WMC Chapter 3 Beta'd
Again, thanks to missyvortexdv
Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and the Characters within belong to the creators of the show. I am not a creator of the show, but only this lowly fanfic. Rita, Mia and Kala are of my own creation. Various other works mention within this work of fiction belong to their respective owners.
Chapter Three:
"Elizabeth!" Liz stopped and looked back to see Rodney trying to catch up to her. She had tried not to avoid him since the night before when Rita had decided to put the idea of a relationship between her and Rodney in her mind but she knew she had in a sense. She hadn't used the hallway to the Science department and Lab today and the only reason she was going down it now is was that she was going to the cafeteria
"Yes, Rodney?" She replied as Rodney started to walk with her now that he had caught up.
"Is it just me or has Kiki been acting a bit odd since the game last night?" Rodney and Mia had an odd relationship. Mia had once said Rodney had reminded her of her older brother Nick. No one really knew why the two got along so well or how the nickname Kiki came about, but everyone knew who Rodney was talking about when he said Kiki.
"She has seemed a bit preoccupied lately. But I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."
"I'm not so sure. There was just something odd about the way she changed from before she went to change out of that dress and when she came back out. And she was in there for longer then it needed for getting dressed. She took longer then Rita does and Rita takes an hour after lunch to reapply her make-up. I don't understand why she insists on wearing make up everyday when it's only Dominik and I who see her."
"I'm sure Mia's fine. She most likely got to thinking about something."
"Then how come she's acting like it again today? Do you know that she drank coffee today? Black! No sugar! Kiki loves sugar and hates coffee. No one is that preoccupied with normal everyday stuff." They came beside a wall and Rodney leaned against it, effectively stopping Liz. The only problem was that the wall decided it was going to become a door for a day.
_ _
"I think I am going insane." Mia stood beside John, her hands on her hips as she watched over the Gateroom. She held her palm pilot up to check it again. It had a list of materials being sent to Terli, a planet that traded material that they could use to make more ZPMs.
"What makes you think that?"
"Last night my mirror…. swallowed me."
"It swallowed you?" She looked over at him to find him looking at her as if he was trying to picture a mirror swallowing someone.
"It turned watery, swallowed me and spat me out somewhere else. It was odd. It was like I was someone else too."
"Well, that would explain why you took so long in the bathroom. We played two hands before you came out." He paused and walked towards the front of the area. "Marks, I think you should put that on top. It's breakable. Putting it under the heavier stuff might break it." He shook his head and walked back to where Mia was standing.
"So you don't think I'm going insane?"
"This is Atlantis. Half the things I have seen are signs of insanity. You have the ATA gene, perhaps your mirror was trying to talk to you." He smiled at her, letting her know he was joking.
"Don't tease me." She smiled too, not really mad at him. "What team is carrying this?"
"AR-2."
"So Simpson is going? She's the one who didn't give me the report from the last mission she was on. Doesn't really matter because she doesn't write good reports anyway but it would make things so much easier if she didn't turn in her reports three missions later."
"Like you have any problems putting it where it belongs. You have the world's most organized office, which is saying a lot considering Liz's."
"Actually, not anymore. I organized her office this morning while she was debriefing AR-4."
"You have problems you know that."
She laughed. She checked her list again and looked at the cart ready in the Gateroom. Satisfied that everything was in place she turned back to John.
"Is AR-2 ready?" He nodded and pointed to a small group of three people standing off to the side of the room. Mia motioned to the technician on duty to dial the gate. She wished the team good luck, as was tradition, and waited till the gate shut down to leave. She started to walk out the door with John following. "I think I need to get off world awhile. I'm going to speak to Liz and see if I can go out with a team soon."
"We are going to be going to PXA234 tomorrow to investigate it. Maybe she'll let you go with us. Teyla says the planet is called Avalon."
"Interesting. I wonder if when we go there we'll find people who are stuck in the Middle Ages or even the mythical King Arthur," she joked. Mia started to slow down as she noticed the walls admitting that silver substance that had taken her over the night before.
John was about to respond when he saw her fall. Luckily Bates was close enough to catch her and prevent her from falling down the stairs. He quickly handed her to John who picked her up and the two rushed into the infirmary, surprising both Carson and Kala who were talking quietly in the office.
"What the bloody hell happened to her this time?"
"She passed out," Bates answered. "Almost fell down the stairs in the Gateroom." Carson motioned them to put her down on the one of the examination tables. He checked her vital signs while the other two men watched silently.
"She doesn't seem to have any problems as far as pulse or heartbeat. Has she eaten anything lately?"
"I haven't seen her all morning," Bates replied, "Ms. Grayson and Dr. Weir were on the other side of the complex with a team who found a strange glitch in the transporter system."
Carson turned to John.
"Not sure. Like Bates, I haven't seen her until just recently when we were supervising the packaging of the materials to be sent to Terli with AR-2." As they were talking, Mia started to wake up.
"You feeling alright, Sis?" Kala asked.
"Yeah. Just funny I guess." She turned to John. "It ate me again." He smiled slightly, relieved that for the most part she was ok but still slightly worried.
"Well, don't worry. No silver people eating masses here. Why don't you tell us what you saw this time."
"What is he talking about?" Kala looked at her sister with a concerned look.
With a sigh, Mia started to explain what had happened the night before and in the Gateroom. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, never noticing her hand still being held in John's.
After the explanation, Carson turned to Bates. "Go get Dr. Weir. She needs to hear this."
_ _
"This is just…amazing"
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Rita."
"Shut up Rodney." The three scientists were studying the statue. Liz had left a few moments earlier when Bates had told her she was needed in the infirmary. Rita thought it fantastic. Not only was it proof that the material used on the Stargate was used to make other products, it showed the type of art the Ancients participated in. They were realistic in their sculpture and it was the first piece of real art they had come across. Several books explaining how Atlantis was run, yes, but nothing on the culture of the Ancients.
If this room had only been found now, it could mean that many more rooms had yet to be discovered too. They just needed someone with an ATA gene to uncover it. There could be stashes of various things still left unfound by the expedition, even four years after their arrival. Secret compartments full of…well, secrets.
"This person was apparently a ruler of Atlantis some time before they abandoned it. According the inscription on the left side, she was praised for her defense of the city," Rodney stated.
"Defense from what?"
"It doesn't say. There is an inscription on each of the four sides, each explaining why Atlantis admired her so much. This side has her name, Talama," He said, pointing to the inscription in front of them
"Was she the creator of the Stargate?" Dominik Zelenka asked.
"It doesn't say, but I don't think she is."
"I agree. There seems to be a symbol on the statue that matches one of the inscriptions. Defense matches the sword and spear, the paper and quill match the side explaining her interest in the arts, especially writing. I am not sure what the small cat represents." Rita paused. "I can't quite translate this inscription." Rodney and Dominik walked to the side where she was standing, Rodney to help translate while Dominik stood just observing and wanting to know the answer.
"It looks to be some sort of "Welcome" sign." The three scientists took no notice of the three people joining them. Aiden and Teyla stood on the other side and John went to look at what the first three were looking at. "I think it reads 'Welcome Friend. All who enter are friends.'"
"Enter what? This obviously isn't the entrance to the city," Rita commented
"It could have been moved when they abandoned the city," Dominik responded. "Perhaps it is too big to fit though the Stargate to bring home to Earth, but they didn't want someone to get hold of it. They place it in a secret room that only someone with the ATA gene could open which in this case would be Rodney. Then they would know that only an ancient could open the room."
"But what is so important about a statue that they would do something like that? It's only a material object," Rita asked. John stepped closer to look at the inscription. It sounded eerily like that of the vision that Mia had described to him earlier.
"What's the Ancient word for Friend?"
"This isn't Lord of the Rings, John. It's not going to open anything," Rodney answered.
"Just tell me."
"Amicusita" Nothing happened. "I told you." John ignored him and repeated the word. Suddenly the floor around the statue started to change. They moved quickly out of the way and watched as the floor formed steps going both up and down. When they stopped there was a stairway the curved around the statue.
"You were saying Rodney." The scientist didn't respond but walked instead around the stairways. This meant that not only had they not found all the rooms, but also two levels were left unexplored. He started to go up the stairs but Rita grabbed his arm. He looked at her and then at the rest of the group, questionably.
"Oh, yeah." He came back down and allowed Aiden and John to go first, since they had guns in case something was living up there. Aiden took the down staircase while John went up. Rita and Teyla followed Aiden and Rodney and Dominik followed John upwards.
When they got to the top of the stairs they found themselves in a large room. The flashlight attached to John's gun only highlighted a small area in front of him. They walked several feet to the wall and followed it, trying to find a light switch or some way of getting some light in the room. It was Dominik who found the light control panel. The section was about two feet by two feet and was about twenty feet from the stairway. There were three crystals that one had to push into the wall
As soon as the lights were turned on, the panel sunk into the wall and was covered as if it had never been there. They looked around the room, finding it bigger then they had thought. The floor was polished stone, similar to the statue but darker. The room was very long but not nearly as wide. In front of them stood various seats, the center seat had a higher back, and a table in front. There were stairs that took them down to the lower part of the room. On either side of the room was a set of seats that went up as each row of seats started. In front of each row was a long thin bench. Another set of stairs ran on either side of the seats and in the middle. In between the two seating sections stood what looked like a podium, facing the upper table. Beyond there was a large area and then two double archways.
"This looks like a Parliamentary room," Rodney commented. "This must be where they did all the government functions. We have to get Mia in here. She'd love this." Mia was considered the history expert on Atlantis, and when it came down to history rather than science, they often passed it to her to handle.
"Well, it won't be today. Mia passed out and had to go to infirmary."
"Is she alright?" Rodney asked concerned. He thought of once again of her behavior the night before.
"Yeah, but Carson is keeping her there for awhile in case something really is wrong."
"Major, you may want to see…wow." Aiden paused as he looked around the magnificent room. "You may want to see what we found downstairs." The three men followed him back down the stairs to the level below the statue. There they found Rita and Teyla looking around what appeared to be a large library.
The room was the same size as the room they had just been in, and appeared to be divided into three sections. The one section was full of books and papers. It looked like what they remembered of a library. The papers were written in many languages, not only that of the Ancients. Rodney guessed that it was the governmental library since it was connected to the upper room.
The second section was tapes and disks of information, statistics on various planets and more. The third section was filled with stations that appeared to be small tables whose tops were more like a shallow bowl. They had buttons around the edge.
"What on earth are those?"
"I think they are holo-stations, Rita"
"And what exactly does a 'holo-station' do, Rodney," John asked.
"They project holographic pictures."
"Like Star Wars?" Aiden asked excitedly.
"Not quite, but basically along the same lines. Instead of appearing just blue or white, these appear to have multicolor generators. Not sure if they will work or not given the low power of the city right now without a fully charged ZPM." Rodney explained. "And it isn't responding to me."
He looked at John. "What?"
Rodney rolled his eyes and pointed to the holo-station they were standing next to. "Your turn to try."
John walked over and touched what appeared to be the touch-pad of the station. Suddenly the image of a woman appeared before them, looking oddly like Mia, only with more make-up, less clothes and not as young. She looked like she was in her mid thirties.
"Hello, and welcome to the Atlantis Law Library. I am station 3, may I help you?"
"Um...Hi." John turned to Rodney who seemed surprised by a holographic library assistant. "We are new," he replied for a lack of anything to say.
"Would you like a map of the city then?" Suddenly a 3D map appeared in place of the women. "The library is here," she continued to say as a red dot pulsed in a section of the city. They were in the middle tower. "Is there anywhere you would particularly like me to show you?"
"There is a room upstairs, about 2 floors. What is its purpose." The dot changed to the room in question and the map changed to a 3D presentation of the room. "That is the main governing hall the Queen presides over a governing council. However, all citizens of the city are allowed to attend and speak to the council and the Royal family."
"So the city is a monarchy?"
"Atlantis is a parliamentary democracy, Dr. McKay." The women reappeared. Rodney had a startled expression on his face. "I am able to link to the various computer systems in the city, including the ones you have interfaced," she explained. "I did not mean to take any information that I was not supposed to have, so I apologize if I have. I was simply curious."
"Why was John able to turn you on, while I couldn't." Rodney chose to ignore Rita's half disguised snickering.
"My base is programmed to work only for the Queen and her family as well as the governing consul, the visiting ambassadors and Viceroys and the Library Keepers. I am not only programmed to activate by the biological gene but also by other traits that only those would have. Major Shepherd must be a descendant of one of those with access. According to my bio profiles he is distantly related to a Vice-Roy named Darien Marcus. He was one of the Queen's most trusted officials."
"The holograph we came across when we arrived, is she connected to your system," John asked, deciding to find out more about the system and wait till later to find out about this Darien Marcus.
"Yes, although that was an actual holo-vid of the Queen. I am programmed to look like her. Each new reign we are reprogrammed by the Keepers to appear as the ruling figure to honor their rule. I much prefer female then male."
"Does it also only work for those with approved access?"
"Yes. The Queen did not wish her message to be played by anyone but those who were descendants of her people. She was afraid our enemies would try and follow her people to earth and destroy them."
"Then why was Carson able to activate it. Is he also a descendant of the dignitaries?"
"No, Major. Dr. Beckett is a descendant of Queen Ti-ame herself."
Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and the Characters within belong to the creators of the show. I am not a creator of the show, but only this lowly fanfic. Rita, Mia and Kala are of my own creation. Various other works mention within this work of fiction belong to their respective owners.
Chapter Three:
"Elizabeth!" Liz stopped and looked back to see Rodney trying to catch up to her. She had tried not to avoid him since the night before when Rita had decided to put the idea of a relationship between her and Rodney in her mind but she knew she had in a sense. She hadn't used the hallway to the Science department and Lab today and the only reason she was going down it now is was that she was going to the cafeteria
"Yes, Rodney?" She replied as Rodney started to walk with her now that he had caught up.
"Is it just me or has Kiki been acting a bit odd since the game last night?" Rodney and Mia had an odd relationship. Mia had once said Rodney had reminded her of her older brother Nick. No one really knew why the two got along so well or how the nickname Kiki came about, but everyone knew who Rodney was talking about when he said Kiki.
"She has seemed a bit preoccupied lately. But I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."
"I'm not so sure. There was just something odd about the way she changed from before she went to change out of that dress and when she came back out. And she was in there for longer then it needed for getting dressed. She took longer then Rita does and Rita takes an hour after lunch to reapply her make-up. I don't understand why she insists on wearing make up everyday when it's only Dominik and I who see her."
"I'm sure Mia's fine. She most likely got to thinking about something."
"Then how come she's acting like it again today? Do you know that she drank coffee today? Black! No sugar! Kiki loves sugar and hates coffee. No one is that preoccupied with normal everyday stuff." They came beside a wall and Rodney leaned against it, effectively stopping Liz. The only problem was that the wall decided it was going to become a door for a day.
_ _
"I think I am going insane." Mia stood beside John, her hands on her hips as she watched over the Gateroom. She held her palm pilot up to check it again. It had a list of materials being sent to Terli, a planet that traded material that they could use to make more ZPMs.
"What makes you think that?"
"Last night my mirror…. swallowed me."
"It swallowed you?" She looked over at him to find him looking at her as if he was trying to picture a mirror swallowing someone.
"It turned watery, swallowed me and spat me out somewhere else. It was odd. It was like I was someone else too."
"Well, that would explain why you took so long in the bathroom. We played two hands before you came out." He paused and walked towards the front of the area. "Marks, I think you should put that on top. It's breakable. Putting it under the heavier stuff might break it." He shook his head and walked back to where Mia was standing.
"So you don't think I'm going insane?"
"This is Atlantis. Half the things I have seen are signs of insanity. You have the ATA gene, perhaps your mirror was trying to talk to you." He smiled at her, letting her know he was joking.
"Don't tease me." She smiled too, not really mad at him. "What team is carrying this?"
"AR-2."
"So Simpson is going? She's the one who didn't give me the report from the last mission she was on. Doesn't really matter because she doesn't write good reports anyway but it would make things so much easier if she didn't turn in her reports three missions later."
"Like you have any problems putting it where it belongs. You have the world's most organized office, which is saying a lot considering Liz's."
"Actually, not anymore. I organized her office this morning while she was debriefing AR-4."
"You have problems you know that."
She laughed. She checked her list again and looked at the cart ready in the Gateroom. Satisfied that everything was in place she turned back to John.
"Is AR-2 ready?" He nodded and pointed to a small group of three people standing off to the side of the room. Mia motioned to the technician on duty to dial the gate. She wished the team good luck, as was tradition, and waited till the gate shut down to leave. She started to walk out the door with John following. "I think I need to get off world awhile. I'm going to speak to Liz and see if I can go out with a team soon."
"We are going to be going to PXA234 tomorrow to investigate it. Maybe she'll let you go with us. Teyla says the planet is called Avalon."
"Interesting. I wonder if when we go there we'll find people who are stuck in the Middle Ages or even the mythical King Arthur," she joked. Mia started to slow down as she noticed the walls admitting that silver substance that had taken her over the night before.
John was about to respond when he saw her fall. Luckily Bates was close enough to catch her and prevent her from falling down the stairs. He quickly handed her to John who picked her up and the two rushed into the infirmary, surprising both Carson and Kala who were talking quietly in the office.
"What the bloody hell happened to her this time?"
"She passed out," Bates answered. "Almost fell down the stairs in the Gateroom." Carson motioned them to put her down on the one of the examination tables. He checked her vital signs while the other two men watched silently.
"She doesn't seem to have any problems as far as pulse or heartbeat. Has she eaten anything lately?"
"I haven't seen her all morning," Bates replied, "Ms. Grayson and Dr. Weir were on the other side of the complex with a team who found a strange glitch in the transporter system."
Carson turned to John.
"Not sure. Like Bates, I haven't seen her until just recently when we were supervising the packaging of the materials to be sent to Terli with AR-2." As they were talking, Mia started to wake up.
"You feeling alright, Sis?" Kala asked.
"Yeah. Just funny I guess." She turned to John. "It ate me again." He smiled slightly, relieved that for the most part she was ok but still slightly worried.
"Well, don't worry. No silver people eating masses here. Why don't you tell us what you saw this time."
"What is he talking about?" Kala looked at her sister with a concerned look.
With a sigh, Mia started to explain what had happened the night before and in the Gateroom. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, never noticing her hand still being held in John's.
After the explanation, Carson turned to Bates. "Go get Dr. Weir. She needs to hear this."
_ _
"This is just…amazing"
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Rita."
"Shut up Rodney." The three scientists were studying the statue. Liz had left a few moments earlier when Bates had told her she was needed in the infirmary. Rita thought it fantastic. Not only was it proof that the material used on the Stargate was used to make other products, it showed the type of art the Ancients participated in. They were realistic in their sculpture and it was the first piece of real art they had come across. Several books explaining how Atlantis was run, yes, but nothing on the culture of the Ancients.
If this room had only been found now, it could mean that many more rooms had yet to be discovered too. They just needed someone with an ATA gene to uncover it. There could be stashes of various things still left unfound by the expedition, even four years after their arrival. Secret compartments full of…well, secrets.
"This person was apparently a ruler of Atlantis some time before they abandoned it. According the inscription on the left side, she was praised for her defense of the city," Rodney stated.
"Defense from what?"
"It doesn't say. There is an inscription on each of the four sides, each explaining why Atlantis admired her so much. This side has her name, Talama," He said, pointing to the inscription in front of them
"Was she the creator of the Stargate?" Dominik Zelenka asked.
"It doesn't say, but I don't think she is."
"I agree. There seems to be a symbol on the statue that matches one of the inscriptions. Defense matches the sword and spear, the paper and quill match the side explaining her interest in the arts, especially writing. I am not sure what the small cat represents." Rita paused. "I can't quite translate this inscription." Rodney and Dominik walked to the side where she was standing, Rodney to help translate while Dominik stood just observing and wanting to know the answer.
"It looks to be some sort of "Welcome" sign." The three scientists took no notice of the three people joining them. Aiden and Teyla stood on the other side and John went to look at what the first three were looking at. "I think it reads 'Welcome Friend. All who enter are friends.'"
"Enter what? This obviously isn't the entrance to the city," Rita commented
"It could have been moved when they abandoned the city," Dominik responded. "Perhaps it is too big to fit though the Stargate to bring home to Earth, but they didn't want someone to get hold of it. They place it in a secret room that only someone with the ATA gene could open which in this case would be Rodney. Then they would know that only an ancient could open the room."
"But what is so important about a statue that they would do something like that? It's only a material object," Rita asked. John stepped closer to look at the inscription. It sounded eerily like that of the vision that Mia had described to him earlier.
"What's the Ancient word for Friend?"
"This isn't Lord of the Rings, John. It's not going to open anything," Rodney answered.
"Just tell me."
"Amicusita" Nothing happened. "I told you." John ignored him and repeated the word. Suddenly the floor around the statue started to change. They moved quickly out of the way and watched as the floor formed steps going both up and down. When they stopped there was a stairway the curved around the statue.
"You were saying Rodney." The scientist didn't respond but walked instead around the stairways. This meant that not only had they not found all the rooms, but also two levels were left unexplored. He started to go up the stairs but Rita grabbed his arm. He looked at her and then at the rest of the group, questionably.
"Oh, yeah." He came back down and allowed Aiden and John to go first, since they had guns in case something was living up there. Aiden took the down staircase while John went up. Rita and Teyla followed Aiden and Rodney and Dominik followed John upwards.
When they got to the top of the stairs they found themselves in a large room. The flashlight attached to John's gun only highlighted a small area in front of him. They walked several feet to the wall and followed it, trying to find a light switch or some way of getting some light in the room. It was Dominik who found the light control panel. The section was about two feet by two feet and was about twenty feet from the stairway. There were three crystals that one had to push into the wall
As soon as the lights were turned on, the panel sunk into the wall and was covered as if it had never been there. They looked around the room, finding it bigger then they had thought. The floor was polished stone, similar to the statue but darker. The room was very long but not nearly as wide. In front of them stood various seats, the center seat had a higher back, and a table in front. There were stairs that took them down to the lower part of the room. On either side of the room was a set of seats that went up as each row of seats started. In front of each row was a long thin bench. Another set of stairs ran on either side of the seats and in the middle. In between the two seating sections stood what looked like a podium, facing the upper table. Beyond there was a large area and then two double archways.
"This looks like a Parliamentary room," Rodney commented. "This must be where they did all the government functions. We have to get Mia in here. She'd love this." Mia was considered the history expert on Atlantis, and when it came down to history rather than science, they often passed it to her to handle.
"Well, it won't be today. Mia passed out and had to go to infirmary."
"Is she alright?" Rodney asked concerned. He thought of once again of her behavior the night before.
"Yeah, but Carson is keeping her there for awhile in case something really is wrong."
"Major, you may want to see…wow." Aiden paused as he looked around the magnificent room. "You may want to see what we found downstairs." The three men followed him back down the stairs to the level below the statue. There they found Rita and Teyla looking around what appeared to be a large library.
The room was the same size as the room they had just been in, and appeared to be divided into three sections. The one section was full of books and papers. It looked like what they remembered of a library. The papers were written in many languages, not only that of the Ancients. Rodney guessed that it was the governmental library since it was connected to the upper room.
The second section was tapes and disks of information, statistics on various planets and more. The third section was filled with stations that appeared to be small tables whose tops were more like a shallow bowl. They had buttons around the edge.
"What on earth are those?"
"I think they are holo-stations, Rita"
"And what exactly does a 'holo-station' do, Rodney," John asked.
"They project holographic pictures."
"Like Star Wars?" Aiden asked excitedly.
"Not quite, but basically along the same lines. Instead of appearing just blue or white, these appear to have multicolor generators. Not sure if they will work or not given the low power of the city right now without a fully charged ZPM." Rodney explained. "And it isn't responding to me."
He looked at John. "What?"
Rodney rolled his eyes and pointed to the holo-station they were standing next to. "Your turn to try."
John walked over and touched what appeared to be the touch-pad of the station. Suddenly the image of a woman appeared before them, looking oddly like Mia, only with more make-up, less clothes and not as young. She looked like she was in her mid thirties.
"Hello, and welcome to the Atlantis Law Library. I am station 3, may I help you?"
"Um...Hi." John turned to Rodney who seemed surprised by a holographic library assistant. "We are new," he replied for a lack of anything to say.
"Would you like a map of the city then?" Suddenly a 3D map appeared in place of the women. "The library is here," she continued to say as a red dot pulsed in a section of the city. They were in the middle tower. "Is there anywhere you would particularly like me to show you?"
"There is a room upstairs, about 2 floors. What is its purpose." The dot changed to the room in question and the map changed to a 3D presentation of the room. "That is the main governing hall the Queen presides over a governing council. However, all citizens of the city are allowed to attend and speak to the council and the Royal family."
"So the city is a monarchy?"
"Atlantis is a parliamentary democracy, Dr. McKay." The women reappeared. Rodney had a startled expression on his face. "I am able to link to the various computer systems in the city, including the ones you have interfaced," she explained. "I did not mean to take any information that I was not supposed to have, so I apologize if I have. I was simply curious."
"Why was John able to turn you on, while I couldn't." Rodney chose to ignore Rita's half disguised snickering.
"My base is programmed to work only for the Queen and her family as well as the governing consul, the visiting ambassadors and Viceroys and the Library Keepers. I am not only programmed to activate by the biological gene but also by other traits that only those would have. Major Shepherd must be a descendant of one of those with access. According to my bio profiles he is distantly related to a Vice-Roy named Darien Marcus. He was one of the Queen's most trusted officials."
"The holograph we came across when we arrived, is she connected to your system," John asked, deciding to find out more about the system and wait till later to find out about this Darien Marcus.
"Yes, although that was an actual holo-vid of the Queen. I am programmed to look like her. Each new reign we are reprogrammed by the Keepers to appear as the ruling figure to honor their rule. I much prefer female then male."
"Does it also only work for those with approved access?"
"Yes. The Queen did not wish her message to be played by anyone but those who were descendants of her people. She was afraid our enemies would try and follow her people to earth and destroy them."
"Then why was Carson able to activate it. Is he also a descendant of the dignitaries?"
"No, Major. Dr. Beckett is a descendant of Queen Ti-ame herself."