Chapter 97

Atlantis

Like water no longer retained behind a floodgate the constant stream of 3rd ACR troopers flowed. The headquarters and command element referred to as Remington Troop, along with the 1st squadron Tigers, and 2nd squadron Saber's had arrived over a period of seven hours of continuous gate activations from Earth. Thunder, Longknife, and Muleskinner squadrons had been routed to Borealis. The troopers of 3rd ACR would only remain aboard the two city sh.i.p.s until their equipment arrived, under tow from the Asgard within the next thirty six hours. Security staff under the command of Lt. Col. Lorne would have their work cut out for them until that time keeping the new arrivals occupied and out of trouble.

Standing in stargate operations with Woolsey was Colonel Sheppard. Having arrived several hours before the Colonel had watched the arrival of 3rd ACR and smirked at the circus that would surely ensue.

"This is the most people Atlantis has had walking the halls since before the ancients departed" stated Sheppard.

"Let's just hope our new guests don't break anything as soldiers are known to do" replied a clearly fl.u.s.tered Woolsey.

Appearing beside the two men was the avatar of Atlantis. With a warm smile gracing the elegant lines of her face she politely waited for the two men to take notice of her presence.

"Hello Atlantis. Good to see you looking so chipper" said Sheppard.

"Is their something I can do for you Atlantis" asked Woolsey.

"Colonel Sheppard is correct that not since the departures long ago have this many souls walked my halls. I enjoy the activity greatly" she smiled.

"They are only temporary guests I assure you" replied Woolsey.

"Just make sure they don't break anything" said Sheppard.

"At Doctor Zelenka's insistence lockdown protocols have been instituted in sensitive areas. The gate is activating" stated Atlantis.

As the gate activated the two men watched as the event horizon settled into its normal shimmering puddle. All the men and supplies they had been informed to expect had already arrived. This gate activation was unexpected though.

"I detect Midway stations IDC" stated Atlantis.

"Lower the iris" ordered Woolsey.

Seconds later with the iris shield lowered a single man emerged through the gate. In his forties, wearing a flight suit, but his face was known to most who encountered him. On his first trip to Atlantis the man looked in awe at the room around him. After so many requests to come to the legendary city he had finally arrived fulfilling a year's long dream. Seeing two men on the platform above him motioning to him he took to the stairs towards stargate operations.

"You must be Mr. Woolsey. A pleasure" said the new arrival.

"Hey, I know you! You got pulled into the SGC" asked Sheppard.

"Allow me to introduce Mr. Alec Colson" stated Woolsey.

"Pulled in is the wrong word Colonel. Think more in terms of I was granted asylum" smiled Alec.

"Mr. Colson has been doing developmental work on systems for the 302 and 304 for several years" Woolsey added.

"You are one of the wealthiest men in the world, why would you need asylum" demanded Sheppard.

"It's complicated, but I'm sure you remember when I put an Asgard in a news conference" laughed Colson.

"Yeah that was kind of hard to forget. So what brings you here today" asked Sheppard.

Reaching into the b.r.e.a.s.t pocket of his Air Force issue flight suit Alec produced a thumb drive. With the drive between thumb and forefinger he brought the device to eye level for the two men the in front of him.

"I've brought a fix for the 302's. This drive contains the coding upgrade for the targeting systems. Now they will have a true air to ground targeting ability of their own that doesn't rely on crunching numbers from the ship" proudly stated Alec.

"You wrote this in the three days since we've had contact with the Genii" asked Sheppard.

"Not exactly Colonel. I did write the software, but many years ago for the F-15E Strike Eagle. I just modified a few lines of code and viola! I only had to alter a few hundred lines of computer code and it works like magic. And who is this beautiful young lady behind you gentlemen" asked Alec.

"I don't believe I am what you would consider young" replied a smiling Atlantis.

"Alec Colson, I would like you to meet Atlantis" said Woolsey in introduction.

"Were you born here and named after the city" asked Colson.

"I was born here in a manner of speaking" replied Atlantis.

"She's the visual representation of the city's AI. She is the city" added Sheppard.

"Forgive me. It's not often I meet such an attractive visual representation" laughed Alec.

"I'll leave you gentlemen now. Enjoy your stay Mr. Colson" said Woolsey before returning to his office.

"Did I say something wrong" asked Alec.

"Nah, he's just like that. You get used to it. Ok, how much time do you need to make the upgrades to our 302's" asked Sheppard.

"It's a simple matter of uploading the software to the data link the 302's and carrying vessel share. Once uploaded the 302's capture the new software and instillation is done hands free. From there we can transmit the software to the other sh.i.p.s in the fleet via subspace and they can upgrade their 302's as well. The entire process shouldn't take more than an hour from start to finish" answered Alec.

"Ares, two to beam please" Sheppard said after tapping his earpiece.