"And yet," Zelenka remarked quietly, "despite this knowledge, the FBI has not managed to identify the… perpetrators, yes?"
Larance's expression conceded her frustration, either-or perhaps both-with them or with the case.
A file folder sat on the table in front of Landry, and he slid it down to the agent. "That's a nondisclosure agreement," he stated. "Your security clearance is valid, and no doubt you're familiar with the penalties for disseminating classified information. Yes, we know more than we've told you. If you want the rest, you'll have to sign that document."
Without responding aloud, Larance opened the folder and scanned the two-page agreement inside. Lifting her head, she looked in turn at each person present. Daniel, accustomed to being evaluated by more intimidating beings than her, stared back when her gaze reached him. She moved on to McKay, who attempted a smile and then uncomfortably averted his eyes-most likely the precise reaction she'd wanted. Finally her appraising look settled on Sheppard.
The klaxons chose that moment to start wailing.
"Unscheduled offworld activation," announced Walter from the speakers.
Landry and Sheppard were out of their chairs before the warning had finished. Throwing open the door, the General fell in behind the security squad double-timing down the corridor.
"Unscheduled what?" Larance shot to her feet, taken aback by the sudden activity. "Why in God's name are there Marines tearing around a secure facility with weapons like those?"
"Sign that piece of paper and you're about to find out." Elizabeth crossed the room to the windows, still blocked by the blast doors. Her brief stint in command of the SGC evidently hadn't been forgotten. "Otherwise, security will be happy to escort you to the surface."
As the alarms continued to bleat, Larance took out a pen and scribbled a hasty signature on the nondisclosure agreement. Watching her, Elizabeth brought a hand to her ear and spoke in a low voice. Daniel wasn't wearing his radio, but he assumed that she'd given an instruction to the control room, because soon the blast doors pulled back to reveal the gate room, the iris locked in place over the Stargate, while watery hues reflected off the rear wall.
The klaxons fell silent. Zelenka stepped over to the nearest monitor and activated it, displaying a video uplink from Atlantis. Elizabeth turned toward the screen, Sheppard moving to stand at her shoulder.
Seemingly without being aware of her own motion, Rebecca Larance had been drawn to the windows and now stared openly at the gate below. With the iris closed, the sight wasn't as impressive as it could have been. Still, Daniel watched their visitor and remembered the awe that had accompanied his first view of the gate, over a decade ago. Granted, for him the experience had been first and foremost a vindication of his strongly held belief in the origin of the Egyptian pyramids. He could only imagine what must be going through Larance's mind, seeing the huge ring flanked by a pair of massive weapons. For the first time since they'd met, though, some of the jaded skepticism she wore began to slip, giving way to a look of pure amazement.
"You're kidding!" Elizabeth's exclamation grabbed Daniel's attention. "No, of course you're not. When this mission was authorized, I was assured that under no circumstances would one of those creatures be allowed through the gate." She shot a glance at Sheppard, who affected an air of contrived innocence.
On the screen, Teyla Emmagan was looking mildly chagrined. Larance's expression didn't change as she turned from the window to the screen and studied the exotic location. "Where is that place?" she asked Daniel.
"Atlantis." He didn't try to suppress his smile.
Her head whipped toward him, disbelief finally taking up residence alongside the wonder in her expression. "Not the resort, I'm guessing."
"Somewhat further away than that," confirmed Colonel Sheppard.
"And no longer lost, as you can see." McKay appeared to be bouncing smugly on the balls of his feet. "We found it a few years ago."
"We?" Zelenka echoed pointedly.
"If you want to split hairs, it was Dr. Jackson who-"
"Where?" Larance took a step toward the monitor. "Crete?" Hesitating, she glanced at Sheppard. "Antarctica?"
"Pegasus, actually," Daniel offered, distracted by Elizabeth's pinched look. "It's a galaxy approximately three million light years from here."
"Well, good work in locating the Ancient laboratory," Elizabeth was saying. "We can only hope it will offer some insight into Lilith's work. Meanwhile, just tell me that Ronon and the Marine team will take care of all the animals that managed to escape past the gate room. We can't have anything like that loose in the city."
Nodding her assurances, Teyla moved to one side. Daniel could see over her shoulder into Atlantis's gate room, where a large body lay motionless on the floor. I'll be damned. He'd assumed the previous mission reports had been oversimplified, but the thing did look like a T. rex…which opened up an alarming array of possibilities about how it had ended up in the Pegasus Galaxy.
Cocking his head, Sheppard studied the animal critically. "I think that might be the same one that almost had us for lunch a couple of years ago."
"How could you possibly distinguish one from another?" McKay demanded.
I tend to be pretty observant when something's trying to eat me."
"Very helpful. Elizabeth, tell them not to destroy the carcass. I'd like to take a look at it when we get back."
Zelenka raised a cynical eyebrow. "Now you develop a sudden interest in biology?"
"There is nothing sudden about it! Just because you lack insight into some areas of my research…"
Everyone but Daniel appeared to have forgotten their visitor. As Larance stood there, still staring at the screen and seemingly trying to convince her mouth to close, he moved in beside her and said, "That's ours. Now, you show us yours."
Chapter eight
"Three teams of four each," directed Lome, fastening his tac vest. "Leads are me, Ronon, and Teyla. One gene carrier per team to operate the life sign detectors. All teams should be equipped with stunners and P-90s. Use either or both as required."
A chorus of "aye, sir" issued from the squad of Marines scattered around the armory. Ronon gave his pistol a cursory inspection and checked the locations of his blades. Chasing a pack of two-legged wild animals through the halls of Atlantis wasn't how he'd planned to satisfy his itch to hunt, but it would suffice.
"That's not necessary." Geisler hovered in a comer, visibly out of his element among the racks of weaponry. "Microceratops are herbivores-they won't hurt anyone."
"Maybe not intentionally, Doc, but you saw what they did to the gate room." The Major clipped his P-90 automatic to his vest. "They could do a lot more damage in the city than we're prepared to fix, and I for one don't want to have to explain that to Dr. Weir. Besides, you said the Earth species was only the size of a rabbit. These guys are five feet tall. How do we really know what they like to eat?"
"Because everything about them, right down to the shape of their jaws, tells me these are microceratops. Their size is purely a function of the lighter gravity on 316, I'm certain. And they're not likely to be the least bit aggressive. Just very frightened." He took a step forward, his hands imploring. "In fact, I suspect those bright red crests are an indication of terror, not anger. You also have Atlantis's higher gravity and slightly lower atmospheric oxygen content working in your favor. They're likely to tire quite quickly."