Stargate Atlantis FanFic

Title: Queen of Ice – Cold Paradise (chapters 1 and 2)
Rating: R
Genre: Gen (Pairing: John/OFC)
Spoilers: None
Summary: John meets a mysterious woman on a planet covered in snow
Beta: Heimedall, thank you

Remarks: Chapters 1 to 3 ready

Chapter 1

The Stargate deactivated after Ronon stepped from the puddle of water. He was the last person to set foot on the planet. John had taken the lead stepping through the gate from Atlantis, closely followed by Teyla, Rodney and finally Ronon. Their boots had completely sunken in the thick layer of snow that covered the planet. The MALP had already shown they needed warm clothes for this mission, but somehow the temperature felt less cold then it actually was. Of course, Rodney had tried to take every precaution to avoid getting any part of his body exposed to the cold. Only his face emerged from deep under his hood. Underneath he wore a hat and he had even made it possible to wear two set of gloves on his hands.

The surrounding vicinity of the Stargate alone was far more breathtaking then the video stream had shown them, making the team eager to see more. The sky on the planet had been covered in a shimmering mist of twilight with a reddish glow at the horizon and it never really seemed to become clear daylight. However, there was enough light to see the beauty of this remote planet. Small flakes of snow slowly fell from the sky, while the stars from neighbouring systems were also clearly visible. The snow crystals glittered like pure silver in the vague illumination. Snowflakes started to cover the team members clothing with a thin white layer, only those that touched skin melted away. The tree line, which started not far from the gate, was also covered under the white blanket of snow. The huge pine-like trees had thick branches to carry the weight of their heavy load easily. Some tree-trunks were several yards in diameter, letting the team know this forest was very old. Maybe it had been here even while the ancients visited the planet thousands of years ago.

John scanned the area and took a deep breath. At first, he had protested against a mission to a cold and freezing planet, constantly floating between dusk and dawn. However, Doctor Weir had easily been convinced by the importance of the mission after Rodney explained about the energy readings the MALP had discovered. A part of her acceptance came from the fact that very little was written in the Atlantis database about the world. It was known as safe place and no Wraith had been sighted on any excursions the Ancients had to this place. Yet it was very unclear why they went there. This gap in information had stimulated her curiosity about the place.

When Rodney showed the video stream and a partial map of the area, John agreed with the mission. There was something mysterious about the place that had caught his attention. He added one condition before finally agreeing. He wanted time to check and see if this planet could be used as a place for recreational purposes. There was snow and the mountain ridges were not far from the gate. Doctor Weir had agreed and concluded that it would be good to find a place where the expedition members could go safely, to be away from Atlantis and have some fun. It would certainly relieve some of the stress that lately hung as a dark cloud above the city. The war with the Wraith and Replicators had taken a serious toll on the mental health and stress levels of the people.

John briefly checked the rest of his team and saw Rodney already very busy taking all kind of readings on his scanning device. For Ronon and Teyla seeing snow was not very common. Most planets in the Pegasus galaxy had a mild climate and not much snow was seen on them, certainly not a whole planet covered in snow. Besides, when it would snow the people usually moved to warmer regions, to follow the herds they were hunting and the fertile ground to grow their crops. Teyla briefly nodded she was ready, as did Ronon. John did not wait for a response from Rodney, but stepped down the slope leading away from the Stargate. Behind him, he heard a murmur from Rodney when Ronon urged him to start walking, making him smirk.

The moment John stepped off the slope, small lights in the trees turned on, lightening the forest in front of the team. Instantly John, Teyla and Ronon had drawn their guns and checked the area for signs of danger. After making sure they were alone, John turned to face Rodney.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t do it,” Rodney said and checked his scanner again. “The energy readings are stronger in that direction,” he pointed towards the tree line.

“Teyla, Ronon, any ideas or explanation?” John asked as he lowered his gun.

In response, Teyla shook her head and put her gun away. Only Ronon kept his gun in his hand, but shook his head too.

“Wait,” Rodney exclaimed, “maybe there is a system to detect our presence, just like when we arrived on Atlantis.”

“Could be, but let’s stay alert, I’m not in the mood for surprises today,” John said taking another step away from the gate. Snow crunched under his boot and this time, his foot sunk even deeper in the snow, but the ground underneath him supported his weight and it seemed safe. Still a bit cautiously, Teyla, Rodney and Ronon followed John while they walked towards the trees. As they approached the trees they saw small lights attached to the trees, a pure crystal glass covered a small round crystal, which emitted an aqueous blue light. The light itself was not bright, but the quantity of lights turned the dusk to dawn. The lights marked a path through the forest. Rodney had pointed in the direction of the path and therefore John decided they should follow it and see where it would lead them. The snow in front of them was untouched. No footprints of humans or other small animals showed up while they followed the path, leading them deeper in the woods.

Chapter 2

After walking for almost an hour in the deep snow, the team reached a clearing in the forest. It was a large circular clearing with many lights on poles all around. There were also several stone tables, with stone benches. Snow was still falling steady to the ground, but strangely, there was no snow on the tables or on the benches. Even more peculiar was the face that the ground underneath was covered with snow. It was as if an invisible force shield kept the snow from the tables and benches, but the snow would betray the shield, because a layer of snow would lie on it. None of it seemed to be right. After a close inspection, they noticed the snow fell right through the stone table and benches.

“Holograms,” Rodney said with a clear hint of enthusiasm in his voice. A smile spread wide across his face while he moved his hand up and hit it down right on the table. “Ouch,” he yelped while he pulled his hand back.

“No hologram?” John asked wondered, as Ronon burst into laughter.

Teyla inspected the table and gently moved a finger to it, but instead of touching stone, her finger slipped right through the image. She looked quite surprised, as did John. Rodney on the other hand was already going over all kind of scientific scenarios and tried touching the table gently with his hand too. This time his hand moved through as well. In his next test, he pushed his hand flat on the table and it became solid.

“Works on pressure?” John asked wisely while he too tried the yet still erratic behaviour of the table and benches. He pressed his hand on the bench and after he had confirmed it was solid, he sat down. “It’s not even cold,” he said and looked at Rodney.

“Okay, keep sitting there, while I try something,” Rodney explained while he gently moved his finger to the bench. This time his finger could not pass through and touched the stone.

“Snow on the table,” Ronon suddenly said while he nodded in the table’s direction.

A big happy smile showed on Rodney’s face. “This is a great invention. Make it a hologram when you don’t need it and it will always stay dry, warm and clean and turn it solid when you do need it. This technology would be amazing to use, think of all the things you could do with it. Hmm, there should be something to determine the level of pressure or weight it needs before it makes the object turns solid. We should defiantly try and find it.”

The moment John raised from the bench the flocks of snow that had fallen on top of the table continued their journey to the ground. “Easy cleaning,” he joked and sat down again. He gestured to Teyla and Ronon to sit down on the other bench at the other side of the table.

Teyla obeyed, but was still a bit overwhelmed by the magic this technology seemed to posses. Even Rodney was still very impressed by it and he truly had no clues yet how it worked.

Meanwhile Ronon had scanned the clearing and pointed to a small building standing next to a big tree. “Maybe that is the source of the energy readings.”

Rodney’s eyes followed the path and tracked the building in sight. “Yes, I’m sure that will be the control centre for the hologram technology and maybe even the lights.”

Without waiting, Rodney started to plough his way through the deep snow towards the building. Quickly and without protest or remarks the rest of the team followed. The building itself was very small, only a door two yards wide. However, the building was clearly of ancient design. A sort of antenna led from the building up the tree, carefully guided along the thick trunk, until it completely disappeared high in the branches.

There was a lock on the door with several buttons. Rodney attempted to enter a combination, but none of the buttons responded, nor did the door open. Carefully he inspected the panel to find a way to open it and bypass the locking mechanism, but when this took too long, John moved in with his pocketknife. However, before he could place it between the panel and the door, it slipped open with a soft humming sound. In response, Rodney took a step beck and his place was immediately filled with both John and Ronon aiming their guns through the door. The light on John’s gun lit up the darkness inside and only uncovered a stairwell leading down, the rest of the small room was completely empty.

“Why did it open?” Teyla asked curious about the unexpected behaviour of the door.

Rodney looked confused; he could not explain any of the technology he had seen today.

“I bet it’s the gloves,” Ronon joked with a smile and John gave him a wicked grin.

“Yeah, go ahead and make fun of me,” Rodney said a bit agitated by the joking. “My hands are sensitive to cold and it doesn’t matter that it feels less cold, the temperature here is still far below freezing and...”

John interrupted Rodney. “Never mind, let’s just see what’s down there,” he took a lightening rod from his backpack and twisted it several times until the fluid inside was properly mixed and the rod was glowing bright yellow. He threw it down the stairs and it reached the ground only a few yards down. After a brief inspection from a distance, he entered the building and went down the stairs. Ronon followed him, while Teyla stayed behind and watched the area surrounding the building, including Rodney.

The room below was not large and was quickly inspected by John and Ronon. It contained only a few ancient computer consoles and some supplies, all covered under a thin layer of dust.

Ronon went up to the entrance. “It’s safe, you can go down,” he said and nodded at Rodney. Rodney was already waiting eagerly for this clearance and quickly climbed down the stairs. Once below he tried taking the flashlight from his jacket, but because of the double layer gloves, he had trouble actually getting a firm grip on it. He sighed deeply and removed one pair, after which he took the flashlight and turned it on. John who had been watching the whole ritual had already turned on his light.

Rodney scanned the room with his flashlight and stopped once the light hit a panel on the wall. “There,” he said, “that could be the power control panel of the building. If I can turn on the energy, I can start activating the computers.”

“Any chance it will work? The panel outside seemed to have a mind of its own,” John responded while he walked to the panel and watched it from up close.

It wasn’t long before Rodney had joined John and pressed the main button on the panel. Within seconds, the lights inside the room turned on. At first, it was dimmed, but it became brighter in seconds and slowly the computer consoles became active too. “I guess this one still works fine,” Rodney stated excitedly and moved to the first computer console within reach.

“I’ll leave you to your job then,” John said and checked with Rodney for a confirmation he would be all right.

“Sure, sure,” Rodney mumbled while he examined the computer console. “I’ll be fine.”

John started moving up the stairs, but before he went outside, he yelled downstairs. “Call me if there’s anything.”

Chapter 3

Outside the building both Ronon and Teyla were still standing deep in the snow watching the area. In all the time the team had been on the planet they’d seen some quite interesting technology, making every scientists heart beating faster. However, the planet seemed dead and deserted, except for the trees. No footprints anywhere and it was eerily silent. The only sound they heard had occasionally come from big lumps of snow falling off the trees or the snow crunching beneath their feet. This planet seemed too good to be true, there had to be a catch; why else would the ancients not setup a more permanent outpost. On the other hand, maybe they had, but they hadn’t found it yet.

John came out of the building and bent to the ground. He grabbed some snow with his gloved hand and moulded the sticky snow into a perfect round ball. Teasingly he held it up in front of the two others. “Snowball fight?” he asked and saw two big pairs of eyes stare at him.

“I don’t know,” Teyla said. She was surprised by the fact that John didn’t wait for an official answer and threw the snowball straight in Ronon’s face.

A happy smile covered John’s face while the snow slowly fell down, uncovering a thoughtful look from Ronon. This look quickly turned into a wide grin and as quickly as he could he grabbed snow from the ground, as did John. They both aimed at Teyla, who tried to duck away, but was caught by both snowballs. While she lay flat on the ground in the snow, she created a snowball too and threw it in John’s direction.

John was already running towards a big tree to find some cover, but the snowball hit him in the back. He moved behind the tree and grabbed fresh snow for a new snowball. Carefully he leaned his head around the tree, only to realize that both Teyla and Ronon had followed the same tactic and the trees protected them both from incoming snowballs. With a huge smile on his face, he threw the snowball towards Ronon’s location and hoped it would hit him. Halfway a part of the snowball lost cohesion and it crumbled midair, loosing too much speed to reach its destination. If he wanted to be successful, he needed to get closer and thus move to the in direct line of fire.

Armed with a newly formed snowball John entered the battlefield, as did Ronon and while they both threw their snowballs, the one from Teyla entered the area too and hit John full in his face. Rubbing the snow from his eyes, he could see yet another snowball flying in his direction. He ducked out of the way and while lying on the ground, the ball flew overhead and continued its journey until it ended on Teyla’s back. From his horizontal position, John was able to throw his snowball at Ronon, who had not expected it and it caught him under his chin. The melting water ran down his skin, seeping under his jacket into his shirt and as quickly, as he could Ronon removed the snow from his coat.

Both men were paying too much attention to each other’s moves, distracting them from Teyla. Two separate snowballs from Teyla were on their way and hit bulls-eye or their targets. She was smiling brightly until two dark gloating pair of eyes tracked her hiding behind a tree. John and Ronon briefly nodded at each other and prepared a new load of snowballs. As John got back on his feet, Ronon had already set a pursuit course to get even with Teyla. Only seconds later John joined the hunt. Some small laughter and joyful shrieks filled the air as the three of them continued their struggle to throw as many snowballs as they could while avoiding being hit by other snowballs.

*****

While the team outside was having fun in the snow, Rodney worked on the computer systems inside the building. He walked impatiently back and forth between two of the main consoles. Strange characters scrolled on both screens. They were not exactly common ancient, but fortunate they were not Wraith either. With his laptop, Rodney tried to translate the text as best as he could. The language clearly derived from ancient, but none of the Atlantis expedition members had come across this particular variation. It was more ancient then Wraith, but some Wraith influences were clearly present in the sentence structures. The style however was very unique in origin and could best be described as an old degenerated dialect from the Ancient language.

So far, Rodney couldn’t make much sense of the deciphered parts. Once he had translated something on the console, he tried to fit it into the instructions. However comparing it to the other translated sections, made it look like a completely wrong translation. Even if he tried to combine the sentences from the two screens, it was still a tangled and incoherent mess. He sighed deeply and started again with translating the top part of the instructions. There was no change in outcome no matter how he changed his interpretation. The text still gave the same instruction, which made no sense.

A bit frustrated Rodney finally gave up on the text and started pushing random buttons on the console in front of him. Each time he pressed a button he held his breath for a split second and hoped he wouldn’t power down the computer. At last, his devotion was rewarded when the instructions disappeared and a map of the galaxy showed up. This was something he could defiantly understand, no matter what language the people here had spoken a long time ago.

A large portion of the galaxy map was covered in white lights, but there were several blood red dots scattered all through the galaxy and a small patch of tightly grouped bright blue dots around the planet they were currently exploring. He scanned the map to find Atlantis in an area with white lights and Teyla’s home world, Athos, was marked in red. Racking his brain, Rodney couldn’t think of any time that a member of the expedition had gone to this area of the galaxy amongst the blue spots before.

Not completely happy, but very curious Rodney turned to the other computer and checked the screen to see if he could find out what the dots would mean. His scientific guess was that it would be some kind of communications array. The large energy emissions he had read from his scanner supported his idea, but he could use some instructions to fully support his theory. Suddenly from the corner of his eye a small blinking red light caught his attention. It was attached below a computer he had not touched yet and was he convinced it was not on, nor blinking a few minutes earlier. He briefly inspected the light, declared it as not important and guessed he had turned it on while pressing control buttons on one of the other computers.

Just as Rodney was about to turn his attention back to translating the instructions on the main computer he noticed a thin wire running from this console, up the wall to a small cabinet. With his flashlight, he illuminated the box and saw a thick cable leaving it at the top to disappear into the roof of the room. A pleasing smile replaced the thoughtful glimmer on his face. Outside he and the team had seen the wire run up the tree, strengthening his believe this station was used for communication. Seeing a connection between one of the computers and the antenna made it all quite clear to him. Quickly he touched some buttons on the computer where the thin wire came from until the main screen activated.

Again, the strange characters showed up and a quick assessment made it clear that translating it would be just as difficult as on the other consoles. However, the interface on this computer was more intuitive and it wasn’t long before Rodney had access to the system and he was able to identify the separate communication stations that were also located on the galaxy map. The red dots were inactive stations and the white dots represented planets were no communication station was located. All the blue dots were connected in a network, but he couldn’t get access to the system without entering a security code. Cracking the code would be the fun part of the day. Rodney’s levels of curiosity rose fast. As quickly as possible, he connected his laptop with the console and started working on building an algorithm to calculate the right code to get access to the communications array.