Fic: Chase the Morning {36/37}
Chapter Three: Rising
Date: April 25, 8 A.I [2008]
Location: Atlantis Base, Colorado
The sound of laughter rang through the Mess Hall as a large group of the city’s inhabitants entered the room, chattering and talking with one another. Peter Kavanagh looked up from his meal, the sudden influx of joy catching his attention. ‘My coffee tastes like happiness,’ he told his dining companion. Sasha smirked, shaking her head. She was used to her husband saying odd things like that; his talents sometimes overwhelmed his senses, especially if he was eating something at the time.
‘I’m not going to do anything about that,’ Sasha replied with a laugh. ‘I haven’t heard that much laughter in years.’
‘I wasn’t about to ask you to,’ Peter said. ‘If anything, my coffee tastes better than before.’
‘I suppose that’s a good thing.’
‘Considering the state of the coffee that’s usually served here? Yes, it is. Besides, this is the near-coffee from M2J-308. It’s not exactly what we’re used to.’ Peter took another sip of his coffee, considered its taste, and then shrugged. ‘You ought to try it.’
Sasha shook her head. ‘No thanks. You know I’m not much of a coffee drinker.’
‘Mm.’ The two Abnormals watched the chattering group of scientists- mainly physicists and engineers- take their seats at a nearby group of tables. Radek and Rodney were among the members of the crowd, sitting right in the thick of things. Peter watched them for a minute, and then got up and wandered over to them, curious as to what had gotten his colleagues so excited.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked after taking a drink of his coffee. Yep, it still had the tangy yet sweet taste of excitement and joy to it, though he reckoned part of that was from the near-coffee itself.
‘We think we found a way to make ZPMs!’ Miko Kusanagi said, nearly bouncing in her seat. ‘It could be what we need to raise the city to the surface.’
‘Really? That’s- Well, that’s fantastic.’ Peter said, the general air of excitement and happiness starting to infect him as well. ‘Any clue on how soon we can get started on production?’
‘Well, we’re going to need specific materials that we may not be able to get here on Earth, but with the Asgard Core that’s able to tell us what the ZPM is comprised of, as well as being able to replicate those elements, we might be able to start manufacturing in a matter of months, if not weeks.’ Radek replied, just now noticing that Peter was standing nearby. ‘Come and see what we mean.’
Peter glanced over at Sasha, who smiled indulgently and motioned for him to join his fellow scientists. He gave her a bright smile and turned back to the others, joining in the rapid-fire conversation as he examined the specifications of the suspected manufacturing plant hidden deep in the bowels of Atlantis, staying on his feet, as there wasn’t any room for him to sit down. He didn’t care though; for something like this, he’d stand on a bed of broken glass if it meant he could be a part of something this momentous.
Five weeks later, the first prototype ZPM rolled off the production line, and all those present in the laboratory held their collective breath as Rodney and Radek connected the diagnostic leads to it. Their computers beeped and trilled at one another as the various tests were run; making small noises of confirmation to themselves once each test was finished. When all of the tests were completed, the wait for the data to compile was almost even worse than that for the tests to be done. Once everything was finally compiled and all the data in its proper place, Radek and Rodney went over the results. Their growing excitement as each test came through was clearly palpable; Peter could feel it even in the next lab over, which was where the overflow of the crowd waiting for the results had ended up.
‘Alright, everyone, listen up!’ Teshryn announced, raising his voice as he stepped up onto a nearby chair. ‘All of the test results have come back positive. We’ve got a working ZedPM!’
A tremendous cheer went up at these words, and there was a general air of excitement all around. Radek found himself being spun around and had a split-second to realize that it was Jess doing the turning before she kissed him soundly on the mouth in celebration, laughing happily as she did so. They held onto one another’s hands once they broke apart, not wanting to be separated from one another as they celebrated this monumental achievement.
‘You know, we should eventually tell the rest of the city,’ Jess commented as the cheering wound down into an excited murmur.
‘I’m relatively sure that the rest of the city knows by now,’ Radek replied, helping Teshryn down from the chair. ‘After all, we were pretty loud.’
‘Very true. However, it’d probably be in our best interest to make the announcement anyways.’ Teshryn said with a nod of thanks to Radek. ‘Elizabeth and John did want to know the results as soon as possible.’
‘Well, you two go tell them, and I’ll corral these yahoos into the Mess Hall.’ Jess said. ‘I think this calls for cake, at the very least.’
‘Agreed. We’ll see you there, then.’ Radek gave his gently pregnant wife one last kiss on the cheek and then left with Rodney, the two men squeezing their way through the exuberant crowd.
Rodney bustled into the main Power Control room six days later, his computer tablet carried the crook of one arm while the other arm and hand were being used to illustrate his conversation with Radek, his fingers fluttering in the air as he spoke. The other scientists working within the room looked up as the two men entered, quickly returning to their tasks as soon as they had seen who it was. Rodney stopped in front of the power console and tapped at his radio, setting his computer down as he did so.
‘Sheppard, are you ready?’
‘Are you sure about this, Rodney?’ came John’s mildly nervous reply, which was totally understandable. What he was about to attempt almost seemed impossible. The crystal dome that protected Atlantis was actually set up much like a sports stadium's roof- it was retractable, opening like a blossoming flower or the iris on the Stargate in the SGC. The secondary shield would go up before the dome opened, and then John would release the docking clamps that held the city to the bottom of the lake bed. Theoretically, this would allow Atlantis to rise up out of the water, but not even Rodney knew if it would actually happen. Having the secondary shield up would at least protect the city from the water for the amount of time needed to close the dome and then drain it if everything went pear-shaped, but everyone hoped that that wouldn’t happen.
‘As sure as I can be, John.’ Rodney replied, doing a last minute check of his calculations. ‘We’re going to insert the three ZedPMs. Are you in the Chair yet?’
‘Yes, I am. And for the record, I still have a bad-’
‘Right. Let’s do this.’ Rodney said, riding over John’s voice. ‘Inserting the ZedPMs in three, two… now!’
The three ZPMs lowered themselves into their allotted slots, their internal glow going from a dim shine to a deeper, more purposeful light. It took a few minutes for the systems to power up, but once they did, Rodney gave John the go-ahead.
‘Fine, but if this doesn’t work-’
‘It will. Stop fussing and try it already. Everyone’s inside and away from any windows, just in case.’
‘Oh, good. That makes me feel so much better.’
‘I thought Rodney was supposed to be the complainer, Colonel.’ Radek commented as he kept an eye on the power consumption meters. Everything seemed to be doing alright as John gave the command for the shield to rise. Once that was done, the dome slowly opened, the primary shield holding back the water until the dome had completely retracted into its housing.
‘Docking clamps disengaging.’ John reported, and those in the control room could feel the shudder as the city let go of the lake bed. ‘If all goes well, we’ll be on the surface in a few seconds.’
There was a momentary feeling of pressure, akin to that of when an airplane lifts off the ground, and then the inertial dampeners kicked in, relieving that pressure as the primary shield powered down and flickered out of existence completely. The city began to rise ponderously towards the surface, the water around it rushing in to fill the previously occupied space. The once lush and grassy lawns were now entirely flooded, and as the bottom arc of the shield lifted off from the ground, became submersed in thousands of gallons of fresh water. As the city rose, its inhabitants clung to the nearest sturdy object they could find, which often was a doorframe or a bed. Some murmured prayers, while others rode in tight-gripped silence, staring at the ceilings of the various rooms they were in.
The spires of the towers broke the surface first, and as the water cascaded down the sides of the shield, sunlight poured through the multi-colored windows of Atlantis for the first time in over ten thousand years. Once the entire city had breached the surface, John shut down the shield, not wanting to drain any more power than absolutely necessary. Just because they had the means to create as many ZPMs as they wanted did not mean that was an option. After all, the SGC had requested one, as well as several members of the Sanctuary Network. Even though they’d managed to defeat the Wraith, it didn’t mean that there weren’t other races out there looking for someone new to take over, and the peoples of Earth had no intention of letting that happen again any time soon.
When the city had been automatically anchored to the lake bed floor, John got out of the Chair as quickly as possible, not wanting to stay in it if he didn’t have to. He always felt discombobulated after using it, and he hated being out of control of his own body. It was one of the reasons he hated having to use heavy pain meds after being injured. John made his way to the Main Atrium, where Rodney had gone once the city had settled on the surface.
Elizabeth was there as well, and they were just getting ready to make their first above-water call to the SGC when he arrived. ‘See? That wasn’t so bad, now was it?’ Rodney asked, giving John a bright grin. John rolled his eyes in response and shook his head at his best friend.
‘Alright, fine, it wasn’t too bad. But it wasn’t easy, either. Next time you want to move the city, you do it.’ He said.
‘No can do. You’re the one with the crazy-ass expression of the ‘Gene, remember? So unless you can convince Colonel O’Neill or Carson, you’re stuck with the job. But don’t worry; I don’t think we’ll be moving the city any time soon, anyways.’ Rodney replied.
‘Alright, we’ve got everything set up,’ Peter Grodin said, looking up from his console. ‘Whenever you’re ready, Doctor Weir.’
‘Thank you, Peter.’ Elizabeth said, giving him a smile. John had just enough time to wonder if there was something going on between the two of them before the image of General Hammond appeared on the screen, flanked by Jack and Sam.
‘Greetings from Atlantis,’ Elizabeth told them. ‘We’ve made it safely to the surface.’
‘Glad to hear it, Doctor.’ Hammond said with a smile. ‘Hopefully, this’ll make it a bit easier to visit you if needed.’
‘Of course,’ Elizabeth said with a nod. ‘And of course it’s always nice to be able to see the sun whenever we want, rather than having to hide away from it.’
‘Yes, yes it is.’
The sunlight streamed in through the windows, painting the nearby floors and walls with multicolored shards of light, making it look as if someone had attached vibrant swatches of translucent paint to the smooth Ancient surfaces. When the link to the SGC was terminated, John, Rodney, and Elizabeth went to the nearest balcony and stepped outside, relishing in the feel of the cool mid-day breeze on their faces. Rodney took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, leaning contentedly against the railing. John and Elizabeth joined him, taking in the panorama spread out before them. The world was peaceful now, a state it hadn’t seen for far too long, and all hoped that it would stay that way for ages to come.