Welsh Nikki’s Weblog

Warnings and disclaimers:

This is a new SGA story, so all the usual disclaimers apply. I have not written this for financial profit. The characters from Stargate Atlantis are the property of MGM, I am just borrowing them.

This story contains spoilers for Stargate season 5 episode 1 only, as I have not seen the others yet.  The storyline may not be suitable for younger children as there are references to a character being pregnant. However, this is a comedy, not a romance.

Warning for British  readers, at the advice of my beta I am using some American terms and spellings for this story. So please don’t leave any comments that I can’t spell “realised” etc.

About the story.

Following a conversation with Trish about seahorses, and a bad case of jet lag, this idea for a story suddenly came to me. Its a topic that’s been done before, but I think I have given it a different spin:

After the birth of Torren, John has regrets that he never had children. But this is the Pegasus galaxy, where strange things are pretty much normal …………

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Horse from a different sea:

At the time, it had seemed like a pretty routine mission. Teyla was not ready to return to work after the birth of her son, Torren John, so Col. John Sheppard had checked the list of new recruits from the Daedalus and picked out Lt. Angela Kelly as a stand in. This would be her first off world mission in the Pegasus Galaxy, so John had chosen a simple mission, investigating the ruins of an Ancient city. Rodney had found plenty to interest him, and John had assigned Ronon to keep an eye on the scientist, and make sure he did not wander off.

Lt. Kelly had a PhD in geology, and a keen interest in archaeology and ancient languages. John had managed to convince himself that he had chosen her for her qualifications, and not for her slim figure, bright green eyes and curly red hair. She was as interested in exploring as Rodney, and John did not mind following her down the dusty corridors. They had been looking for about an hour when Angela found the remains of an ancient lab. There was a computer on a table that looked like it might still work. Angela attempted to start it, but eventually gave up in disgust, and suggested they call for Rodney. She started examining the other artifacts in the room. A small cube inscribed with ancient writing caught her interest.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before, Sir?” she asked.
“No I don’t think so. Can you read the symbols?” he replied.
“Sorry, my Ancient isn’t that good yet.  Here, maybe it will make more sense to you?”
As John took the cube from the girl, it activated, the writing lighting up with a blue glow. With no warning, the cube became unbearably hot and John dropped it,  grasping his hand against his chest.
“Ow, that hurt!”
Angela looked stunned as the artifact fell to the floor, unbroken.
“What was that?” she asked.
“No idea, I must have activated it with my gene.” John replied through gritted teeth.
Angela reached out, tentatively touching the cube and found it cool again.  She picked it up and put it in her pack for analysis.

John recalled the rest of his team and they returned to Atlantis, so that Dr Keller could attend to his burns. He was concerned that no one else should touch the cube, so he suggested that Lt Kelly take photographs of the symbols for the Ancient Language team to study. The cube itself was placed out of reach, on the highest shelf in one of the medical labs. Three weeks later Angela discovered that she was pregnant, and asked permission to return to earth. Shortly afterwards, John received news that she was going to retire from the military, and marry the father, a young scientist working for the SGC.

***********************************************************************

John woke up feeling nauseous. It must have been the meal they had on P60-33X  the previous day. Rodney and Ronon had seemed to enjoy it, but everything had tasted slightly stale to John. Teyla had obviously agreed with him, as he had seen her sniffing the food suspiciously. He started to get out of bed, but as soon as he was sitting upright he had an urge to throw up. He rushed to the bathroom with a hand over his mouth, and was relieved when he reached the toilet in time. John hated going to the infirmary, but he realized that he was going to have to tell Dr Keller. He wondered if the rest of his team were feeling the same way as him.

Surprisingly, John was the only one from the gate team who felt sick. The nausea seemed to come and go, and made it difficult to eat meals. Dr Keller ran a number of tests, but was unable to detect what was making John ill. He did not appear to have caught any known virus or bacteria.  After a few days, John was starting to feel both annoyed and frightened.

Teyla and Ronon were starting to get worried that John was not eating, so one evening they hijacked him and dragged him to the commissary. Rodney was already there, with a big pile of stew and vegetables piled up on his plate. The smell made John’s stomach feel slightly queasy.
“John, you should try to eat something, to build up your strength” Teyla suggested.
“I wish I could, but everything just makes me feel ill.” John lamented.
“You know, there is a tea my people make that might help.” suggested Teyla. “I drank it when I was pregnant with Torren, to help with the morning sickness.”
“That’s a crazy idea,” said Rodney, his mouth still full of stew. “He hasn’t got morning sickness.”
“Right now I’ve got morning, afternoon and evening sickness, so if there is even a chance the tea will help I’m willing to give it a shot.” John replied.

John followed Teyla back to the new larger quarters she had been assigned. Kanaan was holding a sleeping Torren on his lap, a gentle smile on his face. John experienced a stab of envy. It was not something he ever talked about, but for a long time he had wanted a child of his own. Unfortunately his marriage had failed, because of his job and all the secrets he had to keep. Since then, the  fear of getting hurt caused him to raise  his barriers to anyone who tried to get too close. He thought he had come to terms with being on his own, but  Teyla‘s new family reminded him of everything he didn‘t have. Teyla found the box of tea and passed it to John, who accepted it gratefully.  He said a small prayer to any gods that might be listening that this would work, and went back to his room to make the tea.

John was angry with Teyla, and he didn’t understand why. The Athosian tea seemed to have stopped his nausea but lately he seemed to be prone to mood swings, happy one moment, depressed the next, and quick to get angry for very little reason. This time it was because Teyla had asked Rodney to baby sit Torren.
“I don’t understand why you asked Rodney of all people, it’s not like he knows a lot about kids.”  John moaned, like a petulant child.
“I explained this to you before John. “ Teyla replied, trying to sound patient. “Rodney was the person who delivered Torren into this world, and under Athosian customs he has certain rights, and responsibilities to my child. Rodney has watched Torren many times and he never came to harm.”
“You could have asked me you know, I wouldn’t have minded.”
“John, are you jealous?” Teyla asked, a note of surprise in her voice. “I suppose that you could watch Torren if you wish, but take Rodney with you?”

***********************************************************************

It was lunchtime, and John had persuaded Rodney to stop for an early lunch break. For some reason he always seemed to be hungry these days. The scientist had been reluctant at first to leave his latest project, but John had lured him with the promise of chocolate muffins. They were sitting together, trays piled high with the Atlantian kitchen’s best imitation of burgers and fries, and as many of the chocolate muffins as Rodney could scare the serving staff into giving them. John reached out for a particularly large French fry on Rodney’s plate. Without hesitation Rodney swatted away John’s hand.
“Hey, leave my food alone flyboy, you’ve got plenty on your own plate”
John grinned at Rodney, unrepentant,
”Oh, but they always taste so much better from your plate.”
“Hmph, its no wonder you’re putting on weight” Rodney snarked, “Well you can keep your greedy paws off my cakes, you got it?”
“Hey, what do you mean, putting on weight?” John asked.
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you hadn’t noticed?” Rodney spat back.

Come to think of it, John realized his BDU’s had been a lot tighter recently. Maybe he needed to work out a little more, and watch what he ate?

John  decided to put himself on a diet, and set himself a grueling  exercise schedule. Teyla was glad to start their stick fighting sessions again, as she wanted to get back into shape after the birth of Torren. Ronon accepted without comment the suggestion that they should increase the duration of their morning run. Rodney moaned about the self defense lessons John suggested he should take, but agreed after John bribed him with good quality coffee and power bars.  For the next couple of weeks, John was tired and hungry, and a couple of times he even felt a little light headed, but if anything he seemed to be putting on more weight than before. It didn’t make sense, as he had always been naturally slim. He thought about going back to Dr Keller, in case this was connected to the mysterious sickness, but he really did not feel like being poked and prodded right now. He kept promising himself that he’d go tomorrow.

One morning, John was in the gym, training with Rodney, when suddenly he had a strange feeling in his stomach, like something inside was kicking him.
“Ow!” He doubled up, knees bent and  leaning over so his hands were on his thighs. It wasn’t that the pain was bad, but there was something wrong about the feeling, like there was a creature moving around inside him.
Rodney paused in the middle of the move he had been practicing, a confused look on his face.
“What the heck, I never even came near you John.”
“Not you. Stomach. Hurts. Infirmary. Now.”  The last he said with a slightly hysterical note in his voice.
Rodney knew John was the sort of person who tended to make light of any injury, so for his friend to actually ask for a doctor was frightening. He gently placed an arm around John, helping him to stand, and did his best to assist him to walk in the direction of the infirmary. He used his headset  radio to warn Dr Keller they were on their way.

***********************************************************************

Dr Keller was concerned by John’s symptoms, so she decided to run a scan. When she saw the results, her first thought was that there must be something wrong with the machine, because there on the scan was the image of a perfectly formed human baby. She considered that it might be some sort of alien parasite, but the Ancient diagnostics all agreed that this baby was human.  Her head was full of questions such as how could this have happened, and how was she going to deliver the baby? She forced her mind to focus on a more immediate problem, how was she going to explain this to John, without him freaking out? There were a few sedatives she could use on a pregnant woman, but she was reluctant to use any drugs on John, as she had no idea what effect it would have.

When John heard the news, he knew he should be horrified, but he was overwhelmed by a sense of exhilaration. He was going to have a baby. Sure, there were going to be all sorts of problems, but none of them mattered because at last he would have a child of his own. Rodney saw the silly grin on his face, and looked at him with a confused mix of emotions.
“You actually want to keep this kid?” Rodney asked.
“You’re kidding, of course I do, I never wanted anything more in my life.” John replied emphatically.
“You’re crazy John, it must be the pregnancy hormones talking. How on earth are you going to raise a kid on your own?”
“Teyla was going to do it, before we found Kanaan. And I’m not on my own, I’ve got my team to help me.”
“Oh no, your not going to rope me into any more babysitting, its not as if I’m not already spending all my free time babysitting Torren.” but as Rodney said it, a soft look crossed his face that belied the harsh words.
“Come on Rodney, you know you love that kid.” John said, grinning at his friend.
“OK, but don’t you dare tell anyone, I do have a reputation to uphold.” John laughed at the serious look on Rodney’s face, until he felt the baby kick again. His expression changed to an expression of awe.

Dr Keller wanted to find out how John could be pregnant, so she started by using the scan to estimate how old the baby was. She realized that her guess might not be very accurate, as there was nothing normal about this pregnancy. She looked through John’s medical records, until she came to the incident where he had burned his hand. Jennifer remembered that John had activated some sort of ancient device, and she wondered if this could have been connected to the pregnancy. She decided to run a database search for Ancient fertility devices, and cross referenced it against male pregnancy. She was not particularly surprised when the search found a device similar to the one that John had touched. According to the notes, there had to be a second person touching the device, to contribute their DNA, and it was more likely to succeed if this person was already pregnant. Jennifer turned back to the mission report.  There had been three other people on that gate team, Rodney, Ronon, and Lt. Angela Kelly.  Of course, Lt. Kelly had been pregnant at the time she went on the mission, and she had been the only other person to touch the cube. Suddenly all the pieces fell into place, and Jennifer realized what must have happened. Unfortunately, it meant that John was going to be on his own for this pregnancy. Still, at least he had his team to support him.

***********************************************************************

“No not like that!” Rodney almost shouted, “you’re going to stab him with the pin. Here, let me show you again.” He grabbed the decorated Athosian pin and deftly attached it to Torren’s diaper. John wondered how Rodney could do this so easily, when it completely escaped him.
“I don’t see why we have to use these stupid Athosian diapers anyway. What’s wrong with using disposables?”
“You’re joking, right? Have you ever tried asking Colonel Caldwell to bring  two month’s supplies of diapers on the Daedalus, never mind clothes, lotions and all the other things Torren needs?”
“I take it he said no?” John asked.
“And the rest. He gave Teyla and me a lecture on why there isn’t enough space to bring unnecessary luxuries. So it’s the Athosian diapers or nothing I’m afraid.”
John sighed and rubbed his aching back with his left hand.
“You need a break?” Rodney asked, a concerned look on his face.
“I wouldn’t mind sitting down for a bit. Why don’t we go over to the commissary and get some food?”
“You’re always hungry these days, are you sure you aren’t having twins?” Rodney teased. “Look we can do this later, I’ll get Torren dressed and give him back to his mum.”

John found a quiet table while Rodney went off to get food. The serving staff were always more generous with supplies of chocolate cake when they knew it was for Col. Sheppard. Rodney dumped the trays down on the table and sat down next to John. He passed over the cakes, keeping one for himself.
“You know, it was always a lot more fun to steal them off your plate,” John laughed.
“I’m sure you will get plenty of chances after the baby is born.” Rodney replied with a smile.
“It can’t be long to go now. Have you got everything organised?”
“Pretty much. Teyla has a lot of stuff that Torren has outgrown, and Ronon and Kanaan are building the crib. Actually that reminds me, there is something I want you to do.” John said, in a hesitant tone.
“What, besides showing you how to put on a diaper? I can’t wait.”
Rodney reached out and picked up his glass of water.
“I want you to be my birth partner.”
Rodney almost choked on his drink, spitting water out across the table.
“You what?” he asked.
“You know, birth partner. I want you to be there when I have the baby?” there was a note of pleading in his voice.
“Oh no, not again, why does this always  happen to me?” Rodney moaned. “It’s bad enough I had to deliver Torren, but now you want me to be there for your birth too!”
“It’s because you delivered Torren that I want you there. You’ve been through this before. Besides, the doctors will be doing all the real work.”
“Yes, but I really freaked out when Torren was born, and you know how I am about blood. I’ll probably faint.”
“Rodney, please, this means a lot to me.” John looked across the table at Rodney with a wide eyed  puppy dog expression.
“Oh all right, “ Rodney agreed reluctantly, “I’ll do it.”

***********************************************************************

John woke up early, with a cramp in his stomach. It lasted a couple of minutes and then went away. Later in the morning the cramp came back. With a sense of panic, John realised it was a contraction.  He fumbled for his communicator, and called Rodney.
“Rodney. The baby’s coming. Now.”
“Oh god.” Rodney sounded as panicked as John. “Um, how close are the contractions?”
“I don’t know, half an hour?” John replied.
Rodney sighed with relief.
“It’s ok then, we’ve got time. I’ll come and walk you down to the infirmary.”

By the time they arrived, Dr Keller was ready to perform a caesarean. She sent Rodney to get a mask and scrubs, noting the pale expression on his face. One of the nurses gave John an epidural injection, so he would not feel anything, and they set up a screen so he would not be able to see the operation. John tried to relax but he was feeling nervous about what was about to happen. This was the first ever operation of it’s kind, so he knew there was a risk that it could go wrong. Rodney appeared at his side, looking just as nervous as John.
“Hey buddy, you ok?” he asked.
“Sure, never been better.” John replied. “Rodney, if I ask you something, will you promise not to laugh?”
“OK.” Rodney replied, curious.
“Would you mind, er,” John paused, took a deep breath, and then finally found the courage to say what was on his mind,” that is to say, would you hold my hand?” a blush spread across his face, staring at the tips of his ears and finishing with his cheeks.
At first, Rodney looked as embarrassed as John, but then he slowly reached out his hand, and interlaced his fingers with John’s, squeezing hard.

The operation seemed to last forever, but finally they heard a startled cry, and then a nurse passed Rodney a tiny baby wrapped up in a blanket.
“John, it’s a girl” said Dr Keller.
Rodney looked down at the tiny baby in his arms.
“Ohmygod, she’s perfect.” he said, a silly smile on his face. “Here, John, would you like to hold your daughter?”
John took the baby, and looked down at her tiny face with an awestruck expression. Hesitantly he reached out a finger, and instinctively the baby grabbed it.
“Do you have a name for her yet?” asked Jennifer.
“Actually I do,“ John replied, “Let me introduce you to Meredith, Angela Sheppard.”

The End,   for now?…………………………..

Shore Leave – the journey home.

OK slight reference to Star Trek there, that’s what happens when you spend the weekend hanging out with Klingons!

In the morning, Trish and KimberlyFDR hosted a panel on ADB, so we all felt we should go along to offer her moral support and talk about our favourite movie.

After that I  spent the morning on or around Em’s raffle stall. Well mostly, as I needed to take breaks for food, drink etc and kept getting distracted by people who recognised me from Saturday.

Before I went home there was one last chance to get autographs. I nearly didn’t get mine as the girl who was managing the line cut it off right by me and asked us to come back at 5. But David is such a nice guy that when I mentioned I had a plane to catch, he stopped and did one last autograph for me. David, this is just one of the reasons why we think you are so awesome. (lol)

Informal group squirrel photo:

Someone else took this with my camera. This is the second time I let someone do that and in each case people have red eye, but Kimberly seems to get it worse than everyone else.  Is there something you are not telling us Kimberly? Do you maybe have a head snake?

This is something I thought was pretty cool. Sammy and her sister have designed their own Stargate Atlantis Monopoly game.

I would have liked to have stayed for a talk with David, but I needed a lift to the Airport, and Brian offered to take me and Katrina if we left at 3pm. I was separated from Katrina at the airport because we were with different airlines, so we were at different terminals.

As you may already know, I had a few problems getting home. I was supposed to catch a plane from Baltimore to Philadelphia, to connect to a flight back to Manchester, England. However there was an electrical storm that was delaying flights. I could not get to Philadelphia in time to catch my connection to Manchester, and the next one would have been 8pm Monday, (US time)  so would have been stuck in Philadelphia for 24 hours.

I explained the situation to this lovely lady from US Airways called Maria, and she got me a seat on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow. She also got me a connecting flight to Manchester so that I could use my original rail ticket to get home and not have to purchase a new one.

the plane I came home in, at Heathrow Airport.

I ended up stuck in Heathrow for a few hours, but I made it home at 5pm London time on Monday, tired and desperately in need of a bath and change of clothes.

Saturday, the day of queues

Saturday morning was photo  day. Kate was leaving early, so she was having her photo first, followed by group photos, David and then Jewel. The queues were nothing like the English conventions I have been to. They were first come first served, they were huge and disorganised, and because we were packed together into narrow corridors it was really hot.

I was one of the people who paid for a group squirrel photo, for David and Kate. (I don’t see why Kate should miss all the fun). As we were about to do the photo, I got a chance to talk to David, so I apologised to him for all the chaos we were causing with the group photos. I then realised that I had the perfect opportunity to complete mission objective 3, which was to hug David for barcardi. I thought it might be a good idea to ask David if it was OK, as I didn’t want him to think I was a crazy stalker fan. I also told him that the hug was for my friend in barcardi in England (don’t know if he believed that). Fortunately he did not mind, so I got my hug – I mean barcardi’s hug, obviously! (Barcardi says in her email to me that she did have a tingly feeling all weekend, so I guess I managed to send the hug all the way back to England)

After that we did the group photo, which looks like this:

to get the names, click on the photo!

For my single photo of just me and David, I thought it would be great to have some fun, so I suggested we do some silly poses. David is totally up for this, you just have to be brave enough to ask. This is supposed to be the classic “bring it on” pose from ADB human XBox scene, as done so well by the Scottish squirrels. Unfortunately I was smiling, which Adam says spoils the effect.

I think this is going to be my new site icon?

At this point everyone else disappeared for a cool drink, but I still had a photo with Jewel. Another mission objective to cross off my list! At this point I got a chance to chat with some of Jewel’s fans and made some interesting discoveries.

1. Americans think I have a cute British accent. (if you get told that enough, it really goes to your head)

2.Everyone in US seems to watch Dr Who and Torchwood on BBC America, and if you come from Wales they automatically assume you are an expert. (lucky for me that I watch them both).

This is my photo with Jewel:

After lunch we went to the talk by David and Kate. English squirrels from MTH will be really jealous, because she got out a guitar and sang the song from the wedding, that David had been teasing her about in London. It happened thanks to Em, who brought along the guitar for Kate to sign. I tried to get some pics but I was too far back.

I am not going to try to repeat everything they said, but I do remember Kate teasing David about taking on too many projects, and thinking, ohmygod that sounds like me!

After that I helped Em by selling raffle tickets for DWB. We had the end of a table owned by a Stargate club. I managed to find time to drop in on Kate to pass on some nuts, and she offered to sign my shirt (that’s two objectives in one)

Much later in the afternoon, it was my turn to get an autograph. I also met a new squirrel called Marge. David was doing free sigs on the photos, and one free sig per day. So I asked him to sign my shirt with a borrowed fabric pen. Missions accomplished! The handler was trying to keep things moving so she was reading our badges and telling David the names of the guests. But I wanted it signed to Nikki, not Nicola. So David wrote on it “Nikki, if that’s your real name.”!

After that we were all pretty worn out so we went back to the hotel to change. We were supposed to be going back over and meeting up with the boys, but Kimberly started handing out Florida Sunsets, and most people decided they were too tired. So we had a girls party in Kimberly and Trish’s room. Apparently Em won a prize in the Masquerade for her costume as an ascended ancient.

The WG Missions

OK so maybe these are not as difficult and dangerous as the missions WG goes on for Area 51, but this is the real world, not one of my fics.

The missions were:

1 Find out if Frooties are real.

This mission was set by my son. You can’t buy anything like Frooties in our local shops, so we have been wondering if this was a real breakfast cereal. In the event I found some real Frooties, I was to bring some back.

2. Sweets for the guys at work.

It is a long standing tradition in our office at work that if you go abroad you must bring back some local sweets. This is a sacred trust not to be taken lightly if you want to keep your friends.

3. Hug David on behalf of Barcardicider.

Barcardi had the initiative to email me in person and request this. A mission I was more than willing to accept.

4. Give Kate a bag of nuts.

Jayne and I started a tradition at Shore Leave of giving each other nuts. I also brought some for Kate. So seemed a perfectly sensible idea to buy some nuts in Tescos (it has to be Tescos nuts because of the fic I wrote for Jayne) and carry them to Baltimore for Kate.

5 Get my squirrel shirts signed by David and Kate

(do I really need to explain this one?)

6 Photo with Jewel Staite

I haven’t met her before, and I didn’t have one pre-booked, so I added this to my mission list.

To find out if I achieved these missions, read on:

Friday is premiere day

Nyssa (my roomie) and I met up with the other squirrels in our hotel for breakfast. While choosing my food, I realised I had already completed mission objective 1 – find out if Frooties are real. The hotel were serving “Fruit Loops” which turned out to be the real world equivalent of Frooties. I had some for breakfast. I think Kimberly took a photo?

After breakfast we all ended up chilling out and chatting in one of the rooms. Eventually we decided to go across the road to the hotel where they were holding Shore Leave. I was rather shocked to discover we were taking a car, not walking. But then I saw the road we were having to cross and it made a bit more sense. It was as big as an English motorway, and there was no bridge, underground walkway or pedestrian crossing. Sp we ended up playing that ever popular party game, how many squirrels can you fit in a car.

Arrived at the hotel and went to register. We got our badges, and I bought my photo with Jewel (another mission objective completed and it’s not even lunchtime). We had some fun taking photos at David’s table:

David’s table

Em took us to find some lunch, we ended up in two groups, eating at McDonalds or Burger King. Due to the exchange rate at the moment, eating out in US is really cheap. So no need to worry if I brought enough dollars. After that we did some shopping. Completed objective number 2, buy sweets for the guys at work. I also got some Fruit Loops for Adam.

Later on, back at Shore Leave we started meeting up with other squirrels for a meal at the hotel. The group included.

Me, Nyssa, Trish,Kimberly, Scary, Em, Delka, Sammy and her sister, Green and her mum, Hemloche and his buddy Mike.

I thought the food was ok, but the service was a bit slow. Poor Kimberly nearly didn’t get served at all. Some of the squirrels were celebrity spotting, as we noticed Kate and Jewel walk in ahead of us.

Afterwards we were lucky enough to get front row seats for ADB. Someone had the clever and twisted idea that we should all put our ducks on our heads.

squirrels with ducks on heads.

David and the rest of his family came onto the stage, including Jane and Baz. David commented that Baz was behaving better than in the church at the wedding. David asked where the squirrels were and we all squeaked our ducks. Thanks to the jet lag I can’t remember David’s actual words, but I think he made a comment about us all being crazy. (damn jet lag, I really should have written it all down at the time)

The Hewletts

We also had a premiere of the season 5 part 1 episode. (I managed to resist spoiling it for anyone by telling them the bits I had seen at MTH). After this we were called to the bar to meet some more squirrels. I think I finally got to bed at 1pm (this is starting to become a bad habit). Oh and for the record, Mike you were drunk. No one who is sober makes a point of telling you they are not drunk

As I agreed to pay for this group photo with David and Kate, I got to keep the original and get it autographed. I have emailed a high quality copy to as many people as I could, so if you didn’t get one you need to let me know.

Pam should also have an original photo, which may be a slightly different pose, but it went missing, so if anyone  picked it up can you give it back to her?

The squirrels have created a thread to confirm all the names:

1. Hemloche (Brian)
2. Kdvb1 (Kimberly)
3. MdGateFan (Ann) <~~I think…please forgive me if I’m wrong!
4. tri33bell (Katrina)
5. whovian (Trish)
6. Sammymc (Samantha…Laura’s sister)
7. KarieNorthstar (Courtney)
8. knightowlgrl (Laura…Samantha’s sister)
9. Laura (Courtney’s friend)
10. Linda (green’s mom)
11. liloblivious (Tracey or Lil)
12. Nyssa (Pam)
13. KimberlyFDR (Kimberly)
14. watcher652 (Loretta)
15. sinister_mosquito (Sheila)
16. scary (Mary)
17. welshgirl (Nikki) – and duck!
18. green (Evelyn)
19. Delka (Amy)

OK so I’m still feeling a little jet lagged, so let’s call this the draft report, as I may want to change it later when my brain is back online?

The Journey there

I’ve never really done much travelling in the past. I’ve visited Germany, France and Ireland, and that’s about it, and the last airplane I was on was 20 years ago. Hence the flight to Baltimore was a big adventure in its own right.

The journey started when I got up at 4:50 on Thursday morning,  London time. Well that’s not strictly true. The journey really began when I read the Shore Leave thread on dGeek, and realised I wanted to be there. I suppose that originally it was all about meeting David, but it turns out that Shore Leave is just one of a number of events where you can meet him. At some point I realised it was also about meeting up with the squirrels, hanging with them all weekend, and experiencing the whole  Shore Leave event.

I took the train to Manchester airport, checked in and went through security without too much hassle. I did set off the metal detector but that turned out to be the buckles in my shoes. Now I always take them off and put them through with my bag. I had some time to do some shopping in duty free  and a sales girl from Dior gave me a free makeover.

The plane was on time. Sadly I didn’t get a window seat. I must remember to ask for one next time. The seats were a bit cramped, but the flight attendants were really friendly, and the food and drinks were included. I made a slightly worrying discovery – I may be turning into Rodney, because I like airplane food! (actually this is just another item on a long list of things I have in common with Rodney,  which is rather scary!)

At Philadelphia, I had to clear immigration, which included having my fingerprints taken. I was expecting to have to stick my finger in some ink, but in fact they ask you to put your finger on a clear plastic pad, so its pretty fast. I also had to collect my bag and check it back in. A bus took us to the connecting terminal for our flight to Baltimore, so I got to see a lot of the airport.

The plane taking me to Baltimore  was tiny, and had propellers instead of jets. I have since found out from Em that they call these planes Puddle  Jumpers. How cool is that, travelling to Shore Leave in a real Puddle Jumper! Not only that, but the passenger next to me was a member of the US air force, and was wearing his uniform.  I got a window seat this time, so I got a really good view of the area between Philadelphia and Baltimore. In a way it felt like this was not so much a part of the journey, as the start of the holiday, and I was on some really cool theme park ride.

real puddle jumper!

Nyssa collected me from the airport at the agreed time. Actually, she could have come earlier, as there was no security for me to clear in Baltimore, because I had done it all in Philly. She drove me across town to the hotel. American freeways scare the hell out of me because I am used to quiet Welsh back roads. The hotel itself was pretty amazing. It was taller than the hotels I usually stay in, and I got to be on floor 6, so I got some pretty good photos of the view from our window.

view from our room

The rooms were huge, with 2 double beds and a separate lounge for when you invite all the squirrels back for a party. The hotel is arranged around a central courtyard, which had Koi Carp in ponds and palm trees. Surprisingly, the room was not quite as expensive as the hotel in London, so I recon it would be worth doing again for next year.

the hotel central courtyard

koi carp in the hotel

Nyssa took me for a walk, and to find some food, although I was not really that hungry because of the heat. We found the local Hunt Valley Mall, which was not as big as some of the Malls you see on TV. Afterwards, Nyssa wondered if I would want to crash out in the room as it was 10pm, but I always say sleep is for wimps, and I wanted to meet Trish and Kimberly, Em and Scary, who were the only other early arrivals. We handed out the Pegasus Heros badges from Finn. I think we were there talking and watching stuff on Em’s laptop until 1am. When I finally got to bed I think I had been awake over 24 hours. (like I said, sleep is for wimps!)

Anyway, that’s enough for one report. Reports of Shore Leave and the Journey Home to follow.

Index

Rodney decided that being a passenger on a dragon reminded him of the fairground rides he remembered from his childhood. To start with there was the sense of terror, the closing of eyes and hanging on for dear life. But sooner or later you got used to the ride, opened your eyes, relaxed your grip and maybe even started to enjoy yourself. He had survived chasing after wraith darts, teleporting without warning and crazy manoeuvres that he was sure would throw him to the ground, but the flying harness had held him in place on Grall’s back. Now the battle was over, and they were flying back to the Citadel, he felt brave enough to look around and enjoy the view.

It helped if he distracted himself from noticing how high up they were by talking to Kellis. He learned the same information that Saul had told John Sheppard, that the  dragon riders had the ATA gene, and that they had rescued the crew of the downed puddle jumper. He also discovered that the dragons had been genetically engineered by the ancients to fight the wraith. Apparently the Citadel was an ancient city, now fallen into disrepair, and it had once had other defences against the wraith. Rodney wondered if the city was similar to Atlantis, like the other Ancient cities they had found. He could almost smell the ZPMs and other ancient goodies that might be waiting for him to find, and he hoped that Grall wasn’t listening in on his thoughts.

They were coming to the end of the open plains, and in front of them was woodland and rolling hills. To their right he could see snow capped mountains in the distance, while to their left he could make out the sea, and the distant outline of a city. The sea was gradually getting closer, and they were soon flying over a wide sandy beach. As they got closer, Rodney realized that the Citadel was not on the land, but floating on the sea, just off the coast. It bore a rather strong resemblance to Atlantis, but with some subtle differences. For a start, the air was filled with bronze and copper dragons flying between the towers, or out to sea to dive for food. Many of the towers had been modified with wide ledges to give the dragons somewhere to land. A number of ships, with old fashioned masts and sails, were moored at the city‘s piers. Some of them were at sea, carrying goods or people between the Citadel and a settlement on land, a sprawling city that looked a little like London in Shakespearian times. It was a weird mix of medieval construction and alien technology that you could only find in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Rodney found himself watching the dragons, amazed that they didn’t collide with each other, or with any of the towers. He noticed that very few of the dragons seemed to have riders. Curious, he asked Kellis why that was. She explained to him that the dragon population had grown with time, but the number of people born with the ability was decreasing. It was the same story they had heard before on other worlds.
Rodney caught himself wondering if John “Kirk” Sheppard would end up flirting with the local ruler’s daughter again. That man had all the luck. Grall must have heard his thoughts, as he could just make out the silvery sound of her laughter in his mind.

Grall landed on a wide ledge near the central tower of the Citadel. People came forward to help Rodney down. When he put his weight down on his bad ankle it hurt, and he could not stop himself from crying out.  Suddenly Kellis was at his side, supporting his weight. He heard Grall’s unspoken concern.
“Its my ankle, I think I twisted it when I fell.”
“Don’t worry, our healers will know what to do.“ Kellis told him. Rodney decided to reserve judgment until he met the healers. In his experience most healers in the Pegasus Galaxy were little more than witch doctors, practising the local equivalent of voodoo.

The inside of the tower was decorated with the usual pastel colours and geometric designs the Ancients seemed to be so fond of, but there were some more homely additions, such as the large dribbly candles that the locals preferred to use for lighting. It did not appear that the Citadel had any power left, which was disappointing, as Rodney had hoped to find a ZPM. Kellis was concerned that Rodney should not walk too far, so she took him to a transporter device. Inside, the lights and map inside it lit up.
“You’ve got power to the transporters!” he exclaimed.
“You know what a transporter is then?” Kellis asked.
“Sure, we have them back home in At…” he caught himself, remembering that Atlantis was supposed to have been destroyed.
Kellis smiled, “I knew it, your people are the New Lantians aren’t they?”
Rodney considered denying it, but Kellis would probably see he was lying, and he suddenly realised he did not want to alienate the blond dragon girl. He decided  it would be safer to change the subject.
“What’s puzzling me, is why you are using those candles, if you don‘t have to?”
“We are trying to extend the life of the Power crystals. The ancestors knew how to make new ones, but we don’t have the skill.”
Power crystals, that must mean ZPM’s,  Rodney thought to himself.
“So does the city have enough power to use the shields? He asked.
“It did have, until recently, but one of the grid technicians thought he could turn the shield into a cloak of invisibility, to hide the city from the Wraith. He did something wrong, and now the shield does not work at all.”
“You know, I could take a look at that for you?” Rodney suggested. “In Atlantis, I’m considered the leading expert in the technology of the Ancients.”
“Really, you would do that for us?” Kellis asked.
“It would be my pleasure.” and Rodney realised he meant it.

Have you ever wondered what happens if you put a can of fizzy juice drink in the freezer?  bsquirrel did.

So he decided to find out. With my drink. And without telling me what he was up to.

When the drink started to thaw out, it did this:

Please don’t try to copy this at home. I can make you no promises that your can will do the same as mine, and not something worse like explode.

Index

John reached the trees a little behind Ronon and Teyla, gasping for breath. He turned to check on McKay, and was shocked to see his friend still a long way back, stumbling as if he was injured. To John’s horror, the Wraith dart had deployed a culling beam and it was seconds from reaching his friend. Without thinking he started forward, but was stopped by Ronon placing a hand on his shoulder. Ronon was right, no matter how fast he ran, he could not get to Rodney in time to save him. Then, to his surprise, a large creature, that looked for all the world like a dragon from a children’s fairy tail snagged Rodney with its tail and pulled him safely out of the way of the culling beam. John was glued to the spot as he watched the dragon rider battle the Wraith dart. He found himself thinking  got to get myself one of those!

Several more darts flew overhead, and were chased by riders on bronze and copper red dragons. John noticed that the riders each carried some sort of large energy weapon, which they used to attach the darts. Although the winged beasts were fast, he could not figure out how they could keep up with the wraith ships, until he saw one wink out of existence and appear a few yards away.  One of the dragons misjudged their trajectory, and was fired upon by the wraith. To John’s surprise, the dragon was protected by a greenish glow.
“Personal shield.” he said without thinking.
“Very impressive, aren’t they” said Teyla, cutting through John’s thoughts.
“I  must admit, I wouldn’t mind having one of my own” replied John. Teyla grinned at his response.

Once the battle was over, three of the dragons flew over to where John and the others were watching, and landed gracefully. A young rider dismounted from the largest bronze dragon and walked forward to greet them.
“I’m Saul, rider of Talgarth”
“John Sheppard, and these are Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex.” John replied.
“You wear the same uniform as the people in the Gate Ship. Did you come here to find them?” Saul asked?
John had standing orders not to tell anyone they were from Atlantis, but there was no point denying that the crew from the jumper were his people, especially if they had survived.
“Yes, we did.“ he replied. “Are they ok?”
“Yes, but they were injured in the crash. We took them to the healer’s hall in the Citadel. Kellis is taking your friend Rodney there now?”
“He‘s ok, isn‘t he?”
“I don’t think his injury was serious. Come, we will take you to the Citadel”.

The harness the riders used had room for two people, so John, Ronon and Teyla were each assigned a dragon to take them to the Citadel. Saul invited John to ride with him on Talgarth. Even bending down to help them mount, the dragon was as tall at the shoulder as an elephant. The harness was held on by a mesh of leather straps that also doubled as a ladder. John was tired out from all the running earlier, and was less than elegant climbing into his seat. As his foot slipped he thought to himself.
Well done John, nice way to make friends with the locals. I hope I didn’t hurt you Talgarth.
No John Sheppard, you didn’t, but thank you for asking.
John nearly fell out of his seat with surprise when the he realised the dragon  had spoken to him telepathically. Saul looked at John, an odd, thoughtful expression on his face.

By the time he was seated and safely strapped in John was exhausted, but it was worth it when Talgarth unfurled his wings and took to the air. John had flown a lot of different airplanes and even space ships, but this had to be the most amazing thing he had ever experienced.  He found himself wondering how the others were enjoying the ride, especially Rodney, who was not good with heights.

Once they were airborne, Saul turned round in his seat to look at John.
“The Gate Ship your people came in, that was a device of the Ancestors. Are your people descended from them too?”
“Yes, some of us.” John replied, “Hang on, did you say your people are descended from the Ancients?”
“That’s your name for the Ancestors? We are, although the ability is not as common as it used to be. It is a requirement for a dragon rider.”
“Let me guess.” said John, “You need it to use those guns.” As he said it he glanced down at the impressively large weapon that was strapped to the webbing of Talgarth’s harness.
“In part, but also to talk to the dragons. I guessed you must have the ability after Talgarth spoke to you.”
John smiled apologetically, “Guilty as charged, I‘m afraid.”
“This is good news, maybe our people could form an alliance?” Saul asked.
“I’m all for making new friends.” John smiled. “Of course it would have to be approved by the leaders of our peoples.”
“Of course.” replied Saul.

Index

This is an SGA story set in the Pegasus Galaxy, although it is influenced by the Pern stories by Anne McCaffrey. There are no spoilers in this episode, which could fit anywhere after the start of season 2.

Warnings - some battle scenes against the wraith, some characters are hurt. Should be suitable for younger readers. Possible rating on fanfic K+.

The usual disclaimers apply:
My stories are not written for profit. The SGA characters are not mine, I just like to play with them.

Part 1. The Crash

They had been walking for about an hour now, across an open grassy plain. The sun was hot on the back of Rodney’s neck, and he was sure he was getting a blister.
“Remind me again, why we had to walk across this unforgiving wasteland, when we could have taken the jumper?”
“He’s got a point.” Rodney was surprised that Ronon had agreed with him. “Not much cover here if the Wraith come.”
“Hey, guys, we went over this in the briefing.” Sheppard sounded annoyed. “Something caused Jumper Three to crash, and I would rather it didn‘t do the same to us.”
“Well right now I‘d rather take my chances in the jumper.” Rodney complained.
“Do we have any idea what caused the Jumper to crash?” asked Teyla, in an attempt to distract him.
“Well not for certain, but it its possible it ran into an EM field, like the one we came across on that planet full of kids.” Rodney replied.
“So there is a chance that the crew will still be alive?” she asked, hopefully.
“I hope so.” Rodney replied a little wistfully.

Much later in the day, they finally came to the site where Jumper Three had crashed. The jumper was listing to one side, where the port side engine pod had been ripped off by some sort of energy weapon.
“Somehow, I don’t think that was caused by an EM pulse, McKay.” drawled Sheppard.
“Wraith.” Ronon spat out.
Rodney looked over his shoulder nervously, as if expecting a dart to appear any moment.
“Do not worry Rodney, I would be able to tell if the Wraith were nearby,” Teyla reassured him.

As the team approached the jumper, they could see that the hatch was open at the back. There was no sign of Major Lorne and his team; the jumper was empty apart from scattered supplies that might have fallen from storage compartments during the crash.
“Rodney, do you think that SG3 could have survived the crash?” asked Teyla, thoughtfully.
“Possibly, it depends on how long the inertial dampeners held out.”
Nobody said what they were all thinking, that even if Lorne and his team had escaped unharmed, they might have been culled by the Wraith.

“So, Rodney, do you think you can fix this?” Sheppard asked, one eyebrow raised.
“You’re kidding, right?” Rodney exclaimed. “This thing’s going to need a whole new engine pod, never mind all the hull damage.”
“Hey, I was just asking. Just salvage whatever you can carry that might be useful.”
“What about Major Lorne’s team?” asked Teyla.
“It’s going to be getting dark soon. We can set up camp for tonight, start looking for them tomorrow.”

There was a small stand of trees roughly 20 minutes away that looked like it would provide shelter for the night. It wouldn’t be as comfortable as sleeping in the jumper, but they would be hidden from any approaching darts. They were half way there when Teyla started to get the tingling feeling in her stomach that always indicated Wraith.
“John, I think we should move faster. The Wraith are coming.”
Just then, the team heard the distant scream of a wraith dart. John signaled the others to run. Ronon and Teyla made the cover of the trees without effort, and John arrived just behind them. Rodney followed at a speed that would have surprised many of the science team back on Atlantis, but he did not get very far before he tripped and fell flat on his face. As he struggled to his feet, he could see the approaching dart. The culling beam was closing on him and it looked unlikely now that he would make it to the safety of the woods. He put his left foot forward, and nearly doubled over in pain. Of all the stupid times for him to twist his ankle. Well that was it, he thought, I’m going to die. But something in Rodney refused to give in to the inevitable, and he started to hobble towards the shelter of the trees. By now John had realised something was wrong, and he looked like he was about to turn back for Rodney, when his face took on an expression of surprise. Rodney felt something reach out and grab him by the waist, and he was lifted up, out of the path of the culling beam.

Rodney’s initial reaction was simple relief that he was not about to die, but then his scientific curiosity took over, and he looked down at what had grabbed him. It looked like the largest snake he had ever seen had wrapped itself round his waist. He thought he could see wings off to either side of him. In a totally improbable maneuver the snake thing, which was actually a tail, placed him on the back of a large reptilian creature, with copper red scales, behind a woman in thick leather flying gear. Rodney could see wisps of blonde hair sticking out from under her flying helmet. Rodney noticed that the creature resembled a dragon from an earth fairy tale. It should have been shocking, but by Pegasus Galaxy standards it almost felt normal.
Please do not be afraid, you are safe now. Rodney heard the voice in his head.
I’m hearing voices in my head, why shouldn’t I be afraid?  Rodney replied sarcastically. To his surprise the girl laughed, and turned to face him.
“Grall likes you” she said with a smile. “You amuse her.”
“Grall?” for a second Rodney was confused, then he realized. “Oh, you mean the dragon? Did she just speak to me?”
“You’re quick, outlander” replied the dragon rider. “Hold on tight and don’t panic.”
Suddenly the Dragon was flying on a direct collision course with the dart. The girl lifted a heavy looking weapon and aimed. An energy beam burst from the weapon, and the dart crashed to the ground.
“Not bad.” Rodney tried to hide just how impressed he had been by that shot. After all, it wouldn’t do for the locals to think he was some peasant with no experience of technology.

He wondered if Sheppard and the others were ok, and looked down, but quickly regretted it. They were now a long way above the ground. Rodney felt a bit dizzy from vertigo.
“Not that I’m not grateful for the rescue or anything, but I don’t suppose you can put me down by my friends?”
“That would be foolish” the girl replied. “The Wraith might return. I should take you to the safety of the Citadel. Others will be sent for your friends.”
“OK, the Citadel it is then.” replied Rodney in a quiet voice.
“Where are my manners, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Kellis, rider of Grall” the girl smiled at him.
“Nice to meet you Kellis, and you Grall, I’m Dr Rodney McKay.”
The pleasure is ours, Dr McKay.