Dark Secrets of Atlantis
Okay... So just to reiterate some stuff that on the inside... I started this back in 2006... NOT the best thing in the world. Never been beta'd but I have just went through and tried to edit some things... It may suck, so be warned. Anyway, I stink at creating titles and couldn't come up with anything better that would make sense. If anyone has any ideas after reading (if you survive and not scratch your eyes out) and wanna share them, please do!!
After re-reading Pieces and Strands over on Damage Report I was encouraged by an amazing writer to continue so I'm gonna post this and then try to finish it soon, along with some other stuff. I may try to do a few sketches here and there to help with some aspects that aren't easy to describe with words. But anyway, on with the show...
Dark Secrets of Atlantis
Quick Summary: When an unusual energy beam coming from the Stargate hits Sgt. Stackhouse, he begins to experience some weird phenomena. When Sheppard and crew investigate, the search uncovers a darker part of Atlantean history the Ancients wanted to leave buried.
Author’s Notes: First off, I ***SUCK*** at titles. I’ve been trying to come up with a better name for this but I’m just gonna leave it. That way I’ll know what it is when I see the file on my EHD! Haha Anyways, I started this story back in 2006. I was waiting for one of my college classes to start, Trigonometry I believe, and I got bored and started daydreaming I guess and this is how this idea came around. Sadly, I never finished it, not out of lack of interest but I just got busy and kept meaning to come back to in but unfortunately, it never happened. I have a few other stories (not “starring” Stackhouse but some ideas are in the works for him) that ended up the same way. I’m gonna try to finish it but some other things you need to know. This was basically my first fic I ever did so it’s not all that great of a piece. I’ve gone through the past few days and have tried editing and revising it, but most of it is the same. I’m kinda scared to change to much without screwing the entire thing up. There is a bunch of BS in certain chapters but I tried to make it believable. When I do finish it, its not gonna be the best thing, and I know that, but I’m going to keep going with what I had in mind to start with. Another thing, I don’t do accents. I’ll do the basic stuff but beyond that, you’re just gonna have to imagine hearing the person as they sounded on the show.
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Chapter 1
The control room was always quiet at night. But not a night went by that there was always something creepy about Atlantis. A city that had been abandoned for ten millennia, suddenly once again inhabited carried a feeling of dread in the darkest of nights. Adam Stackhouse felt this way every time he stood watch in the control room. But there was something different about this night. Something more bothered him than just the constant worries of impending Wraith attacks when a team was off world. Even with the powerful shield built by the Ancients to protect the city back online, wasn’t enough to ease those fears. Maybe it was just him. Maybe it was the silence tied in with the Stargate being inactive, it’s symbols casting a faint bluish glow in the dimmed gate room. Adam was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice that Dr. Radek Zalenka had come into the control room.
“Sergeant Stackhouse.”
Adam jumped when Zalenka brought him back to reality, not even realizing until that moment that Zalenka was standing right beside him. “Dr. Zalenka.”
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to startle you.”
“It’s alright. What are you doing up here this late?” Adam asked after he recomposed himself.
“I left some equipment up here earlier and I came by to retrieve it before McKay got a hold of it. I was just getting ready to head to the mess hall, could I get you something and bring it back to you?”
“Coffee would be nice. Black. It could probably help me stay awake better.”
“Ah yes. It is kind of uneventful in here at night, but I am sure you can handle it. Anyway, I will return with your coffee as soon as possible.” Radek told him after fully gathering all of the equipment he had left earlier then turned and began to descend the stairs leading down from the control room.
“Thanks doc.” Adam told Zalenka when he started to leave. As Zalenka’s footsteps faded, the eerie silence once again retook the control room. The silence did not last however. As soon as Adam had readjusted to the quiet, the alarm indicating an off world Stargate activation began blaring in the empty room. Acting on instinct, he rushed over to the gate controls and activated the shield just as the seventh chevron locked, initializing the wormhole. After locking the down the gate, Adam immediately used his radio to reach Elizabeth Weir.
“Dr. Weir, this is Stackhouse.”
In the infirmary, Elizabeth, along with John Sheppard and Dr. Carson Beckett, was just about to turn in for the night when Stackhouse signaled on the radio. With concern, Elizabeth hurriedly switched on the earpiece she was wearing. “This is Weir, go ahead.”
Back in the control room, a security detail had arrived, just in case. Adam, too, had repositioned himself near the bottom of the stairs opposite the gate. “We have an unscheduled gate activation. No IDC as of yet.”
“Understood sergeant, Sheppard and I are on our way. Are there any types of signals being received?”
“Negative. It’s just…” Adam began when all of a sudden a new noise began to sound in the gate room, like that of energy beginning to charge. With a loud thud and a bright flash of light, an energy wave began pulsing on the center of the shield, quickly dispersing evenly and spreading to the inner rim of the Stargate.
“Stackhouse. What’s goin’ on in there?” came the voice of Lt. Col. Sheppard.
“I’m not sure, sir. There’s some kind of energy beam impacting the shield.” At that moment, certain portions of the outer rim of the shield began to fade allowing some of the energy to cascade into the gate room. With the shield breached and energy flying through the gate room, the soldiers began dodging the miniature lightning strikes and the explosions caused by the impacts. Soon another alarm began to blare throughout the gate room. (A/N: this is the alarm used in Hot Zone when the city went into lockdown. It’s also the alarm used when the self-destruct was activated in The Siege, Pt 2.) As the alarm continued to blare, John and Elizabeth finally arrived in the control room, along with Rodney McKay and Zalenka.
“What the hell is that?” McKay asked when he joined Elizabeth and John at the balcony overlooking the gate room, each flinching at nearly every blast, especially the ones that hit close to them.
“That’s a good question.” Elizabeth responded. While still looking at the gate and the ensuing chaos, Elizabeth made her way over to the gate controls, where Zalenka and two other scientists were examining the readings on both the Ancient technology and their own interfaces. “Can we shut it down?”
“Unfortunately no. The entire system has been completely overridden by the energy wave, or whatever it is.” Not pleased with what she had been told, Elizabeth quickly returned to balcony with John and Rodney. No sooner had she got there, a blast hit near where they were standing. Reacting before the blast hit, John grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her in front of him, shielding her against the sparks and debris. Suddenly, a bolt of energy hit right below where Adam was crouched down, causing him to fall directly center of the stairs. Before he could regain his footing, the shield failed completely. Unable to move in time, the full focused force of the beam hit Adam square in the chest, knocking him back against the stairs. Everything Adam was seeing went to white. His body felt like it was being pricked by millions of pins and needles. But that rapidly changed. The white faded into darkness; the pain turned to numbness. Every sound in the gate room soon joined his other senses in complete darkness.
“Stackhouse!” John yelled as he turned in time to see his fellow soldier get hit by the blast. Before anyone could react further, the Stargate immediately shut down.
“What happened?” Elizabeth asked after quickly processing what just happened. John didn’t wait for a response. After turning and seeing that John wasn’t there, she didn’t bother waiting either. Nearly falling themselves, both were quickly at Adam’s side. Instantly noticing that Adam was unconscious, John unzipped the top part of his jacket to check for a pulse.
“His pulse is weak.” He told Elizabeth as he looked up with a concerned look in his eyes. Without wasting another second, John activated his earpiece. “This is Sheppard, I need a medical team in the gate room NOW.” Trying to make the younger man a little more comfortable, John placed his hand under Adam’s head for more support, however he was more shocked than relieved when he did. Withdrawing his hand, he noticed that his fingers were covered in blood. The force of the impact had caused Adam to hit his head in a way that he was a bit more injured than first believed. But the amount of damage was unclear at the moment.
While John took off his own jacket to help cushion Adam’s head, Elizabeth used her radio to add on to John’s urgent plea. “Carson, double time it.” No sooner had Elizabeth released the talk button, John became more urgent.
“He’s not breathing!” John yelled. Quickly rushing to back to Adam’s side, Elizabeth helped John try to reposition him so his airways could become clear. Tilting his head back, John began CPR on Adam to try and help bring him back. On the third try, Carson, along with a small medical team arrived in the gate room.
“What happened?” Carson asked, while unzipping Adam’s jacket fully.
“We don’t know yet. What about Stackhouse?” John told him, wiping his hand on a towel that one of the other medics had handed him. Moving his stethoscope over different parts of Adam’s chest, Carson’s expression went from one of concern to worry.
“I can’t find a pulse.” Grabbing a pair of scissors, Carson began to cut open Adam's shirt. “We need the defibrillator!” Taking hold of the portion that he had already cut, Carson pulled on the ends, ripping open the rest of Adam’s shirt. With his shirt fully open, Carson couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of a large burn mark on Adam’s chest. Rushing to make sure no more time was wasted, Carson immediately had one of his assistants hook Adam up to the ECG monitor. The steady whine of monitor echoed throughout the gate room, which had fallen to an eerie silence. Readying the paddles, the other medics prepped the gurney next to where they were situated. With the lubrication worked onto the metal, Carson placed the paddles on Adam’s chest. “Clear!”
As the electricity coursed through Adam’s body, his back arced up off of the floor. The monitor beeped momentarily, but again became a steady whine. “Again!” With the defibrillator recharging, one of Carson’s assistants placed an oxygen mask over Adam’s nose and mouth, using the bulb on its end to help his body circulate the air it needed. When the defibrillator was fully recharged, Carson replaced the paddles on Adam’s chest. “Clear!” When his assistant had removed her arm that was holding the mask, Carson pressed the buttons on the paddles to release the charge. Once again Adam’s body arced off the floor. This time, the whine of the monitor turned into beeps. Albeit slow and sparsely spaced but his heart was pumping again. Putting his stethoscope back on, Carson checked Adam’s heartbeat. “I’ve got a pulse. It’s slow and erratic but it’s there.”
Both John and Elizabeth breathed a slight sigh of relief at hearing the news. When Carson was done checking the readings he turned to his aides and motioned for them to bring the gurney over. “He’s stable for the moment, but lets move him immediately. Give me a hand. Also get some more help in here to take a look at these other people and make sure that they aren’t seriously injured.” After lifting Adam onto the gurney, one of the aides went over to some of the other soldiers who were in the gate room at the time, using his radio to call for assistance as he did so. Carson placed some gauze underneath Adam’s head wound then turned to face John and Elizabeth. “I’ll keep you informed on his condition.”
“Thanks Carson.” Elizabeth acknowledged as Beckett turned to catch up with his help as they wheeled Adam away. Turning to John, both of them headed up the stairs back into the control room. Amidst all the chaos, more scientists had gathered in the control, scurrying around the consoles trying to make sense of all the madness. “Okay people, what do we know?”
“Not much given the circumstances.” Rodney told her, while barely deviating from his actions. Moving from the power control console to the gate controls, and then pressing a few keys, Rodney reactivated the Stargate shield. Not sure of his actions, Elizabeth gave Rodney a confused look. Noticing, Rodney gave his version of an explanation. “You know, just in case.”
“Well that didn’t seem to help before.” John said, his voice mixed with frustration, concern, and anger.
“I know, Colonel. But, it’s better than nothing. I’ll see if I can reroute some power to the shield to try and prevent it from being breached in the future if this ever happens again.” McKay snapped back.
“Gentlemen please! For the time being all gate activities will be suspended until we can figure this one out. Now we almost lost Stackhouse, this is not the time to be at each others throats.” Elizabeth interjected, trying to keep an unnecessary fight from breaking out.
“Right, sorry.” Rodney apologized after realizing how hostile his statement sounded.
“Yeah, me too.” John told him.
“We need to contact Teyla. Tell her that we need her here to help with the situation.” Elizabeth said after all was said and done. Soon after the apologies, all three of them looked at each other, then looked at the Stargate. It seemed to hold an innocent appearance in light of what had just happened. The shield, now reinforced with extra power, was active in front of the Stargate, giving those being tended to in the gate room by the medics a little bit more of a feeling of security.
CHAPTER 2
After re-reading Pieces and Strands over on Damage Report I was encouraged by an amazing writer to continue so I'm gonna post this and then try to finish it soon, along with some other stuff. I may try to do a few sketches here and there to help with some aspects that aren't easy to describe with words. But anyway, on with the show...
Dark Secrets of Atlantis
Quick Summary: When an unusual energy beam coming from the Stargate hits Sgt. Stackhouse, he begins to experience some weird phenomena. When Sheppard and crew investigate, the search uncovers a darker part of Atlantean history the Ancients wanted to leave buried.
Author’s Notes: First off, I ***SUCK*** at titles. I’ve been trying to come up with a better name for this but I’m just gonna leave it. That way I’ll know what it is when I see the file on my EHD! Haha Anyways, I started this story back in 2006. I was waiting for one of my college classes to start, Trigonometry I believe, and I got bored and started daydreaming I guess and this is how this idea came around. Sadly, I never finished it, not out of lack of interest but I just got busy and kept meaning to come back to in but unfortunately, it never happened. I have a few other stories (not “starring” Stackhouse but some ideas are in the works for him) that ended up the same way. I’m gonna try to finish it but some other things you need to know. This was basically my first fic I ever did so it’s not all that great of a piece. I’ve gone through the past few days and have tried editing and revising it, but most of it is the same. I’m kinda scared to change to much without screwing the entire thing up. There is a bunch of BS in certain chapters but I tried to make it believable. When I do finish it, its not gonna be the best thing, and I know that, but I’m going to keep going with what I had in mind to start with. Another thing, I don’t do accents. I’ll do the basic stuff but beyond that, you’re just gonna have to imagine hearing the person as they sounded on the show.
**********************************************************************************
Chapter 1
The control room was always quiet at night. But not a night went by that there was always something creepy about Atlantis. A city that had been abandoned for ten millennia, suddenly once again inhabited carried a feeling of dread in the darkest of nights. Adam Stackhouse felt this way every time he stood watch in the control room. But there was something different about this night. Something more bothered him than just the constant worries of impending Wraith attacks when a team was off world. Even with the powerful shield built by the Ancients to protect the city back online, wasn’t enough to ease those fears. Maybe it was just him. Maybe it was the silence tied in with the Stargate being inactive, it’s symbols casting a faint bluish glow in the dimmed gate room. Adam was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice that Dr. Radek Zalenka had come into the control room.
“Sergeant Stackhouse.”
Adam jumped when Zalenka brought him back to reality, not even realizing until that moment that Zalenka was standing right beside him. “Dr. Zalenka.”
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to startle you.”
“It’s alright. What are you doing up here this late?” Adam asked after he recomposed himself.
“I left some equipment up here earlier and I came by to retrieve it before McKay got a hold of it. I was just getting ready to head to the mess hall, could I get you something and bring it back to you?”
“Coffee would be nice. Black. It could probably help me stay awake better.”
“Ah yes. It is kind of uneventful in here at night, but I am sure you can handle it. Anyway, I will return with your coffee as soon as possible.” Radek told him after fully gathering all of the equipment he had left earlier then turned and began to descend the stairs leading down from the control room.
“Thanks doc.” Adam told Zalenka when he started to leave. As Zalenka’s footsteps faded, the eerie silence once again retook the control room. The silence did not last however. As soon as Adam had readjusted to the quiet, the alarm indicating an off world Stargate activation began blaring in the empty room. Acting on instinct, he rushed over to the gate controls and activated the shield just as the seventh chevron locked, initializing the wormhole. After locking the down the gate, Adam immediately used his radio to reach Elizabeth Weir.
“Dr. Weir, this is Stackhouse.”
In the infirmary, Elizabeth, along with John Sheppard and Dr. Carson Beckett, was just about to turn in for the night when Stackhouse signaled on the radio. With concern, Elizabeth hurriedly switched on the earpiece she was wearing. “This is Weir, go ahead.”
Back in the control room, a security detail had arrived, just in case. Adam, too, had repositioned himself near the bottom of the stairs opposite the gate. “We have an unscheduled gate activation. No IDC as of yet.”
“Understood sergeant, Sheppard and I are on our way. Are there any types of signals being received?”
“Negative. It’s just…” Adam began when all of a sudden a new noise began to sound in the gate room, like that of energy beginning to charge. With a loud thud and a bright flash of light, an energy wave began pulsing on the center of the shield, quickly dispersing evenly and spreading to the inner rim of the Stargate.
“Stackhouse. What’s goin’ on in there?” came the voice of Lt. Col. Sheppard.
“I’m not sure, sir. There’s some kind of energy beam impacting the shield.” At that moment, certain portions of the outer rim of the shield began to fade allowing some of the energy to cascade into the gate room. With the shield breached and energy flying through the gate room, the soldiers began dodging the miniature lightning strikes and the explosions caused by the impacts. Soon another alarm began to blare throughout the gate room. (A/N: this is the alarm used in Hot Zone when the city went into lockdown. It’s also the alarm used when the self-destruct was activated in The Siege, Pt 2.) As the alarm continued to blare, John and Elizabeth finally arrived in the control room, along with Rodney McKay and Zalenka.
“What the hell is that?” McKay asked when he joined Elizabeth and John at the balcony overlooking the gate room, each flinching at nearly every blast, especially the ones that hit close to them.
“That’s a good question.” Elizabeth responded. While still looking at the gate and the ensuing chaos, Elizabeth made her way over to the gate controls, where Zalenka and two other scientists were examining the readings on both the Ancient technology and their own interfaces. “Can we shut it down?”
“Unfortunately no. The entire system has been completely overridden by the energy wave, or whatever it is.” Not pleased with what she had been told, Elizabeth quickly returned to balcony with John and Rodney. No sooner had she got there, a blast hit near where they were standing. Reacting before the blast hit, John grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her in front of him, shielding her against the sparks and debris. Suddenly, a bolt of energy hit right below where Adam was crouched down, causing him to fall directly center of the stairs. Before he could regain his footing, the shield failed completely. Unable to move in time, the full focused force of the beam hit Adam square in the chest, knocking him back against the stairs. Everything Adam was seeing went to white. His body felt like it was being pricked by millions of pins and needles. But that rapidly changed. The white faded into darkness; the pain turned to numbness. Every sound in the gate room soon joined his other senses in complete darkness.
“Stackhouse!” John yelled as he turned in time to see his fellow soldier get hit by the blast. Before anyone could react further, the Stargate immediately shut down.
“What happened?” Elizabeth asked after quickly processing what just happened. John didn’t wait for a response. After turning and seeing that John wasn’t there, she didn’t bother waiting either. Nearly falling themselves, both were quickly at Adam’s side. Instantly noticing that Adam was unconscious, John unzipped the top part of his jacket to check for a pulse.
“His pulse is weak.” He told Elizabeth as he looked up with a concerned look in his eyes. Without wasting another second, John activated his earpiece. “This is Sheppard, I need a medical team in the gate room NOW.” Trying to make the younger man a little more comfortable, John placed his hand under Adam’s head for more support, however he was more shocked than relieved when he did. Withdrawing his hand, he noticed that his fingers were covered in blood. The force of the impact had caused Adam to hit his head in a way that he was a bit more injured than first believed. But the amount of damage was unclear at the moment.
While John took off his own jacket to help cushion Adam’s head, Elizabeth used her radio to add on to John’s urgent plea. “Carson, double time it.” No sooner had Elizabeth released the talk button, John became more urgent.
“He’s not breathing!” John yelled. Quickly rushing to back to Adam’s side, Elizabeth helped John try to reposition him so his airways could become clear. Tilting his head back, John began CPR on Adam to try and help bring him back. On the third try, Carson, along with a small medical team arrived in the gate room.
“What happened?” Carson asked, while unzipping Adam’s jacket fully.
“We don’t know yet. What about Stackhouse?” John told him, wiping his hand on a towel that one of the other medics had handed him. Moving his stethoscope over different parts of Adam’s chest, Carson’s expression went from one of concern to worry.
“I can’t find a pulse.” Grabbing a pair of scissors, Carson began to cut open Adam's shirt. “We need the defibrillator!” Taking hold of the portion that he had already cut, Carson pulled on the ends, ripping open the rest of Adam’s shirt. With his shirt fully open, Carson couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of a large burn mark on Adam’s chest. Rushing to make sure no more time was wasted, Carson immediately had one of his assistants hook Adam up to the ECG monitor. The steady whine of monitor echoed throughout the gate room, which had fallen to an eerie silence. Readying the paddles, the other medics prepped the gurney next to where they were situated. With the lubrication worked onto the metal, Carson placed the paddles on Adam’s chest. “Clear!”
As the electricity coursed through Adam’s body, his back arced up off of the floor. The monitor beeped momentarily, but again became a steady whine. “Again!” With the defibrillator recharging, one of Carson’s assistants placed an oxygen mask over Adam’s nose and mouth, using the bulb on its end to help his body circulate the air it needed. When the defibrillator was fully recharged, Carson replaced the paddles on Adam’s chest. “Clear!” When his assistant had removed her arm that was holding the mask, Carson pressed the buttons on the paddles to release the charge. Once again Adam’s body arced off the floor. This time, the whine of the monitor turned into beeps. Albeit slow and sparsely spaced but his heart was pumping again. Putting his stethoscope back on, Carson checked Adam’s heartbeat. “I’ve got a pulse. It’s slow and erratic but it’s there.”
Both John and Elizabeth breathed a slight sigh of relief at hearing the news. When Carson was done checking the readings he turned to his aides and motioned for them to bring the gurney over. “He’s stable for the moment, but lets move him immediately. Give me a hand. Also get some more help in here to take a look at these other people and make sure that they aren’t seriously injured.” After lifting Adam onto the gurney, one of the aides went over to some of the other soldiers who were in the gate room at the time, using his radio to call for assistance as he did so. Carson placed some gauze underneath Adam’s head wound then turned to face John and Elizabeth. “I’ll keep you informed on his condition.”
“Thanks Carson.” Elizabeth acknowledged as Beckett turned to catch up with his help as they wheeled Adam away. Turning to John, both of them headed up the stairs back into the control room. Amidst all the chaos, more scientists had gathered in the control, scurrying around the consoles trying to make sense of all the madness. “Okay people, what do we know?”
“Not much given the circumstances.” Rodney told her, while barely deviating from his actions. Moving from the power control console to the gate controls, and then pressing a few keys, Rodney reactivated the Stargate shield. Not sure of his actions, Elizabeth gave Rodney a confused look. Noticing, Rodney gave his version of an explanation. “You know, just in case.”
“Well that didn’t seem to help before.” John said, his voice mixed with frustration, concern, and anger.
“I know, Colonel. But, it’s better than nothing. I’ll see if I can reroute some power to the shield to try and prevent it from being breached in the future if this ever happens again.” McKay snapped back.
“Gentlemen please! For the time being all gate activities will be suspended until we can figure this one out. Now we almost lost Stackhouse, this is not the time to be at each others throats.” Elizabeth interjected, trying to keep an unnecessary fight from breaking out.
“Right, sorry.” Rodney apologized after realizing how hostile his statement sounded.
“Yeah, me too.” John told him.
“We need to contact Teyla. Tell her that we need her here to help with the situation.” Elizabeth said after all was said and done. Soon after the apologies, all three of them looked at each other, then looked at the Stargate. It seemed to hold an innocent appearance in light of what had just happened. The shield, now reinforced with extra power, was active in front of the Stargate, giving those being tended to in the gate room by the medics a little bit more of a feeling of security.
CHAPTER 2