Fic: Chase the Morning {27/37}
Chapter Two: Conversations
Date: August 31, 7 A.I. [2007]
Location: Old City Sanctuary, Old City, B.C., Canada
Three days later, Nikola was back in the office-cum-conference room, waiting patiently for the discussion to start. He had contacted Will and Henry, requesting that Peter be present at the Atlantis end of the conference. Doctor Tobin had called the previous day with some news that Nikola thought Peter might want to hear, and could barely keep himself from wanting to give away the surprise as it was. He composed himself when the monitors- all of them, this time- flicked on, announcing the beginning of the meeting.
‘Hello again,’ he said. ‘And welcome to our guests.’ He nodded to the Atlantis and SGC monitors, where various key personnel watched him with vague suspicion and wariness. ‘I’ll introduce myself for those of you who don’t know me. I’m Nikola Tesla.’
‘Wait, what?’ Rodney asked, right about the same time that Sam went ‘Tesla? You mean the Nikola Tesla?’
‘Yes, “the” Nikola Tesla.’ Nikola said, amused at the two astrophysicists’’ reactions. ‘It’s a long story, which undoubtedly you will hear one day. Suffice to say, the reports of my death were false. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, shall we begin?’
‘Of course.’
Nikola blinked, and then realized that it must be Rodney’s symbiote, Teshryn, who was speaking. Will and Henry had mentioned the fact that both of the lead scientists were Tok’ra, but Nikola hadn’t been expecting the symbiotes to speak. Though why he’d thought this, he wasn’t sure. After all, from the reports, both symbiotes seemed to switch off with their hosts quite often, sometimes in mid-conversation at that.
‘Fantastic.’ Nikola replied, recovering his composure with ease. ‘Now, the entire point of this little chit-chat is to get to know one another better, in hopes that an alliance can be forged against the Wraith. Both groups have technologies that the other would benefit greatly from, but think about what we could do if we combined our resources and worked as one large team. We’ve got about ten or so of the Sanctuaries back up and running, with hopes for more in the near future; the ones represented here today- Denver, Nairobi, Mexico City, Sydney, Prague, and Old City- are the main centers for the continents or countries they reside in. Some, before the war, were auxiliary Sanctuaries, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. What matters is that we’re still fighting, just as you are, and gathering as much information about the Wraith as we can.’
‘Just what technologies are you planning on offering us, exactly?’ Teshryn asked, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘If it’s useless, then an alliance is no good to us, no matter how many of these so-called Sanctuaries you have operational. And what is it, exactly, that you do there, anyways? Foss and Zimmerman said that you solve exotic problems, but didn’t give us much more than that. I think an explanation is in order before we even begin to talk about negotiations and alliances.’
‘Hmm. Very well. I open the floor to the question. Who would like to explain to Doctor McKay what it is, exactly, that we do here at the Sanctuaries?’ Nikola said, waving an encompassing hand at the monitors arranged in front of him.
‘I’ll do it.’ Nikola saw McKay and his companions turn around as Peter came into range of the camera. Peter gave a terse nod at the monitor on his end and then began to speak once more. ‘The Sanctuary Network was founded by Doctor Gregory Magnus over a hundred years ago to study a group of beings that has always co-existed with the Tok’ra and human races; this race, if you can call such a diverse collection of beings that, was named the Abnormals. The Sanctuary Network was also created to help protect both the Abnormals and the baseline humans and Tok’ra, both from one another and from themselves. Not all of the Abnormals are friendly; some are very dangerous indeed. Doctor Helen Magnus, Gregory’s daughter, took over the Sanctuary Network when he disappeared on a mission. She, like Doctor Tesla here, had an extended lifespan, and worked tirelessly to better understand the world of the Abnormals.
‘Doctor Magnus disappeared during the First Wave, and we haven’t heard from her since. I personally like to think she escaped from the Wraith and is in hiding, but since there’s no evidence to prove that, it’ll have to remain a hope for now. Anyways, the Sanctuary Network is world-wide, as you can see from the various nations represented at this meeting. Before I came to Atlantis, I used to work for the Los Angeles Sanctuary. That was before it was destroyed in the First Wave. I was in Denver at the time of the attacks, on temporary reassignment, but that’s not really that important. What is important is that I think that an alliance is probably one of the smartest things to do right now, especially with the expertise that we can all share with one another. Hoarding information that could be applied towards finding a way to conquer the Wraith once and for all is, quite frankly, suicidal.’
Rodney, John, and Elizabeth, who were the three chosen as the Atlantis contingent, stared silently at Peter, until Rodney broke the silence. ‘You’re saying you worked for these guys?’ he asked, frowning. ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell us before? And are you one of these Abnormals?’
Peter shrugged. ‘Hey, for all I knew at the time we met, there wasn’t anyone left in the Sanctuary Network. After Doctor Magnus was taken, the other Sanctuaries were hit pretty hard. Denver not as much as say, New York or London, but still, it was pretty bad. We were focusing mostly on survival then, anyways. And as for your second question, that’s not important.’
‘Not important? Not important?’ Rodney spluttered, his eyes widening. ‘Of course it‘s important!’
‘The existence of the Sanctuary Network has always been kept secret, Doctor McKay.’ Doctor Roberts said, raising an eyebrow. ‘The very nature of its work demanded that fact. Oh, the governments of the countries that hosted the Sanctuaries knew of us, but rather like the Stargate Program, only those who needed to know about our operations did, and were sworn to secrecy. And it doesn’t matter whether Doctor Kavanagh is an Abnormal or not; all that matters is that he is, in a sense, a liaison between our two groups.’
‘It makes sense, McKay.’ Jack piped up. ‘Not everyone wants to know that there are things out there that aren’t human or Tok’ra.’
‘Unfortunately, with the Wraith attacking, that illusion was shattered.’ Nikola said, shaking his head. ‘As it stands, the very fact that neither the SGC, Atlantis, or the Sanctuary Network have been discovered by the Wraith speaks to the strength and tenacity of those entrusted in keeping them hidden. Let’s put this topic to bed; I’m sure we’ve got plenty of things to talk about, and we don’t have much time to do it in. These transmissions are encoded and shielded heavily, but that doesn’t mean that the Wraith can’t detect them. We need to come to a compromise, if possible, and soon. I realize that even though we’re working towards the same goal, trust won’t automatically happen.
‘However, if we can’t at least extend a sort of preliminary amount of trust, we’ll never be able to work together, and therefore defeat the Wraith. I propose that we at least try to work out something that will benefit us all. If absolutely necessary, we can draw up some sort of contract. But I will not stand and watch the Wraith continue to subjugate our planet when we can work together and defeat them. Now, we’ve got all sorts of resources at our disposal, and not just building supplies, either. Our three groups hold a great wealth of knowledge; most likely, we’ve got the highest concentration of geniuses in the known world, no matter how hard the Wraith tried to eradicate us in the beginning. If we put that to good use, I’m sure we can come up with something. Hell, if I could, I’d build a death ray and kill every last Wraith in the solar system. But I can’t. We also need to make sure that we have a planet left to live on if we do defeat the Wraith. It would be pointless if we sacrificed everything and then had to live on a barren rock or move to another planet. No, we need to figure out something that’ll affect the Wraith, and only the Wraith.’
Nikola sighed, one hand rubbing at a temple. ‘For right now, I want everyone to start working on possible solutions, and the next time we meet as a group, I would like to hear them. If there’s already a project in the works, please let us know. We can’t work together if we hold back from one another. Are there any questions?’
‘Not right now, but I’m sure we’re going to have plenty of them to talk about next time.’ General Hammond said, speaking for the first time in the entire session. ‘For now, though, we’re going to have to discuss what we’ve talked about.’
‘As are we.’ Elizabeth agreed. ‘Not everyone will be happy about this; there are those who think that we should just stay where we are and ignore the Wraith, or even abandon Earth entirely by going through the Stargate. I personally don’t agree with them, but everyone’s entitled to their own opinions.’
‘Of course.’ Nikola said, nodding. ‘Well, we’ll come back together as a whole in two weeks for a progress report. Ah. Doctor Kavanagh, can I ask that you stay connected for a little while longer? There’s something I need to discuss with you personally. You as well, Doctor Tobin.’
Tobin nodded, trying to hide a smile, while Peter looked mildly surprised. ‘Of course,’ Peter replied.
‘Good. The rest of you, thank you for attending. I’ll see you in two weeks.’ Nikola watched as all but two screens went dark, and then waited until John, Rodney, and Elizabeth left the room they had been occupying. Peter shut and locked the door behind them, and then returned to the monitor, taking a seat in front of it.
‘Okay, what’s going on, Doctor Tesla?’ he asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘If you’re going to ask me to spy on them, I’m going to say no and-’
Nikola raised a hand, stopping Peter midsentence. ‘Calm down, Doctor. I’m not about to ask you to compromise your beliefs like that. Actually, I’ve got a surprise for you that I think you’ll like. Adele here helped me find it for you; we both hope that you’ll be pleased with it. Adele?’
Adele nodded once more and then got up from her seat. The two men watched her go, Peter wondering what the hell was going on. They sat in silence for a few minutes until the sound of a door opening and closing caught their attention. Peter sat up as the slender figure of a woman came into view, his eyes widening dramatically when he realized just who was on the other side of the transmission.
‘Sasha?’ he breathed, going pale. Nikola smiled slightly as he terminated the Old City connection, allowing the two reunited spouses to speak privately with one another. Well, this day just kept getting better and better, didn’t it?