Chapter 38

Atlantis

Thunderstruck by what she said the doctor found he had trouble responding. Understanding his surprise Atlantis continued speaking.

"I have followed your work closely Radek. You remind me much of those whom I watched over many ages ago. Thank you for allowing me to once again interact with those here. We will learn much from each other" she said.

"Atlantis, I do call you Atlantis correct" asked Woolsey.

"Yes Mr. Woolsey, please address me as Atlantis" she said.

"I have so many questions for you" stuttered Zelenka.

"In time I will answer them all. Before that much must be done with my systems" she answered.

"Yes, of course" said Radek.

"What must be done Atlantis" asked Woolsey.

"Many of my systems require recalibration. I also detect several areas that require repair. With your permission I will begin repairs now" the avatar said.

"Permission granted" responded Woolsey.

"Repairs will not affect systems outside of the effected areas. I will contain accessibility limitations to the north and west piers for now. During this time I will integrate the defensive satellites in this solar system into my tactical network. Integration of these units will take a few moments" she responded.

"You can control the laser platform satellites" asked Zelenka.

"Of course Radek. My primary directive is to safeguard those in my care. Unless otherwise directed all defensive and information collection assets within the galaxy fall within my purview. While this integration is performed do you have another task to be performed" Atlantis asked.

"I have several ancient devices I would like to speak to you about" said Zelenka.

"In time Doctor. Give Atlantis and I a few moments alone to acquaint ourselves in private" said Woolsey.

Walking into the commander's office Woolsey and Atlantis began speaking. Although Zelenka hated waiting he knew that this wait would be worth its weight in gold. The things he would learn! Smiling broadly Radek retreated to his lab to begin working up a list of things he wished to discuss with Atlantis. Mckay eat your heart out was all he could think.

Pluto

After his return from the Destiny repair mission Dr. McKay had remained aboard Arkos station. Looking upon the Athena class as his sole creation Rodney had overseen every step of the lead sh.i.p.s repairs upon their return. So engrossed in his work the scientist never seemed to notice the eyes of crew members rolling when he entered a section of the ship and began to rant and rave. Once certain that repairs would be performed to his exacting standard he sequestered himself in a design lab with nothing but his brilliance, sandwiches, and endless pots of coffee.

Pouring over the design specifications of both ancient and Asgard vessels alike McKay set about not only improving the Athena class's offensive and defensive capabilities but producing the beginnings of the next class of ship. In these ways McKay kept himself entertained. His current train of thought involved finding a way to operate an entire fleet of vessels with subspace capacitors as their sole source of power. Pulling him away from his project momentarily the scientist noticed his radio ear piece calling his name. Tapping the ear bud he devoted his full attention to this newest of distractions.

"This is McKay" he said.

"This is Colonel Eckhart, sorry to disturb your me time. We just received a subspace communiqué from Atlantis for you. If you've got a moment I'll have it transferred to you" said Eckhart.

"Yes, yes, fine" said Rodney becoming agitated.

Moments later the holographic display Rodney had been using morphed into a live video feed from Atlantis. Seeing what he still considered his city brought a sense of loss to him. Life had carried on without him there. Who had even thought that possible?

"Hello Rodney" said Zelenka on the screen.

"Busy here Radek, what do you need" asked Rodney.

"As you know we activated the avatar of Atlantis. She's beautiful actually, although her hair doesn't have the lovely scent that Dr. Keller's always did" said Zelenka.

"Radek, are we really going to have an intergalactic conversation about how Jennifer's hair smells? Get to the point please" said Rodney growing more irritated by the second.

"Some time after Atlantis was reactivated she came to me about what she says is a most urgent matter. Do you recall the planet where your team located the second city ship" asked Radek.

"Yes Radek, I do. I was there, remember" snidely replied McKay.

"The avatars communicate amongst themselves on a certain level. Atlantis had stated in the most certain terms that we must make her sister whole again. She has asked that we retrieve this city ship" Radek said with a growing sense of excitement.

"I'm not even sure it's salvageable. All but the upper one third of the main tower is buried. It's overgrown with plant life; portions of the hull have collapsed. Radek, we've pulled off some miracles but I don't know if what you're asking is even remotely possible' stated Rodney.

"You're always such a pessimist. I called you remember? I am very aware you are sitting in an ancient shipyard. The very same shipyard that constructed these city sh.i.p.s" defiantly stated the Czech.

"I'll speak with the stations AI interface and see if this is even possible. No promises though" said McKay dismissively.

"Then you should know that earlier today Mr. Woolsey reported this to the IOA. They responded in hours and stated very clearly that the city ship would be recovered" said Radek with a smug look.

"I'll message you when I know more. Give me a few hours on my end" said McKay in closing.

Burying himself in terabytes of data concerning the construction of city sh.i.p.s McKay went to work. An hour passed like this when he began to compare what he had found on the building of these flying cities and the state in which he had last scene this particular city ship. Although it wasn't a pretty picture, he began to think that repairing the city wasn't in the realm of impossible. Knowing he needed someone more expert on the subject he knew he had to ask for help.

"Arkos, can you join me please" he said.

Detecting the request Arkos materialized in the room in which McKay was seated. To either side of the AI's avatar holographic screens of data and schematics appeared in the air.

".