teyla, wormholes, MALP robots, not to mention a different galaxy.

In front of her, Elizabeth continued speaking, “Now, every one of you volunteered for this mission and you represent over a dozen countries. You are the world's best and brightest; and in light of the adventure we are about to embark on, you are also the bravest. I hope we all return one day having discovered a whole new realm for humanity to explore, but as all of you know, we may never be able to return home. I'd like to offer you all one last chance to withdraw your participation.”

For a half second, Teyla considered it. Being with the comfort of her team, knowing she would have their support, was tantalizing. But, she knew she couldn’t turn back. Not now.

All of the other expedition members remained silent. Elizabeth smiled at them. “Begin the dialing sequence,” she said to those in the Control Room.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Colonel Sumner walking towards her. “Let me make myself clear, Major. You’re not here by my choice.”

Teyla refrained from making a snide comment, determined to dissipate the tension between the two of them. “I am aware of that, sir,” she said, keeping her eyes firmly on the Gate in front of her.

Sumner leaned closer to her ear, trying to intimidate her. “What you did in Afghanistan was foolish. We don’t need that kind of recklessness on this expedition.”

Teyla whipped around to face him, her anger flared. “I saved the life of a fellow solider. I do not find that reckless, sir.”

Sumner frowned. “If you hadn’t saved Captain Lorne’s life, you would have gotten slapped with a court martial instead of a medal for bravery. And it helped that you were Daddy’s little girl.“

Teyla flinched at the harshness of his words, but refused to be provoked.

Sumner sneered at her. “Disobeying orders is not acceptable, Major Emmagan. So don’t forget who is in charge.”

Teyla raised her eyebrows, having come to terms with the fact the two of them would never see eye to eye. “I assume that would be Dr. Weir,” she said calmly, daring him to argue with her.

He held her gaze for a moment before turning away in disgust. “Just remember your place, Major,” he huffed as he pushed past her.

She closed her eyes briefly, calming herself. There was no time to bicker with judgmental superior officers; she needed to prepare herself for traveling across the universe to another galaxy.

Teyla pushed the thoughts of Colonel Sumner out of her mind and turned her gaze to the Stargate, watching it as it spun around. She felt overwhelmed; she had a strong suspicion she was the only person in the room who hadn’t seen a Stargate before. As the Stargate circled around the last time, a large whoosh sounded as the wormhole formed.

She took a step back as she saw the rippling aqua circle form within the Stargate. She would have to go through that?

As she considered walking away and finding the closest exit, a strange machine rolled by her and entered into through the Stargate. Several minutes passed with no one hardly making a move in the Gate room. Finally, Colonel Sumner walked to the front of the group.

“We got an all clear! Let's go, people. We don't know how much time we've got,” he yelled, finishing his walk up the ramp. “Security teams one and two, you're up first. All other personnel will follow on our signal. Once on the other side, keep moving, clear the debarkation area. On my lead,” he ordered.

Before he could step through, Dr. Weir called to him. “Hold on, Colonel.” She walked into the room, zipping her jacket. She picked up a large backpack before standing next to Sumner. “We go through together.”

Sumner, impressed with her determination, nodded. “Fair enough.”

Then, they stepped through the Stargate.

Moments later, O’Neill spoke in the microphone above the team. “Expedition team, move out.”

Suddenly, Teyla was very nervous. She glanced to the side of her where a handsome young man was walking towards the Stargate. “What does going through the Stargate feel like?” she asked.

He frowned at her question. “It hurts like hell, ma’am,” he answered seriously.

Before she could panic, his face broke out into a large grin. “Woo hoo!” he shouted as he entered the event horizon.

Drawing a deep breath, Teyla ignored the voices in her head screaming at her to turn around and stepped through the wormhole.

Colors flashed around her; a faint whooshing sound swirled around her ears. It seemed to take a long time to travel through the wormhole.

Then, it was black.

No, Teyla corrected herself as her eyes adjusted to the dim room. It wasn’t black, but lighting was a serious issue. She turned back to where she came from, watching several Marines walk through the Stargate. She briefly wondered if she would ever get use to Stargate travel.

Teyla scanned the room for some familiar, friendly faces. Finally, she saw Dr. McKay from Antarctica. Together, they walked up the steps. As soon as Teyla put her foot on the first step, it began to light up.

“Who’s doing that?” Elizabeth called from the center of the room.

Teyla froze. Perhaps coming on this expedition was not a good idea. They had no idea how this technology would react to someone like Teyla. Pushing down that line of thinking, she continued making her way up the stairs. Once she reached the top of the stairs, the lights to the room came on. She wondered if this was going to happen every time she entered into a room in this place.

“The lights are coming on by themselves,” she said to McKay.

She could almost see him bite down on a cutting remark, instead focusing his attention on uncovering what was under the sheets. Teyla walked to the balcony, giving her a view of the entire gate room. She watched as the last of the expedition stepped through. Then, oddly enough, a champagne bottle rolled through the wormhole.

Below her, Elizabeth inspected the bottle and held it up to show Teyla. “For luck,” she said simply.

Teyla smiled softly, appreciating the gesture. She had a feeling they were going to need a lot of it to make sure this mission was successful.

McKay turned away, back to the room where they came from. Not sure where she could go--or if she should based on what had happened so far, she felt she would be relatively safe with McKay. Though he was arrogant and rude, she had no doubt he knew how to save himself if trouble arose.

As she wandered around the room, a screen against a wall flickered on. She frowned as Elizabeth walked up the steps. “I apologize, Dr. Weir.”

“Relax, Major,” Elizabeth said not unkindly. “It’s like the entire complex is sensing our presence and coming to life.”

“This has got to be the Control Room,” Rodney said after lifting up one of the sheets. “This is obviously their version of a D.H.D.”

Teyla smile politely, not having the slightest idea what he was talking about. “Apparently it is,” she replied.

He had already moved to the next console. “This area could be, uh, power control systems, possibly a computer interface…” he said excitedly.

“Hey, hey,” Elizabeth cut in. “Why don’t you find out?”

“Right,” McKay said.

Teyla was about to ask Elizabeth what she wanted her to do when Colonel Sumner paged the doctor. “Doctor Weir, this is Colonel Sumner. Can you come down and meet me, please? We’re three levels down from you,” he said.

“Right away,” Elizabeth replied. She turned to Rodney, but he was too busy rounding up scientists, trying to get them working on figuring out what each console did. She faced Teyla. “Why don’t you come with me, Major?”

Grateful she had something to do, Teyla followed Elizabeth down the stairs.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” Elizabeth asked as they entered a long corridor.

“No, not at all.” Teyla had nothing to hide.

“What was the exchange I saw between you and Colonel Sumner back on Earth? I don‘t want there to be any problems,” Elizabeth asked directly.

Teyla stiffened. While she had nothing to hide, there were some things she did not enjoy speaking about. “There are some in the chain of command who…disagree with my actions in Afghanistan. Colonel Sumner wanted to make sure I knew where he stood.”

“And what exactly were those actions?” Weir asked, looking at Teyla.

“That is classified,” Teyla said stiffly.

Elizabeth let out a slight laugh. “Major, we don’t even know if, let alone when, we will be in contact with Earth again. I don’t think ‘classified information’ is even applicable out here. But,” she said, not wanting to push the issue, “why don’t you give the condensed version?”

Teyla nodded as they walked down a flight of stairs. “I disobeyed a direct order in order to save the life of my fellow officer. His helicopter was shot down in enemy territory. I went after him, despite orders to standby while my commanding officers worked out a rescue mission with some of the local people.”

Weir studied Teyla for a moment. “Would you do it again? Even if you couldn’t save him?”

Teyla nodded as she saw Colonel Sumner’s team about twenty yards in front of them. “Yes, Dr. Weir, I would. Every life is worth trying to save.”

Elizabeth nodded, considering Teyla’s answer, as they came to the Colonel.

The Colonel looked at the two women, frowning slightly at Teyla. “We’ve only been able to secure a fraction of the place. It’s huge.”

Elizabeth smiled, hopeful. “So it might really be the lost city of Atlantis?”

“I’d say that’s a good bet,” he replied, leading them to a large window.

The view, much to Teyla’s discomfort, was nothing but water. Teyla didn’t hate water per se, but she was much more content in the open skies instead of a city emerged beneath the surface of the ocean where drowning suddenly became a likely way to die.

“We’re under water,” Elizabeth murmured, amazed.

Teyla took a step forward, hoping the surface was close. Unfortunately, though beams of sunlight filtered through, it was obvious they were nowhere near the top. Teyla wondered how they would ever get the city to the surface,

Turning her gaze down, she saw that the Colonel was right; the city was huge. Many towers, all different shapes and sizes, surrounded them. It would take them weeks to search the entire city.

“I’d say we’re under several hundred feet of ocean. If we can’t dial out, this could be a problem,” Sumner said.

Teyla couldn’t think like that. A watery grave was *not* in her future.

“Colonel, Doctor Weir,” McKay said from behind them.

“We are under water, Dr. McKay,” Teyla said, forcing herself to sound calm.

He stood next to her, looking out the window. “Yes, I was just coming to tell you. Fortunately there is sort of force field holding back the...water,” he said, pausing as his brain finally processed the vast city he was looking at. “Oh, that is impressive, isn’t it?”

The stood there for several seconds before McKay spoke again.

“Uh, Doctor Beckett has found something you should see,” he said.

**********

Teyla followed behind McKay, Elizabeth and Sumner as they entered the illuminated room. Doctor Beckett was standing on some kind of podium, looking at a woman who appeared to be glowing. Teyla was instantly on alert; she thought the base was supposed to be empty.

As if sensing her thoughts, Beckett spoke. “It’s a hologram. The recording loops. This is my second time watching it.”

To her side, Sumner studied the woman. “What have we missed?”

Beckett shrugged slightly. “Not much.”

Teyla turned her attention to the hologram. “…exchange knowledge and friendship.” Teyla looked up as a holographic image of the galaxy appeared. “In time, a thousand worlds bore the fruit of life in this form. Then one day our people stepped foot upon a dark world where a terrible enemy slept. Never before had we encountered beings with powers that rivaled our own. In our over-confidence, we were unprepared and outnumbered. “

Teyla stopped listening as she considered the words. Unprepared and outnumbered? These were the same beings that created the Stargate and they could not defeat this terrible enemy?

She pushed aside her concerns, whatever did happen to them, it happened many years ago. Perhaps they had found a way to defeat this enemy. Teyla shifted her focus back to the hologram’s words.

The incandescent woman frowned. “In an effort to save the last of our kind, we submerged our great city into the ocean. The Atlantis Stargate was the one and only link back to Earth from this galaxy, and those who remained used it to return to that world that was once home. There, the last survivors of Atlantis lived out the remainder of their lives. This city was left to slumber, in the hope that our kind would one day return.”

Teyla, thinking about the abandoned building, knew their hopes had been fruitless. The Ancients had never been able to return to their city. She wondered what kept them from coming back to their home.

Beckett stepped off the podium and the hologram faded away.

“Oh,” McKay said, surprised. “So the story of Atlantis is true. A great city that sank in the ocean.”

Beckett nodded. “It just didn’t happen on earth.”

“Well, the ancient Greeks must’ve heard it from one of the surviving Ancients,” McKay said reasonably.

Teyla frowned at how causally they spoke of their situation. Would she ever become accustomed to the idea of Ancients and their strange history with Earth?

Behind her, the doors opened. One of the techs walked in and walked over to McKay, whispering to him urgently.

“I don’t like the fact they got their asses kicked,” Sumner said.

Teyla agreed. There was something disconcerting about the fact that these Ancients felt the only option they had was to abandon their city and flee to another galaxy. The fact they were unable to return to Atlantis only compounded the feeling.

Dr. Weir nodded. “It certainly makes me uneasy.”

Beckett stepped back on the platform. “Let’s hear it again from the beginning. Maybe we can pick up some clues as to who this enemy is--”

“Stop!” McKay yelled. “Turn it off.”

Confused, Carson stepped down from the podium. “What’s wrong, Rodney?” he asked.

Rodney frowned, looking at his tablet. “The power levels throughout the city are dropping like a stone,” Rodney said.

“What does that mean?” Teyla asked.

He looked at Elizabeth with a panicked look. “That if we don’t stop everything we’re doing right now, we are dead,” Rodney answered. Quickly, he and the man who walked in with him hurried out of the room.

Teyla looked at Elizabeth who looked surprised. Whatever Dr. Weir was hoping to find in Atlantis, a broken, problem-filled city wasn’t it.

Elizabeth took a breath, calming herself before following the two men.

Carson, Sumner and Teyla quickly followed her lead. “This is all my fault,” Carson muttered. “I shouldn’t have gone in there.”

Teyla, feeling sympathy, shook her head. “You do not know that.”

“I have the ATA gene. I should have known not to touch anything until Rodney and the others determined it was safe to do so,” Carson replied.

Teyla thought about how the city reacted to her just by her walking in a room. “I understand, Dr. Beckett, but no one knows how this city works. I am confident that Dr. McKay will figure out how to get the city more power. Things will work out.”

He looked at her for a second before climbing up the stairs. “I hope you are right, Major.”

When they walked into the control room, Teyla saw McKay already busy at work, with his laptop hooked up to one of the consoles.

Carson walked in front of them, standing directly in front of Rodney. “Please tell me this is not my fault.”

“No.” It was obvious his mind was not focused on anything except the information coming from his computer.

“Thank you!” Carson said sincerely, flashing a small grin at Teyla.

Rodney looked up to Elizabeth. “From what we've been able to ascertain, the city is powered by three Zero Point Modules. Two are entirely depleted and the third is reaching maximum entropy. When it does, it'll die too and nothing can reverse that.”

Teyla had no idea what, exactly, that meant, but she had a feeling that she had better become a good swimmer very soon.

Peter looked at the screen, frowning. “We should have checked the power levels before we had anyone start exploring,” he commented.

Rodney rolled his eyes. “Well thank you for that wonderful insight, Peter. Maybe if I would have known that we--”

Sumner, who was uncomfortable as she, crossed his arms. “Just tell me the bottom line.”

“The force field holding back the ocean has collapsed to its minimum sustainable levels. Look,” he said, pointing to the screen showing a layout of the entire city. “Here, here and here, where the shield's already failed and the city's flooded. It could have happened years ago. This section is likely more protected because of the Stargate.”

Teyla frowned. “What happens if the shield fails completely?” she asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer.

Rodney closed his eyes for a moment. “It’s a matter of when, not if.”

“Colonel Sumner, you need to order your teams to stop searching the city,” Elizabeth instructed. “We need to save as much power as possible.”

He nodded before he spoke into the radio. “All security teams fall back to the Gate room.”

“It’s not going to be good enough,” Rodney warned, shaking his head.

“Alright,” Elizabeth said, pushing down her annoyance. “How much time do we have?”

“It’s hard to say. Hours, maybe days if we minimize how much power we use. But unless we are planning on a campout in the Gate room, I don’t see how that is possible,” Rodney replied sarcastically.

“What about our own power generators?” Carson offered.

Rodney tapped on a few keys. “We’re working on that, but even with our most advanced naqahdah power generators, the equations are coming up far short.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms. “Then we need to find another Z.P.M.”

“Now how do we do that if we can’t search the city?” Sumner wondered aloud.

McKay shook his head. “There’s no point to searching. If there were more here, we would have detected them right away.”

“Can we use the Stargate?”

“There is no way we can squeeze out enough power to open a wormhole back to Earth,” Rodney rebutted.

“Maybe we could find one in this galaxy,” Teyla suggested.

Four pairs of eyes looked at her. Finally, McKay nodded. “That’s relatively easy.”

He walked over to a console with strange buttons on it. Teyla looked at the unfamiliar symbols on the buttons, wondering what, exactly, she was looking at.

“Fortunately some Ancient technology still uses good old-fashioned push buttons, so we've been able to access the Stargate control system and a library of known Gate addresses in the database,” Rodney said excitedly.

“That’s not all. Look at this,” said Peter, sitting at the control console next to him.

Teyla looked at the Stargate and watched as a force field appeared across it.

“Let’s keep using power that we don’t have, Peter,” McKay muttered.

With a quick flick on a switch, the shield was turned off.

“Just like the iris on the Earth gate.” Sumner said.

Elizabeth nodded. “At least we don’t have to deal with any uninvited guests. Colonel, assemble a team. We need to find a place to leave, if we have to. A Z.P.M. would be preferable.”

“Lieutenant Ford, gather up security teams one and two,” Sumner ordered through his radio.

“Major, I want you to go along,” Weir said.

For a moment, it seemed like Sumner would argue, but Elizabeth cut him off. “We need to conserve power, Colonel. And, as much as I would love for the Major to be able to activate all of the Ancient technology on Atlantis, I want to stay alive more.”

Though she wasn’t speaking unkindly, her words stung Teyla. After all, it was Weir who requested her to come in the first place. Still, the doctor had a point. “I understand, Ma’am,” Teyla replied.

She walked down the stairs, walking towards the stash of items they had brought with them. Quickly, she grabbed a P-90, an extra clip and some night vision goggles. She looked around and saw the young man who had entered the Gate right before her.

“Ford, I want you with me,“ Sumner said. “We don’t know what will be waiting for us on the other side.” He turned his gaze to Teyla, frowning slightly. “That goes for you too, Emmagan. I don’t want any surprises.”

Teyla refrained from telling him what he could do with his surprises. Now was not the time to argue with her commanding officer. She completed getting ready and walked out to the Gate room.

Peter looked up when all of the team had entered the room. “MALP reads full viability and no immediate signs of activity around the Gate, but it’s pitch black.”

Around her, everyone put on their night vision goggles, resting them on their foreheads. Teyla did the same.

Sumner glanced around before facing the Gate. “Let’s move out!” He pulled the goggles over his eyes and walked through the event horizon.

Teyla allowed everyone to go ahead of her; she still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of wormhole travel. She looked at Elizabeth, took a deep breath while putting on the goggles and walked through the gate.

The experience through the wormhole was much like her previous journey, only significantly shorter. Within a couple of seconds, she appeared on the unfamiliar planet. The others had fanned out, carefully scanning the area for any surprises. She followed their lead, heading towards the outskirts of what looked like a forest.

Before she entered the area, she saw someone, or something, run through the trees. She held up her fist to stop the team from proceeding any further.

Ford walked up to her. “What did you see?” he whispered.

“Someone was running several yards ahead, beyond those trees,” she answered quietly.

Slowly, they proceeded towards the tree line. Before they could walk more than a few steps, a small child jumped from behind one of the larger tree.

Teyla aimed her P-90 at the unknown boy while Ford aimed his rifle, looking for any other people. Moments later, another small boy wearing a mask and unaware of their presence, jumped out from another tree. “I got you!”

The first child looked at Teyla, staring at her gun. “Please, don’t hurt us!”

Teyla lowered her gun as Sumner ran from behind to see what was going on. “They are just children, sir,” she reported as she lifted up her goggles.

Frightened, the other child removed his mask. Before any of them could start asking them questions, like where the adults were, a man ran up to them. He looked at the soldiers, frowning when he saw their weapons.

“They are just playing,” he said, fear and anger in his voice.

“A hell of a time to be playing,” Sumner shot back.

Teyla frowned at the remark. If they were going to work an alliance of some kind with these people, the Colonel would need to keep his sarcasm to himself. “We were startled when they jumped from behind the trees,” Teyla explained. “We would not have harmed them.”

The man studied her for a second. “Sheppard.”

Teyla’s eyebrows went down, confused. “You are a shepherd?”

“It’s his name,” Sumner replied, a smirk in his voice.

“Oh…Sheppard,” Teyla said, shaking off any embarrassment. “It is good to meet you.”

Sheppard looked at the group of soldiers around him. “Are you here to trade?”

“Trade…” Teyla considered her options. Perhaps they had brought something from Earth that these people would value. “Yes, we’re traders.”

Sheppard studied their weapons for a second before finally nodding. “Come on, Johnathyn will want to talk with you.”

The two boys ran ahead. “Don’t think your father won’t find out what you did tonight,” he called out to them. They stopped, then lowered their heads. “You know playing alone in the forest is dangerous.”

“We’re sorry,” said one of the boys.

“Stay close,” Sheppard instructed as he led the group through the forest.

Teyla followed Sheppard, again alone in the back of the group. She wasn’t without company for long; soon the two boys were walking next to her.

“What was that mask you had on?” asked one of the boys.

Teyla smiled at his curiosity. “This allows me to see, even when it is dark.” She reached up and removed her goggles, handing them to the child.

“Wow!” he exclaimed as he looked through them.

“Let me see, Jinto!” the other boy said, grabbing them. “Whoa! Can I have it?”

“No,” Teyla said, taking away the goggles. “What is the mask you have?” she asked, changing the subject. “It looks frightening.”

“This? Wraith,” the kid answered as if she understood what he was talking about.

She frowned. “Wraith? I am not familiar with such a thing.”

The two boys looked at each other in amazement. “You don’t know?”

“What world did you come from?”

“Can we go there?”

Teyla shook her head, perplexed by their astonishment. “I am sorry, but my planet is very far away.”

Several minutes later, they approached a village with a large bonfire and several dozen tents made from animal skins. Teyla noticed there were several adults tending to the fire, stirring items into a large pot. Others were weaving pieces of cloths together, forming some kind of blanket.

None of the villagers spoke to them, but they all watched them carefully. The two boys ran towards their parents, already explaining why they left the village. Teyla offered a small smile to the boys before turning her attention back to their guide.

Sheppard led them to the largest tent. “Johnathyn,” he called before entering, “There are some people here who want to talk to you.”

“Tell them to come on in.”

Sheppard walked inside, holding the tent flap so that Teyla, Ford and Sumner could enter. A man, who Teyla assumed was Johnathyn, stood up as they entered the room. Sheppard walked across the tent to stand next to him.

Teyla looked at the two of them carefully. There was more than a passing resemblance to the two men. Johnathyn was taller, his hair a bit more dark, but there was no doubt in Teyla’s mind the two of them were related.

“They want to become trading partners,” Sheppard said simply.

Teyla stood stiffly as silence filled the tent. This was not going well. She stepped forward, hoping some of her father’s ability to negotiate had been passed off to her. “It is nice to meet you,” she said.

Johnathyn exchanged a look with the other man. “I am Johnathyn Sheppard, son of Janyce. You have already met my brother, Dafyd,” he said motioning to Sheppard.

“Colonel Marshall Sumner, Major Teyla Emmagan and Lieutenant Aiden Ford,” the Colonel introduced. “We have a very few specific needs.”

Johnathyn frowned as he studied them. “We don’t trade with people we don’t know,” he said simply. He shrugged. “No offence.”

“Is that a fact?” Sumner asked challengingly.

Teyla knew she would, again, have to defuse the situation if they were going to be able to work with these people. She looked around the tent, hoping for any connections they have with these people. Unfortunately, she didn’t see anything she could use.

Johnathyn exchanged a glance with his brother and Teyla knew their time was going to be over very soon unless she did something.

“We have something that might be useful to you. To protect you against the Wraith,” she said, hoping the Wraith were in fact the enemy the hologram spoke about and not some child’s game the boys had made up.

Johnathyn looked at his brother, intrigued. “Really?” he asked, not quite believing her.

“These,” she said, holding out her night vision goggles, “allow you to see in the dark. You can see the Wraith at night, even if they are hiding in the woods.”

He took them out of her hands and studied them for a second before returning them back to her.

“Emmagan,” Sumner muttered. “What are you doing?”

She forced a smile at the Sheppard brothers as she whispered to the Colonel. “I am attempting to find a common interest between our peoples.”

“If these people can’t help us, I’d rather not waste time here,” Sumner shot back.

Johnathyn studied them for a few seconds before looking at his brother who nodded slightly.

“It’s our tradition to drink tea before dawn every morning. Would you be interested in joining us tomorrow?” Johnathyn offered.

Teyla smiled, glad she was able to reach out to these people.

“Ok,” Sumner agreed.

“When’s morning?” Ford asked.

“In about six hours from now. We will meet again after a good night’s rest,” he said.

Taking that as their cue to leave, the three soldiers filed out of the tent. Johnathyn quickly followed them. “Do you need help returning to the Gate?” he asked.

“No,” Sumner said, pulling his goggles over his eyes. “We’ll find our way back.” He began walking through the forest.

“Major,” Johnathyn called as she began to follow the Colonel.

“Yes?” she asked.

He looked at Sumner who was already walking away. “Friendly, huh?” Johnathyn said.

“I apologize if Colonel Sumner offended you or your brother. We are just trying to find a safe place for our people,” Teyla replied.

“Well,” he said with a smile, “it’s good for your people you were here. Your leader should learn some lessons for you.”

Teyla snickered. “That will not happen.” She looked at Ford who was waiting for her. “I should go.”

Johnathyn nodded. “Be careful,” he said sincerely.

Teyla approached Ford and they moved quickly to catch up to Sumner. The three of them walked silently through the forest until they reached the Gate. The two Marines that were standing guard left their posts and followed them to the Gate.

As Ford was dialing on the DHD, Sumner turned to Teyla. “Good work, Emmagan. I want you with us tomorrow morning.”

Teyla nodded as the wormhole was established. “I hope that they are able to assist us.”

Together, the five of them walked through to Gate. When they stepped onto Atlantis, Dr. Weir was waiting for them. “Any luck?” she asked hopefully.

“We found a village of people,” Sumner said. “Fairly primitive. No electricity. Live in tents. But, we have a meeting with their leader tomorrow morning. We‘ll see if they have any place for us to stay.”

Elizabeth smiled slightly. “Well, that’s good news.”

Sumner shrugged, not convinced of the people’s ability to help. “I want to go back before we meet with them, get a couple of more men with me. I don’t want to have any surprises when the sun comes up.”

Elizabeth nodded, agreeing with the Colonel. “Go ahead.”

Sumner nodded as he walked away. Meanwhile, Teyla stayed behind.

“Is there a problem, Major?” Elizabeth asked.

Teyla hesitated. She already knew how the Colonel felt about her, but she still felt the need to speak up. “Ma’am, I do not believe that Colonel Sumner is the correct person to negotiate a treaty with these people. He is…rude,” she said.

Elizabeth smiled. “Why do you think I sent you with the Colonel?” She leaned to her slightly. “I have the utmost trust in your ability to run interference, Major. If I could leave here, I would, but…” She gestured at the poorly lit Gate room.

“I understand,” Teyla said. She looked up at the control room where Rodney was frantically pacing and yelling at the others with him. “Dr. McKay is still unable to find an adequate power supply?”

Elizabeth nodded, frowning slightly. “He said that the naqahadah power generators are about as helpful as a pack of batteries to power a city. But I know if anyone can figure out a way to get the City to work, it will be Rodney.”

“I hope he can,” Teyla replied. She knew if this City’s shields collapsed and the Gate was destroyed there would never be a way for them to return to Earth, a prospect she was not happy to consider.

Moments later, Sumner returned with several other soldiers who each donned their own pair of night-vision goggles and rifles.

“Ready?” Elizabeth asked.

Sumner nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Hopefully, we’ll find something there,” he said, determined.

“Ok,” she nodded towards Grodin, who started dialing the Gate.

Before he could finish, Rodney leaned over the balcony. “Colonel, unless you want to sink the City faster than it already is, I would suggest you don’t come through the Gate again. Establishing a wormhole drains the power levels significantly. I know everyone expects me to save the City from going under, but it would be nice if I didn‘t have to worry about whether or not someone is going to dial the Gate.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sumner said, unimpressed by his rebuke.

Seconds later, the wormhole was established and they walked through the Gate. After they arrived back on the planet, Sumner issued out directions to the soldiers. “We know the village is to the south, so let’s just see what’s around the area.” He looked at his watch. “We have about five hours--if their hours are anything like ours. Bates, you, Davis, and Stockhold go to the east. Emmagan, you and Ford scout out the west. The others and I will go north. Check in every thirty minutes.”

They nodded and went their ways. The first several minutes with Ford was quiet, with them carefully scanning the area with their night vision goggles. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Ford asked quietly as they pushed their way through some tree branches.

Feeling a wave a déjà vu, Teyla shook her head. “No.”

He paused before speaking. “I’m sure you know how the Colonel feels about you…”

“Yes,” she said, prompting him to continue.

“How did you get the assignment on Atlantis then? I know that Colonel Sumner handpicked every soldier who was going on this expedition,” Ford said as he crushed the fallen leaves on the ground.

Teyla looked at Ford, trying to assess him. Would he judge her if he knew her background? No, she decided. The fact he was talking to her instead of taking the Colonel at his word showed her how fair of a person he was.

“Dr. Weir invited me to the expedition herself,” Teyla answered.

He looked at her, seemingly impressed. “Really?”

She nodded. “Apparently, I have the ATA gene and the uncanny ability to activate Ancient technology easily. Dr. McKay could not stop talking about the fact when I went through the tests in Antarctica. I could not tell if he was amazed or jealous,” she admitted.

“Probably both,” he said with an easy smile. “McKay isn’t known for being the nicest guy.”

“He does seem a bit ornery,” Teyla admitted, looking around.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I’m glad that Dr. Weir brought you along,” Ford said sincerely. He grinned. “It’s always nice not being the guy who knows the least about the Stargate program.”

She smiled at his playfulness. “Just remember, Lieutenant, I do still outrank you.”
Part 3