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Title: Stranded
Fandom(s): Battlestar Galatica/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing/Characters: Apollo, Elizabeth Weir, Daniel Jackson, Carson Beckett, Jack O'Neill, Sora
Rating: PG
Summary: Apollo is stranded with no way back to the Galactica and facing an enemy worse than the Cylons.
Notes: Spring cleaning of the WIP folder. Wrote this years ago, circa BSG S3. I had intended it to be longer, with Apollo settling into Atlantis and eventually connecting back with the fleet, but this is as far as I got (or will ever get). This takes place in that one universe where Vala didn’t show up and Daniel made his ride on the Daedalus.
"Apollo, bogey on your rear!"
Lee Adama had barely heard Starbuck's warning before his sensors told him the bogey's weapons had locked onto his viper. He quickly rolled out of weapons range, bogey on his tail.
"Why don't we get two in one shot? Think you can keep up?" she suggested.
"Just frakking watch me."
Starbuck chased a bogey into his flight path and he slowed, heading straight for it. He pulled up at the last second and barely cleared Starbuck's bogey. His bogey wasn't so lucky. The two ships collided and exploded as the two vipers took off in opposite directions.
Lee spotted a bogey headed towards one of the civilian ships and fired across its nose, drawing attention away from the unarmed ships. He flew an irregular path, keeping out of weapons lock. He decided to lose it in the atmosphere.
He knew immediately it was a mistake. The silver, dart-like ship handled better in upper atmosphere than his viper did. This time, when the weapons locked on, he didn't have enough time to get completely out of the way.
The viper began a freefall descent to the surface. The engine wasn't responding, the best he could do was control the crash landing and wait for help.
"Galactica, I'm hit and I'm going down. I repeat, I'm going..."
The pain hit Lee before consciousness. He tried to move his arms; the pain was suddenly much, much worse. He let the wave pass over him, then he risked opening his eyes. He was still in his viper. The interior didn't look too bad, but outside, he could see wisps of smoke coming from the direction of the engine.
He hit the comms. "Galactica, this is Apollo. Please respond." He waited, and received no response. "Galactica, I'm on the surface of the planet and my viper is frakked." Again, no response. "I don't know if you're getting this, Dee, but I'm going to go take a look around."
His screens were blacked out, nothing was responding. He had no idea if his comm was actually working or if the fleet even was still out there.
The bogeys had started to attack the civilian ships, not just the Galactica. If the capital ships had gotten into it...
The realization hit him. "Frak," he cursed, under his breath.
They'd jumped.
Without him.
And he had no idea where to.
And he didn't have a working ship.
Frak.
He popped the canopy of the viper, careful of his nearly useless left arm. A high-pitched whine above him drew his eyes upward. The viper had crashed in a forest, ending up sideways against a tree. All he could see was green and brown, but he thought he saw a flash of silver in the sky above. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. A concussion was possible, he'd certainly crashed hard enough and he had been unconscious.
"Okay," he sighed. "You can do this."
Lee pulled himself to a standing position, gritting his teeth against the pain. His legs hurt like hell, he wasn't going to stay upright for too long, but nothing felt broken or weak.
In the open, the situation sounded a whole lot different. The whines continued, more and more of them. Weapons like he'd never heard before fired in the distance. The distinct smell of fire permeated the air. He gracelessly slid down the side of the viper, landing softly flat on his face. He pushed himself up, determined to see what the turmoil exactly was.
He stumbled through the dense forest, tripping over tree branches, slamming into the trees, into the ground. By the time he reached the tree line, his lungs burned from the exertion.
What he saw made his gut clench. Straight ahead was a medieval village, habited by humans. The silver ships they'd been fighting in space were everywhere, putting out some laser beam type light that vaporized the people in its path. Other... beings, with brown leathery faces and nothing Lee could identify as eyes, were chasing people into the beams. Or shooting them with some kind of energy shotgun. One of the big ships from orbit was blasting the buildings from above.
The fleet had inadvertently stumbled into an invasion.
Frak.
Lee pushed back into the trees, but not so far he couldn't see the carnage. He pulled out his sidearm, turning off the safety. He leaned back against a tree and waited, watching as more humans disappeared.
He had never felt so helpless in his life.
A girl, no more than fourteen, broke away and headed directly for his position. She didn't make it to the trees. One of the non-humans shot her and she fell to her knees, then to the ground. It turned her over, ripped her clothes open and put a hand to her chest. Lee watched in horror as she quickly aged and dried out in front of him.
At least the Cylons only wanted to kill them.
The non-human spotted him and strode toward him, no curiosity or fear that Lee could see. He raised his weapon and fired. The being was barely knocked back. He fired again and again, but the being was getting closer. He emptied the clip into its chest. It fell, dropping its weapon, but still moved toward him.
"Frak!" Lee spat.
He moved as quickly as he could, beating the being to the discarded weapon. He felt a hand on his arm. The pain, his injuries disappeared. He didn't know how to fire the thing, but there was one thing he could do. He drove the pointed end of the weapon into the monster's chest. It convulsed for a few seconds before going completely limp.
Couple days, they'd send a Raptor for him, Lee told himself. He just had to stay here a couple days. They wouldn't leave him behind, not permanently. Days turned into a week, then two, and no Raptor, no fleet.
His father would not leave him behind. But it was harder and harder to believe that every day with no sign of the fleet.
At least food wasn't a problem. Not all the buildings had been destroyed, but most; he found a small barn that was mostly intact with a good couple weeks of food stored. The weather was mild, fall or spring by his estimation. Gods, he'd almost forgotten what fresh food tasted like.
He'd fashioned a sling for his arm. He had no idea if he'd broken a bone, torn a ligament or what, but it was pretty much useless. He tried to keep walking a perimeter, but he couldn't walk far before his knee gave out. He'd given that up, not much point when he made enough noise to alert any enemy in time to hide.
Lee spent some time digging through the light debris. He wanted to know about the people, if they'd known anything about their destroyers. He didn't find anything useful, just a lot of junk and no writing at all.
In the second week, he found the ring. It was at the opposite end of the village, standing twenty feet tall upright in some sort of pedestal, made from a bluish metal Lee had never seen before. The path leading to it was well-traveled. A console-like device sat a few feet in front of it. He pressed a few buttons curiously. Six of the chevrons lit up, dotted designs like those in the Tomb of Athena, but nothing else happened. If the dots were constellations, they weren't ones he recognized.
This wasn't Earth.
He had been stranded on the planet nearly month when he heard the ring activate. He grabbed his weapon and rushed the short distance across the village from the well. The ring was filled with what looked like rippling water. He was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him or he was ill or something, because water couldn't just stand upright.
Three humans, wearing dark grey uniforms, not unlike the Colonies' dress uniforms, stepped out of the water and it disappeared behind them. The young woman led the two young men down the stone steps and looked around, a grim look on her face. She said something to the two men, but Lee was too far away to hear it.
Lee watched the two men scavenge through the debris like vultures. The young woman gazed over the charred remains of homes and buildings. She called out a few times, apparently looking for survivors.
Lee took a defensive position as she entered his barn. Her eyes immediately went to all the places one could hide.
"Hello?"
Her eyes fell upon him and his weapon. She jumped, surprised.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Sora of the Genii," she answered. "The Wraith came?"
"What's the Wraith?"
"You don't know the Wraith?" Sora asked, disbelieving. "Are you a Lantean?"
"Lantean," Lee repeated. "No."
"Who are you?"
He debated on lying to her and decided there was no point. "Captain Lee Adama of the Colonial Fleet." She showed no recognition. "Is this Earth?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
She recognized the name Earth. "Earth is very far away."
"How far?"
"You're not even in the right galaxy."
Lee didn't answer.
She looked him up and down, focusing on his flight suit, and glanced towards the door. "Pack your things and change into other clothes," she told him hurriedly
"What?"
"You can't stay here alone. The Lanteans will help you."
"I can't leave. My people are going to come look for me here."
She glanced at the door again. "Captain, you have to go. The Wraith may return. It's not safe."
"Why them? Why not your people?"
"The Genii will just use you and toss you aside when they're finished," she said, bitterness seeping into her voice.
Lee didn't move. "Why should I trust you?"
"I will take you through the Ring of the Ancestors. Tell Tyan and Meren that you have family on Beda. You have been too injured to make it to the ring on your own."
"You didn't answer my question."
Sora looked him in the eyes. "I cannot give you an answer. You must trust me."
He knew he didn't have much choice. She was right, he wasn't safe here alone with his injuries and he'd probably been reported as dead. The old man would've sent someone back for him before now otherwise.
He nodded and did as she told him.
In clothes he'd found hanging outside, he walked out of the barn, leaning heavily on Sora. He didn't actually need to, but she insisted. He needed to look unable to walk on his own.
"I found a survivor," she called out.
"The Wraith do not leave people behind," one of the men replied derisively.
"Maybe they thought I was dead," Lee shot back.
Something felt off with the two men. They were guarded, suspicious, and looked at him as if they were sizing up his usefulness. Lee didn't trust them.
He watched as she pressed the buttons on the console, seven in a seemingly specific order. When she pressed the large center dome, the ring activated. Water splashed out and settled in the center, like a vertical pond on a windy day.
Sora wrapped her arm around his waist. "Come. We will find your family on the other side."
He only nodded and let her lead him into the unknown.
Stepping through the ring reminded Lee a little of a FTL jump. That feeling of almost non-existence, only much more pronounced and if he had to guess, probably more accurate. Sora released him as soon as the ring deactivated. He looked up to the sky. He could clearly see a moon looming to his right, even though it was early morning. He was definitely on another planet.
"This is Beda's capital city," Sora told him.
Beda's ring stood in a crowded central plaza, the city surrounding it. Another city of humans. The buildings and the plaza all had tall stone pillars, similar to the ancient ruins on Gemenon and Kobol. The people seemed more technically advanced than the world he'd crashed on, but nowhere near what he was used to.
Sora led Lee to a small café, just inside the pillars of one of the buildings. She was greeted by a man that was easily his father's age, maybe older. They kissed each other on both cheeks.
"Niedri has fallen to the Wraith."
"That is terrible. Were there any survivors?"
"Only Captain Adama," she told the man, glancing at Lee. "This is Dynus, chief of Beda's trade council." She turned back to Dynus. "Is Teyla Emmagan due to return soon?" she asked him, concerned. "He needs their help."
"Less than a month, I believe," Dynus replied. He looked at Lee. "You are welcome to stay until then. My daughter's family has room in their home. I'm sure they'd be happy to host you."
Lee glanced between them. "Isn't there a way to contact these people?"
"They have a protective shield on their ring," Sora told him. "I do not have a code device or a radio to contact them."
"A code device?"
"To lower the shield," Dynus said. "They are very protective of the code devices."
Lee caught the man's glance at Sora and her slightly guilty look. He had an idea the protectiveness might've had something to do with the Genii and her.
"I must return to Niedri. The others will be waiting for me."
Dynus nodded understandingly. "I will escort you back to the Ancestral Ring."
Sora smiled and nodded as well. They turned and walked to the ring, Lee limping behind them. "Be sure to let Dr. Beckett know the extent of your injuries," she told him. "Atlantis has excellent medical facilities."
They stopped at the console and Dynus input the symbols. "Atlantis?" Lee asked, confused. Atlantia was a myth, a city that had sank to the bottom of the ocean while humanity was still on Kobol.
Sora pulled a slender tube from inside her uniform and handed to Lee. "Please give this to Teyla when she arrives."
"Sure." His attention was drawn away by the activation of the ring.
"Good luck, Captain."
"Lee."
"Lee. The Lanteans will be able to return you to your people, I'm sure."
"Thank you, Sora."
She smiled and stepped into the ring. Lee turned to the older man. "I appreciate this, Dynus."
"Have you eaten? It's time for our midday meal."
"I could eat. Maybe you could tell me about these Wraith."
Dynus looked at him in disbelief. "You do not know of the Wraith? No wonder she wished to send you to Atlantis."
"About that..."
Elizabeth Weir smiled when the puddle jumper had finally landed, just outside Beda's capital city, and she was finally able to get out. Flying with Carson Beckett always made her queasy, and unfortunately today, he was the only available pilot.
"Do we have time to look around?" Daniel Jackson asked, coming up beside her. "The architecture almost looks Greek."
"I'm sure Dynus can give you a tour, if you ask nicely."
She gave him an amused smile. She liked Daniel and was glad to finally have him on her team. Translations were going faster and their database searches were a bit more streamlined. It helped having someone on staff that had a clue about the Ancients themselves.
She glanced at the archaeologist. He was studious taking in every detail of the city's central plaza. She nudged him. "The trade council usually hangs out over there," she said, pointing to a small café. She turned back towards the jumper. "Carson? You ready?"
He handed Daniel a medical bag. "Would you mind?"
"Sure."
The doctor picked up a storage box off the jumper's rear bench. "I'm ready."
Elizabeth pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes. "Let's go."
The three walked to the café. Dynus greeted them with smiles, kissing Elizabeth on either cheek.
"It is good to see you, Dr. Weir," the older man said. "We were expecting Teyla's team to return."
"Unfortunately, they're under quarantine at the moment."
Dynus' smile turned to concern. "I hope it is nothing serious."
Carson smiled. "Ah, no. They'll be fine. It's an irritation more than anything else."
"That's good to hear, Dr. Beckett. I hope whatever it is, they recover soon."
Elizabeth turned the Bedan's attention to Daniel. "This is Doctor Daniel Jackson. He's staying with us on Atlantis for a while."
Dynus held his hand out for Daniel to shake. "Are you a healer like Dr. Beckett or a scholar like Dr. Weir?"
"Scholar. I study people, ancient civilizations, languages."
"Sounds very interesting, Dr. Jackson. I hope you will tell me some of your studies." Dynus turned back to Elizabeth. "I have someone for you to meet. Niedri was culled a few weeks ago. Sora brought through a survivor, but he is not of that world. He says he crashed there. Have the Lanteans come across a world named Caprica?"
Elizabeth glanced at Daniel, and saw her confusion mirrored on his face. "No, we haven't."
"No matter. Sora felt you were the best to help him and having spoken to him, I agree. He speaks of wondrous technologies I have only heard of the Wraith, the Ancestors and yourselves having."
"Dr. Beckett!" another man, about the same age as Dynus, called happily.
"Octian, how are you?" Carson replied.
"Are those the medicines?" Octian asked. "Let me take that from you."
"Is anyone in need of my services? I brought my bag, just in case."
Octian looked at Dynus, who just shrugged, before replying. "Except for our visitor, I do not believe so. Has Dynus told you about Captain Adama?"
"Just now," Dynus said.
"I've done what I can for his injuries, Doctor, but I believe your skills are better suited to help him."
"He is hosted by my daughter's family. You may speak with him yourselves when we go there to retrieve the fruit."
"You just wanted a ride."
"Lee!" Dynus called out.
A young man turned towards them and waved with his uninjured arm. "Good afternoon, Dynus!"
"Good afternoon to you, too! We have friends from Atlantis visiting."
A rush of emotions crossed Lee's face. "The City of the Ancestors."
"I'd like you to meet Dr. Weir, Dr. Beckett and," he glanced at Daniel, "Dr. Jackson."
"Captain Lee Adama, Colonial Fleet."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Elizabeth said.
"I'll go see about having the shipment brought to your jumper, while you get acquainted."
Dynus left with a grin.
"Where is your colony at, may I ask?" Daniel asked Lee.
"From here, I'm not exactly sure, actually. We were trying to figure out where the fleet had jumped to when the Wraith showed up. But my planet's named Caprica. It's part of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."
"Dynus said you had crashed. I assume it was during the fight?"
"Yeah. Sora told me you might be able to get me back to my ship?"
"We can certainly try. How is Sora these days?"
"Good, I think."
"Why didn't she just bring him directly to Atlantis?" Daniel asked.
"She mentioned something about a code device she didn't have."
"She was exiled after her release," Elizabeth told him. "She's been living with Koyla's mercenaries. She couldn't contact Atlantis without putting herself at risk. And we weren't going to put a GDO that close to Koyla."
Jack found the young refugee in the lounge, captivated by the TV. The reports he'd read indicated that the Twelve Colonies were actually ahead of Earth and the young man had been around Atlantis long enough, he assumed the captivation was of content rather than technology.
"Wanna get out of here? Actually see the place?" Jack asked, walking up behind him. He grinned when the young man jumped in surprise. "Daniel and I are going out to get a nice, juicy steak."
Lee looked unsure. "Uh, sure."
Daniel met them at the elevator on level 11. The three of them took a second elevator to the top, then a shuttle out to the parking lot. Inside the mountain, there was no way besides a clock to judge time. Outside, the night sky was full of stars.
"You into astronomy?" Jack asked, noticing the young man's amazement. "After dinner, I could take you further up the mountain and show you our constellations."
Lee continued to stare at the sky. Above him, he could see Gemini, just as it had looked in the Tomb of Athena on Kobol. The stars were a little more spread out, but the same.
Jack tried to direct his attention to another constellation and Daniel piped in with some of the mythology around the different names, but Lee was too busy looking for the other eleven. In a clear spot as they drove down the mountain, he spotted Pisces on the horizon. His breath caught in his chest.
This was Earth.
The Lanteans, the Terrans, the Tau'ri were the Thirteenth Tribe.
He'd found them. And he was alone.
Fandom(s): Battlestar Galatica/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing/Characters: Apollo, Elizabeth Weir, Daniel Jackson, Carson Beckett, Jack O'Neill, Sora
Rating: PG
Summary: Apollo is stranded with no way back to the Galactica and facing an enemy worse than the Cylons.
Notes: Spring cleaning of the WIP folder. Wrote this years ago, circa BSG S3. I had intended it to be longer, with Apollo settling into Atlantis and eventually connecting back with the fleet, but this is as far as I got (or will ever get). This takes place in that one universe where Vala didn’t show up and Daniel made his ride on the Daedalus.
"Apollo, bogey on your rear!"
Lee Adama had barely heard Starbuck's warning before his sensors told him the bogey's weapons had locked onto his viper. He quickly rolled out of weapons range, bogey on his tail.
"Why don't we get two in one shot? Think you can keep up?" she suggested.
"Just frakking watch me."
Starbuck chased a bogey into his flight path and he slowed, heading straight for it. He pulled up at the last second and barely cleared Starbuck's bogey. His bogey wasn't so lucky. The two ships collided and exploded as the two vipers took off in opposite directions.
Lee spotted a bogey headed towards one of the civilian ships and fired across its nose, drawing attention away from the unarmed ships. He flew an irregular path, keeping out of weapons lock. He decided to lose it in the atmosphere.
He knew immediately it was a mistake. The silver, dart-like ship handled better in upper atmosphere than his viper did. This time, when the weapons locked on, he didn't have enough time to get completely out of the way.
The viper began a freefall descent to the surface. The engine wasn't responding, the best he could do was control the crash landing and wait for help.
"Galactica, I'm hit and I'm going down. I repeat, I'm going..."
The pain hit Lee before consciousness. He tried to move his arms; the pain was suddenly much, much worse. He let the wave pass over him, then he risked opening his eyes. He was still in his viper. The interior didn't look too bad, but outside, he could see wisps of smoke coming from the direction of the engine.
He hit the comms. "Galactica, this is Apollo. Please respond." He waited, and received no response. "Galactica, I'm on the surface of the planet and my viper is frakked." Again, no response. "I don't know if you're getting this, Dee, but I'm going to go take a look around."
His screens were blacked out, nothing was responding. He had no idea if his comm was actually working or if the fleet even was still out there.
The bogeys had started to attack the civilian ships, not just the Galactica. If the capital ships had gotten into it...
The realization hit him. "Frak," he cursed, under his breath.
They'd jumped.
Without him.
And he had no idea where to.
And he didn't have a working ship.
Frak.
He popped the canopy of the viper, careful of his nearly useless left arm. A high-pitched whine above him drew his eyes upward. The viper had crashed in a forest, ending up sideways against a tree. All he could see was green and brown, but he thought he saw a flash of silver in the sky above. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. A concussion was possible, he'd certainly crashed hard enough and he had been unconscious.
"Okay," he sighed. "You can do this."
Lee pulled himself to a standing position, gritting his teeth against the pain. His legs hurt like hell, he wasn't going to stay upright for too long, but nothing felt broken or weak.
In the open, the situation sounded a whole lot different. The whines continued, more and more of them. Weapons like he'd never heard before fired in the distance. The distinct smell of fire permeated the air. He gracelessly slid down the side of the viper, landing softly flat on his face. He pushed himself up, determined to see what the turmoil exactly was.
He stumbled through the dense forest, tripping over tree branches, slamming into the trees, into the ground. By the time he reached the tree line, his lungs burned from the exertion.
What he saw made his gut clench. Straight ahead was a medieval village, habited by humans. The silver ships they'd been fighting in space were everywhere, putting out some laser beam type light that vaporized the people in its path. Other... beings, with brown leathery faces and nothing Lee could identify as eyes, were chasing people into the beams. Or shooting them with some kind of energy shotgun. One of the big ships from orbit was blasting the buildings from above.
The fleet had inadvertently stumbled into an invasion.
Frak.
Lee pushed back into the trees, but not so far he couldn't see the carnage. He pulled out his sidearm, turning off the safety. He leaned back against a tree and waited, watching as more humans disappeared.
He had never felt so helpless in his life.
A girl, no more than fourteen, broke away and headed directly for his position. She didn't make it to the trees. One of the non-humans shot her and she fell to her knees, then to the ground. It turned her over, ripped her clothes open and put a hand to her chest. Lee watched in horror as she quickly aged and dried out in front of him.
At least the Cylons only wanted to kill them.
The non-human spotted him and strode toward him, no curiosity or fear that Lee could see. He raised his weapon and fired. The being was barely knocked back. He fired again and again, but the being was getting closer. He emptied the clip into its chest. It fell, dropping its weapon, but still moved toward him.
"Frak!" Lee spat.
He moved as quickly as he could, beating the being to the discarded weapon. He felt a hand on his arm. The pain, his injuries disappeared. He didn't know how to fire the thing, but there was one thing he could do. He drove the pointed end of the weapon into the monster's chest. It convulsed for a few seconds before going completely limp.
Couple days, they'd send a Raptor for him, Lee told himself. He just had to stay here a couple days. They wouldn't leave him behind, not permanently. Days turned into a week, then two, and no Raptor, no fleet.
His father would not leave him behind. But it was harder and harder to believe that every day with no sign of the fleet.
At least food wasn't a problem. Not all the buildings had been destroyed, but most; he found a small barn that was mostly intact with a good couple weeks of food stored. The weather was mild, fall or spring by his estimation. Gods, he'd almost forgotten what fresh food tasted like.
He'd fashioned a sling for his arm. He had no idea if he'd broken a bone, torn a ligament or what, but it was pretty much useless. He tried to keep walking a perimeter, but he couldn't walk far before his knee gave out. He'd given that up, not much point when he made enough noise to alert any enemy in time to hide.
Lee spent some time digging through the light debris. He wanted to know about the people, if they'd known anything about their destroyers. He didn't find anything useful, just a lot of junk and no writing at all.
In the second week, he found the ring. It was at the opposite end of the village, standing twenty feet tall upright in some sort of pedestal, made from a bluish metal Lee had never seen before. The path leading to it was well-traveled. A console-like device sat a few feet in front of it. He pressed a few buttons curiously. Six of the chevrons lit up, dotted designs like those in the Tomb of Athena, but nothing else happened. If the dots were constellations, they weren't ones he recognized.
This wasn't Earth.
He had been stranded on the planet nearly month when he heard the ring activate. He grabbed his weapon and rushed the short distance across the village from the well. The ring was filled with what looked like rippling water. He was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him or he was ill or something, because water couldn't just stand upright.
Three humans, wearing dark grey uniforms, not unlike the Colonies' dress uniforms, stepped out of the water and it disappeared behind them. The young woman led the two young men down the stone steps and looked around, a grim look on her face. She said something to the two men, but Lee was too far away to hear it.
Lee watched the two men scavenge through the debris like vultures. The young woman gazed over the charred remains of homes and buildings. She called out a few times, apparently looking for survivors.
Lee took a defensive position as she entered his barn. Her eyes immediately went to all the places one could hide.
"Hello?"
Her eyes fell upon him and his weapon. She jumped, surprised.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Sora of the Genii," she answered. "The Wraith came?"
"What's the Wraith?"
"You don't know the Wraith?" Sora asked, disbelieving. "Are you a Lantean?"
"Lantean," Lee repeated. "No."
"Who are you?"
He debated on lying to her and decided there was no point. "Captain Lee Adama of the Colonial Fleet." She showed no recognition. "Is this Earth?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
She recognized the name Earth. "Earth is very far away."
"How far?"
"You're not even in the right galaxy."
Lee didn't answer.
She looked him up and down, focusing on his flight suit, and glanced towards the door. "Pack your things and change into other clothes," she told him hurriedly
"What?"
"You can't stay here alone. The Lanteans will help you."
"I can't leave. My people are going to come look for me here."
She glanced at the door again. "Captain, you have to go. The Wraith may return. It's not safe."
"Why them? Why not your people?"
"The Genii will just use you and toss you aside when they're finished," she said, bitterness seeping into her voice.
Lee didn't move. "Why should I trust you?"
"I will take you through the Ring of the Ancestors. Tell Tyan and Meren that you have family on Beda. You have been too injured to make it to the ring on your own."
"You didn't answer my question."
Sora looked him in the eyes. "I cannot give you an answer. You must trust me."
He knew he didn't have much choice. She was right, he wasn't safe here alone with his injuries and he'd probably been reported as dead. The old man would've sent someone back for him before now otherwise.
He nodded and did as she told him.
In clothes he'd found hanging outside, he walked out of the barn, leaning heavily on Sora. He didn't actually need to, but she insisted. He needed to look unable to walk on his own.
"I found a survivor," she called out.
"The Wraith do not leave people behind," one of the men replied derisively.
"Maybe they thought I was dead," Lee shot back.
Something felt off with the two men. They were guarded, suspicious, and looked at him as if they were sizing up his usefulness. Lee didn't trust them.
He watched as she pressed the buttons on the console, seven in a seemingly specific order. When she pressed the large center dome, the ring activated. Water splashed out and settled in the center, like a vertical pond on a windy day.
Sora wrapped her arm around his waist. "Come. We will find your family on the other side."
He only nodded and let her lead him into the unknown.
Stepping through the ring reminded Lee a little of a FTL jump. That feeling of almost non-existence, only much more pronounced and if he had to guess, probably more accurate. Sora released him as soon as the ring deactivated. He looked up to the sky. He could clearly see a moon looming to his right, even though it was early morning. He was definitely on another planet.
"This is Beda's capital city," Sora told him.
Beda's ring stood in a crowded central plaza, the city surrounding it. Another city of humans. The buildings and the plaza all had tall stone pillars, similar to the ancient ruins on Gemenon and Kobol. The people seemed more technically advanced than the world he'd crashed on, but nowhere near what he was used to.
Sora led Lee to a small café, just inside the pillars of one of the buildings. She was greeted by a man that was easily his father's age, maybe older. They kissed each other on both cheeks.
"Niedri has fallen to the Wraith."
"That is terrible. Were there any survivors?"
"Only Captain Adama," she told the man, glancing at Lee. "This is Dynus, chief of Beda's trade council." She turned back to Dynus. "Is Teyla Emmagan due to return soon?" she asked him, concerned. "He needs their help."
"Less than a month, I believe," Dynus replied. He looked at Lee. "You are welcome to stay until then. My daughter's family has room in their home. I'm sure they'd be happy to host you."
Lee glanced between them. "Isn't there a way to contact these people?"
"They have a protective shield on their ring," Sora told him. "I do not have a code device or a radio to contact them."
"A code device?"
"To lower the shield," Dynus said. "They are very protective of the code devices."
Lee caught the man's glance at Sora and her slightly guilty look. He had an idea the protectiveness might've had something to do with the Genii and her.
"I must return to Niedri. The others will be waiting for me."
Dynus nodded understandingly. "I will escort you back to the Ancestral Ring."
Sora smiled and nodded as well. They turned and walked to the ring, Lee limping behind them. "Be sure to let Dr. Beckett know the extent of your injuries," she told him. "Atlantis has excellent medical facilities."
They stopped at the console and Dynus input the symbols. "Atlantis?" Lee asked, confused. Atlantia was a myth, a city that had sank to the bottom of the ocean while humanity was still on Kobol.
Sora pulled a slender tube from inside her uniform and handed to Lee. "Please give this to Teyla when she arrives."
"Sure." His attention was drawn away by the activation of the ring.
"Good luck, Captain."
"Lee."
"Lee. The Lanteans will be able to return you to your people, I'm sure."
"Thank you, Sora."
She smiled and stepped into the ring. Lee turned to the older man. "I appreciate this, Dynus."
"Have you eaten? It's time for our midday meal."
"I could eat. Maybe you could tell me about these Wraith."
Dynus looked at him in disbelief. "You do not know of the Wraith? No wonder she wished to send you to Atlantis."
"About that..."
Elizabeth Weir smiled when the puddle jumper had finally landed, just outside Beda's capital city, and she was finally able to get out. Flying with Carson Beckett always made her queasy, and unfortunately today, he was the only available pilot.
"Do we have time to look around?" Daniel Jackson asked, coming up beside her. "The architecture almost looks Greek."
"I'm sure Dynus can give you a tour, if you ask nicely."
She gave him an amused smile. She liked Daniel and was glad to finally have him on her team. Translations were going faster and their database searches were a bit more streamlined. It helped having someone on staff that had a clue about the Ancients themselves.
She glanced at the archaeologist. He was studious taking in every detail of the city's central plaza. She nudged him. "The trade council usually hangs out over there," she said, pointing to a small café. She turned back towards the jumper. "Carson? You ready?"
He handed Daniel a medical bag. "Would you mind?"
"Sure."
The doctor picked up a storage box off the jumper's rear bench. "I'm ready."
Elizabeth pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes. "Let's go."
The three walked to the café. Dynus greeted them with smiles, kissing Elizabeth on either cheek.
"It is good to see you, Dr. Weir," the older man said. "We were expecting Teyla's team to return."
"Unfortunately, they're under quarantine at the moment."
Dynus' smile turned to concern. "I hope it is nothing serious."
Carson smiled. "Ah, no. They'll be fine. It's an irritation more than anything else."
"That's good to hear, Dr. Beckett. I hope whatever it is, they recover soon."
Elizabeth turned the Bedan's attention to Daniel. "This is Doctor Daniel Jackson. He's staying with us on Atlantis for a while."
Dynus held his hand out for Daniel to shake. "Are you a healer like Dr. Beckett or a scholar like Dr. Weir?"
"Scholar. I study people, ancient civilizations, languages."
"Sounds very interesting, Dr. Jackson. I hope you will tell me some of your studies." Dynus turned back to Elizabeth. "I have someone for you to meet. Niedri was culled a few weeks ago. Sora brought through a survivor, but he is not of that world. He says he crashed there. Have the Lanteans come across a world named Caprica?"
Elizabeth glanced at Daniel, and saw her confusion mirrored on his face. "No, we haven't."
"No matter. Sora felt you were the best to help him and having spoken to him, I agree. He speaks of wondrous technologies I have only heard of the Wraith, the Ancestors and yourselves having."
"Dr. Beckett!" another man, about the same age as Dynus, called happily.
"Octian, how are you?" Carson replied.
"Are those the medicines?" Octian asked. "Let me take that from you."
"Is anyone in need of my services? I brought my bag, just in case."
Octian looked at Dynus, who just shrugged, before replying. "Except for our visitor, I do not believe so. Has Dynus told you about Captain Adama?"
"Just now," Dynus said.
"I've done what I can for his injuries, Doctor, but I believe your skills are better suited to help him."
"He is hosted by my daughter's family. You may speak with him yourselves when we go there to retrieve the fruit."
"You just wanted a ride."
"Lee!" Dynus called out.
A young man turned towards them and waved with his uninjured arm. "Good afternoon, Dynus!"
"Good afternoon to you, too! We have friends from Atlantis visiting."
A rush of emotions crossed Lee's face. "The City of the Ancestors."
"I'd like you to meet Dr. Weir, Dr. Beckett and," he glanced at Daniel, "Dr. Jackson."
"Captain Lee Adama, Colonial Fleet."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Elizabeth said.
"I'll go see about having the shipment brought to your jumper, while you get acquainted."
Dynus left with a grin.
"Where is your colony at, may I ask?" Daniel asked Lee.
"From here, I'm not exactly sure, actually. We were trying to figure out where the fleet had jumped to when the Wraith showed up. But my planet's named Caprica. It's part of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."
"Dynus said you had crashed. I assume it was during the fight?"
"Yeah. Sora told me you might be able to get me back to my ship?"
"We can certainly try. How is Sora these days?"
"Good, I think."
"Why didn't she just bring him directly to Atlantis?" Daniel asked.
"She mentioned something about a code device she didn't have."
"She was exiled after her release," Elizabeth told him. "She's been living with Koyla's mercenaries. She couldn't contact Atlantis without putting herself at risk. And we weren't going to put a GDO that close to Koyla."
Jack found the young refugee in the lounge, captivated by the TV. The reports he'd read indicated that the Twelve Colonies were actually ahead of Earth and the young man had been around Atlantis long enough, he assumed the captivation was of content rather than technology.
"Wanna get out of here? Actually see the place?" Jack asked, walking up behind him. He grinned when the young man jumped in surprise. "Daniel and I are going out to get a nice, juicy steak."
Lee looked unsure. "Uh, sure."
Daniel met them at the elevator on level 11. The three of them took a second elevator to the top, then a shuttle out to the parking lot. Inside the mountain, there was no way besides a clock to judge time. Outside, the night sky was full of stars.
"You into astronomy?" Jack asked, noticing the young man's amazement. "After dinner, I could take you further up the mountain and show you our constellations."
Lee continued to stare at the sky. Above him, he could see Gemini, just as it had looked in the Tomb of Athena on Kobol. The stars were a little more spread out, but the same.
Jack tried to direct his attention to another constellation and Daniel piped in with some of the mythology around the different names, but Lee was too busy looking for the other eleven. In a clear spot as they drove down the mountain, he spotted Pisces on the horizon. His breath caught in his chest.
This was Earth.
The Lanteans, the Terrans, the Tau'ri were the Thirteenth Tribe.
He'd found them. And he was alone.
