The basement greeted us with silence, darkness, dampness, and the feeling that someone was watching the back of our heads. Extremely unpleasant sensations, even if this were happening on our home planet, not thousands of light-years from Atlantis in a universe foreign to me.
And even tactical flashlights didn't really help the situation. The feeling of a victim walking toward their own executioners wouldn't leave. On the contrary, it only grew with every step.
I tried to sober myself with the thought that it was just a trick of the mind. But judging by my companions' breathing and the tense atmosphere, I was far from the only one feeling out of sorts.
Moving slowly through the dark corridor, we took our time, checking every nook and cranny. And that only put more pressure on the mind.
"At this pace, we won't reach the entrance to the lower floors even by tomorrow," Alvar lamented.
I was inclined to agree with him.
"We need to restore the lighting," I said quietly to Ihaar. "With flashlights, we can't see anything properly here."
"Yeah," he grunted. "Teyla, you didn't happen to bring a couple hundred candles with you, did you?"
"No, I didn't," the Athosian woman replied. "They would have been very heavy to carry in my backpack."
Emmagan hadn't caught the sarcasm.
"I'm talking about the standard lighting system," I had to explain to the Ancient.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" he asked. "This complex is thousands of years old! Nothing here might even work!"
"Don't you think it's worth a try?" I asked. "If anything here has survived..."
"It has," Alvar reported, shining his flashlight on a massive console. It looked more like a huge cabinet with a slanted top surface. Not a single switch, not a single keyboard. But a bunch of wires ran to it right over the walls. "This is probably something important."
"Possibly," Ihaar agreed. "If I'm right, this could be the power control panel. Large-section cables for high capacities..."
"Maybe you should come over and take a closer look?" I suggested. "I'm fine, but I'm sure Teyla is stressed by the local horror."
"Who?" the Athosian woman asked again.
"A very gloomy atmosphere, inspiring terror and making your blood run cold with fear of the unknown," I explained as best I could. The film industry here clearly had big problems, so...
"Let's see," Ihaar pulled out a connector with clamps for connecting to non-standard equipment and pointed at the console. "Mikhail, shine some light..."
It took five minutes to open the decorative panels, crawl all over the device, sigh heavily several times, and...
"Done," Ihaar said at the same moment the lights above our heads began to turn on. "Well, the locals knew how to build. Knew," he corrected himself. "Until they were all killed here..."
The complex's underground.
"A gloomy place," Teyla said, looking around. The spotlights on the walls and ceiling gave minimal light, creating ominous shadows in the corners and doorways. But it was easier to navigate now.
"The energy output has increased," Ihaar reported, checking his scanner's readings. "That way."
The engineer pointed to a passage leading deeper into the network of corridors.
"I think the passage is there," he suggested.
And that's exactly how it turned out.
Within a couple of minutes, we were standing before massive doors with hidden locking and turning mechanisms. If you didn't know something bigger was hidden behind them, you couldn't tell them apart from the walls.
"It's a dead end," Alvar stated.
"No, it's a hidden door," Ihaar walked up to the end of the corridor and showed his scanner screen. On the complex's schematic, tunnels continuing beyond the stone door were visible. "We need to find a way to open it."
"And do we need to?" the Ermen asked. "On my planet, such doors were installed in places where it was better not to go without special permits and preparation."
"Exactly like that?" Ihaar doubted. "Three by three meters, a meter thick, made of signal- and radiation-absorbing concrete?"
"One to one," Jensen quipped without batting an eye.
An incredibly interesting way to hide one's secrets. If only because without Ancient technology, there's no way to tell that what's in front of you isn't a wall, but just a plug.
No buttons, no levers, no pressure plates... It's a bit irrational to build a complex, wall off part of it from the rest, and leave no way to get inside.
There had to be some secret button or lock that the chosen few used — those who knew the way forward and were permitted to take it. And that's what we were doing, searching for such a secret while talking among ourselves.
"I'm willing to believe that," Ihaar said with a grimace. "There's clearly something behind this wall they didn't want to show. And energy traces are coming from there — corridors have been laid out. There's definitely something to hide! For example, it could be a data vault, or an arsenal..."
"More weapons?" Teyla repeated.
"That's an assumption," Ihaar explained. "I don't know what might be in there. I don't even know how to open this door..."
At first, the examination turned up nothing. But, taught by Earth cinema, I started tapping the walls next to the door. Alvar silently repeated my actions on the other side of the corridor. Teyla watched our backs while Ihaar pondered what he could do with science.
In one spot, about five meters from the plane of the hidden door, the sound of a strike against the wall was radically different from the others.
"There's something here," I announced. "Some kind of cavity."
"Really?" Ihaar was surprised. "But the scanner didn't detect anything."
No traces of a lock, no tiny cracks in the wall that might hint at how to remove the decorative panel... There was, of course, the option of blowing it up. But it was better not to do that while other options existed.
And an option did present itself.
As soon as I pressed hard on the wall above the void, a piece indistinguishable from the rest sank inward, then slid to the side and disappeared into a recess in the wall.
"And there's the lock," I announced, stepping aside for Ihaar.
"A display, a keyboard," he muttered, examining the small panel. "It's a code lock."
"Can you crack it?" Alvar asked. Right at that moment, Ihaar was already removing the device's top cover.
"We'll see," the Ancient continued talking to himself as he connected cables to the equipment. "Insulated wires, metal cores, microchips... I don't know what these guys did to catch the Lantians' attention, but their tech is primitive. I thought maybe that console was just old, but this one is clearly in the same technological branch, which means it's either the most advanced equipment or the most commonly used... Oh, it still works!"
With a loud grinding noise, the false wall slowly rose, disappearing into the ceiling. The tactical lights of our foursome illuminated a long, black corridor. And unlike the basement, it looked much more like the canonical depiction of secret underground laboratories.
Metal grating on the floors, metal paneling on the walls and ceiling, clear segmentation of the corridor... With a barely audible hum, lighting fixtures began to flicker on in the ceiling and walls of the discovered corridor.
Some of them exploded immediately, showering the corridor with sparks.
"Crappy technology," Ihaar stated, checking the scanner data. "The air is clean, breathable. No allergens, no extra particles detected in the air. Hmm..." he fell silent, studying something on the display.
"What is it?" I asked. "Is the Red Queen sending you her regards?"
"Huh?" the Ancient stirred. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm studying the atmospheric data of the complex. It looks like it was in storage, and now its power sources are starting up. Energy readings have increased tenfold."
"Is that dangerous?" Teyla asked.
"The main thing is not to stick your head in the reactor or touch the energy rods with your hands," Ihaar advised. "And then you'll have enough health to last a lifetime..."
"I think Teyla was wondering if the underground's power source might explode," I translated from Athosian to human.
"The readings are stable," Ihaar said after a moment's thought. "If the installation were faulty, the energy levels would be rising uncontrollably. But here, everything's normal... So, are we going inside?"
"You even have to ask?" I snorted, taking the first step into the ominous corridor. "Let's go, friends, charge into the breach and loot a couple of tombs! And yes, if you see any locals, and they're eating other locals or asking for brains, shoot them in the head."
"Why?" Alvar asked.
"That's what we do on my planet," I explained.
"Somehow I've lost the desire to visit Earth," Teyla admitted.
* * *
The virtual operator of the laboratory complex reacted to the intruders' appearance the moment they entered the main corridor. The pseudo-intelligence, despite millennia of operating in standby mode, acted strictly according to the security protocol.
"Unauthorized access to the facility. Security codes not entered. Subjects identified as hostile. Implementing security measures," it announced its own decisions.
Accessing its available arsenal, the pseudo-intelligence noted cascading failures in its matrix. The processor hadn't survived the long period of storage and was currently unable to handle its existing tasks.
"Matrix corruption detected in the pseudo-personality," stated the hologram, rendered as a golden human figure. "Risk of laboratory data and memory archive capture. Initializing protective protocols. Database erasure begun. Error. Security system unavailable. Error, malfunction in sector seven. Error, security systems were dismantled prior to storage and pseudo-personality matrix connection. Error, countermeasures useless due to their dismantlement. Risk of data falling into hostile elements' hands increasing. Accelerate data purge procedure. Checking available defense systems... Hidden weapons... Not installed. Laser traps... Dismantled. Nerve-paralytic gas... Inert. Ventilation system... Error. Attention, unauthorized connection to internal system detected. Life support systems taken under control by hostile objects. Error, insufficient RAM. Searching for alternative methods to slow hostile elements. Error, pseudo-personality matrix disintegration detected. Error, self-destruct system non-functional... Error, unauthorized access to historical database recorded. Blocking remaining information transmission channels... Isolating data bank. Attention! Possible countermeasures detected. Beginning thaw procedure for Object Forty-One, second generation. Cryogen supply stopped. Nervous system stimulation. Positive response dynamics to pseudo-intelligence commands. Object status satisfactory. Beginning data bank upload, second generation. Error, memory module full. Analysis. Redundant information. Attention, one minute until matrix disintegration. Begin formatting non-critical information, begin combat protocol upload. Forty-five seconds until matrix disintegration. Upload fifty percent. Begin arsenal calibration. Thirty seconds until disintegration. Memory upload complete. Object Forty-One, are you online?"
"Object Forty-One is ready to execute the assigned task," a second voice sounded. Movement appeared in the darkness of the cryo-storage compartment. Then, two sky-blue lights flared in the darkness.
"Begin destruction of physical data bank media," the pseudo-intelligence reported. "Restore self-destruct system functionality. After that — destroy hostile elements."
"Order understood." The blue light shifted to blood-red, and Object Forty-Two began executing the assigned task.
* * *
Inside, the underground part of the complex looked even more frightening. I'd even say that, for the most part, it didn't resemble the "high-tech" we'd seen upstairs and at the entrance at all.
The complex's interior.
It felt like we were in some abandoned facility that someone had tried to tidy up, modernize, but had given up halfway through.
We'd only examined a small part of the complex before we stumbled upon something that looked very much like an auxiliary control point. Actually, that was already better than the littered corridors, rusty pipes, and general unsanitary conditions. But the main thing was different — there were computers here that we could connect to.
"So, I'm in the system," Ihaar reported, sitting down on the floor next to the console we'd found. "By the Ascended, did their programmers get off on torturing users or something?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Their operating system is an absolute nightmare," Ihaar complained.
"Save your complaints for later," I ordered. "We need to get information about what this place is as quickly as possible."
"Whatever it was, there was clearly a battle here," Alvar reported. He and Teyla had returned from scouting this level. Both looked extremely pessimistic. "A very long time ago, but still..."
"Did you find something?" Ihaar grew worried.
"Corpses," Alvar said. "Several people in every corridor. Multiple injuries. Traces of explosions and corridor collapses."
"Wraiths?" I asked.
"All the corpses are clearly human," Teyla said. "Some skeletons are literally melted."
"That's bad," Ihaar said. "Whoever staged the massacre here was clearly using energy or plasma weapons. That's a sign of high technology."
"A civil war among the locals?" I suggested.
"No," Ihaar rejected the suggestion. "I'm in their historical database. The Salumai, while fairly developed, had energy weapons limited to gas lasers. And those things are more like laboratory test stands than actual weapons. They can saw through an object, cut it into pieces, but not melt it. They were clearly attacked by a more advanced race. Maybe it's all the Ori's doing? We fly away, then come back with reinforcements?"
"We didn't find anything that could pose a threat," Alvar reported. "If there was a massacre here, it ended a long time ago."
"Well, of course," Ihaar grimaced. "And the victors politely closed the door behind them? What gallant fellows."
"No panic," I ordered. "If there were something dangerous here, it would have attacked already."
"Or maybe it will attack!" Ihaar said. "I don't know what the virtual intelligence was doing before it cut off the communication channels."
"Virtual intelligence?" I repeated. "Can you elaborate?"
"It's a pathetic imitation of a full-fledged artificial intelligence," Ihaar waved dismissively. "A dead-end branch in the development of such technologies. Nothing more than a very large set of algorithms. But it's well-suited for the role of a guard dog if you need to guard something important for thousands of years. And the fact that it started blocking me is even more evidence that this isn't a simple facility. There are cryo-storage vaults here, an arsenal, enormous data banks..."
"Stop," I said. "Tell me everything in order. What did you learn?"
"We're in former mines for extracting a Naquadah isotope that the locals called nakvad," Ihaar said. "I read fragmentary information about it in Atlantis's database. An isotope that, ideally, could produce more energy than Naquadah itself. But it's unstable, and therefore dangerous. The Lantians experimented with it on several planets. And, from the looks of it, we're in one of their old mines that the locals turned into their own laboratory complex.
Nakvad... More powerful than Naquadah, but uncontrollable... Reminds me of Naquadria in the Milky Way.
"And what were they doing here?" Teyla asked.
"All sorts of nonsense, honestly," Ihaar recounted. "For most of their history, if the historical chronicles are to be believed, they didn't even know who they were or how they appeared in their world. Until they discovered the Stargate under the ruins of an old complex beneath the Capital. They studied it when they were already fairly developed and planning their space program. For that purpose, by the way, they started experimenting on humans."
"What kind of experiments?" I asked.
"Genetic mutations, cybernetic enhancements, and so on," Ihaar explained. "If I understood correctly, power on Salumai belonged to several corporations controlling city-states. When the Stargate was discovered, a war broke out over control of it. The locals used their super-soldier program creations against each other and destroyed most of the settlements on the planet."
"We didn't find any other ruins," Alvar reminded.
"The scan isn't finished yet," I explained. "Besides, this could have happened long before the current events."
"Fifteen thousand years ago, to be precise," Ihaar said, checking the text on his datapad. "They nearly destroyed each other and only stopped on the brink of complete and guaranteed mutual annihilation. The Gate was damaged in that war, the population was starving, radiation and all that. Well, that's when they came to their senses, put their weapons aside, and started rebuilding civilization from the ruins. As I understand it, they concentrated their efforts on one city. And they didn't need more — at their peak after the civil war, the population didn't exceed fifty thousand people. Nuclear winter, climate change, extinction of animals, birds, fish, and all that..."
"Go on," I urged. "I'm especially interested in the part about the Stargate and its restoration."
"Yes, I didn't notice the Gate being destroyed and non-functional either," Teyla chimed in. "Did they repair it themselves?"
"No, the Lantians did that," Ihaar explained. "It was already during the war with the Wraiths, near the end. The records say the expedition was commanded by Janus. He helped repair the Gate, but in exchange, he asked for access to their technology and nakvad. The locals initially communicated with the Lantians quite normally, even managed to exchange some technology, but they never managed to stabilize the nakvad. Here," Ihaar tapped the console, "it says the locals were interested in becoming a minor race in the Confederation, but the Council demanded they stop their research into human augmentation, artificial intelligence, and so on. There's a list of two hundred items there," the engineer looked genuinely surprised. "I don't know what these guys did to piss off Moros and the Council, but Atlantis wasn't compromising. And the Wraiths were approaching. In the end, the Lantians just left, abandoning their nakvad experiments. And the locals, realizing they were left alone against the enemy..."
"Why didn't they leave through the Gate?" I asked.
"And here's the most interesting part," Ihaar drummed his fingers on his device. "The Gate stopped working. It wouldn't receive or send hyper-tunnels. The locals didn't have many spaceships, but they built an ark, loaded it with their most prominent people — mostly the corporate elite and their servants, guards, and so on. They were supposed to start over on a new planet, but it didn't work out — the Wraiths arrived. The ark didn't manage to get far, since they had no idea about hyperspace or even the speed of light..."
"The wreckage the second Jumper found," I realized.
"Yes, most likely," Ihaar shrugged. "Anyway, the Wraiths arrived, the harvest began. And the locals unleashed their augmented soldiers on them. It says here they sent boarding parties onto Wraith ships, but without results. In the end, after losing a lot of infantry — the historians write about millions of enemies killed, probably lying — the Wraiths switched to total bombardment and planetary cleansing. It seems the people with cybernetics didn't suit their taste... Well, I suppose the locals didn't survive the cleansing."
"Sad," Teyla said.
"They weren't the first and they won't be the last," Alvar remarked philosophically.
"And what about this complex?" I asked. "Why did it survive?"
"And here's the most interesting part," Ihaar perked up.
"So up until now you were only talking about the flowers?" I clarified. "Saving the thorns for later?"
"I'm not familiar with that idiom," the engineer said, disappointed. "You can explain later. Okay, to simplify: after the Ancients left, the locals rebuilt their old mine complex into their own laboratory. From the looks of it, they started producing their super-soldiers well before the Wraith invasion. I think their danger came up in conversations with the Lantians. Anyway, they built this energy generation facility here as a decoy, while all the work was happening inside, in this complex."
"And what kind of work?" Alvar asked.
"They were creating augmented, genetically enhanced soldiers," Ihaar said. "Disgusting, honestly. I'm starting to understand the Council — the Lantians categorically rejected enhancing their bodies with augmentics."
"Why?" Teyla asked.
"You can't achieve Ascension if there's anything technological in you," Ihaar explained. "And it's one thing if it's some kind of laser cutter built into a finger. But these guys," he gestured around the complex, indicating the deceased natives, "were completely insane. Brains, organs, musculoskeletal system — they changed everything in people that could be replaced. It's... kind of creepy, actually."
"It's not for us to judge them," Teyla said diplomatically, looking at me. "Especially since we've been thinking about something similar ourselves."
"I'm not a reactionary," I explained to those present. "And we need every possible way to stand against our enemies. And I'm not just talking about the Wraiths. The Genii will get angry too when they find out who snatched the top spot in looting on Ermen from them. And those two races aren't the only ones who might get angry at us, for that matter. So..."
"If the soldiers agree, then why not make them stronger?" Alvar shrugged.
"I doubt there will be volunteers among my people," Teyla warned. "We honor the Ancestors' precepts about purity of body and spirit..."
"We'll discuss it later," I assured her. "In any case, if we don't find the recipe for making super-soldiers on this planet, we can forget about the Spartan project for years. And, from the looks of it," I looked at Ihaar, "we won't find it here, because someone had a falling out with the local artificial intelligence?"
"Virtual," Ihaar corrected me. "And I didn't have a falling out with it. It's pretty stupid and decided we were enemies, wanted to destroy us..."
I, Teyla, and Alvar exchanged glances.
"And you didn't mention this?" I asked in a silky tone.
"Well, I didn't let it," Ihaar shrugged. "It tried to use its resources for defense, but as it turned out, there's nothing here at all. Some things were destroyed during the attack on the base, some were dismantled after it."
"Now, more details about the attack," I requested. "Who attacked, with what purpose, and why was the base sealed?"
"The remnants of the locals holed up here after the Wraith raid," Ihaar explained. "They intended to use this place as a cradle for their race. But they were attacked. We came in through the front door, and the 'hostile subjects' came in through the back."
"And who was it?" Alvar anticipated my question. "The Wraiths?"
"No, the locals call Wraiths Wraiths," Ihaar explained. "But who attacked — the locals never figured out. They were in armor, with energy weapons. The complex tried to defend itself, but the attackers were too strong. They broke through the defenses, disabled the pseudo-intelligence and tracking systems. Then they did something here and left, blowing up half the complex."
"The rubble we found," Teyla realized. "In the far part of this level, the corridor is collapsed and the stones are melted into a monolith."
"Looks like some kind of bomb," Jensen suggested. "But there are several passages to lower levels. We didn't go there so we wouldn't split up."
"Right decision," I approved. "Let's see what we can find there."
"Nothing useful," Ihaar said. "The energy source we found is a simple energy collector. The locals couldn't figure out nakvad, so they installed collectors in the mines. They absorb radiation and convert it into energy. However, more than half of the collectors have broken down over time."
"In that case, we'll take this pseudo-intelligence with us," I decided. "And the data storage devices. Maybe we can recover the erased data."
"What's the point?" the engineer asked. "I skimmed through the file catalog they had here. There are no descriptions of procedures or technical blueprints here. Only general recommendations, and very superficial ones at that."
"Better than nothing," I said.
"And how will phrases like 'Administer Metophorin in three general doses into the left axillary vein' help us?" Ihaar asked. "Everything here was clearly written for use by those who already know what to do, not for guests from other worlds. No dosage descriptions, no chemical formulas, and so on. I'd even say their scientific database is just a memo for the staff."
"But the historical database was detailed," Teyla noted. "Maybe other sources have something similar too."
"The historical database, it seems, was written by one of the locals out of boredom," Ihaar admitted. "It wasn't even in the file catalog. I found it in the staff's personal files, and even then under encryption. Sorry, but everything here is just garbage. And the pseudo-intelligence is completely wiped. And that's not even mentioning that its processor has fried over time. And why would we need such junk anyway?"
"What do you mean, wiped?" I clarified. "You said it disconnected from you and went into full defensive mode."
"Our appearance reactivated the facility's virtual intelligence, it considered us a threat," Ihaar explained. "I hadn't figured out what it could do to us, so I launched one of my computer viruses to neutralize it. I thought I'd download the database while it was fighting for its life and all that. How was I supposed to know the locals had no concept of 'antivirus' or software protection?"
"You wiped the virtual intelligence of a secret base belonging to an alien civilization because you didn't know it was dumber than you." I massaged my temples. "Ihaar, on my planet, they call that 'Woe from Wit.'"
"You guys also wipe alien races' virtual assistants?" the engineer was surprised. "And I thought you hadn't even started thoroughly exploring your own star system..."
"No, we haven't," I confirmed what I'd told them about Earth before. "But we also have smart people who, from an excess of brains, cause rather extravagant adventures for those around them. Do you realize that you've effectively ruined our entire mission?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Ihaar was indignant. "Is it my fault the Salumai turned out to be dumber than me? You yourself said not to treat other races as primitive! Don't blame me for trying to save our lives!"
How I want to slap him... But I need to keep myself in check. And I definitely need to find a way to learn the Ancients' knowledge. This guy is clearly going to make more blunders!
I need to think about what can be salvaged from this situation. To do that, I need to be alone for a bit... Or at least step away from Ihaar's tempting back-of-the-head and think. Too bad I can close my eyes but not my ears. I'll need to make myself some earplugs and bring them on missions.
"Maybe the mission isn't a failure yet," Alvar said thoughtfully, standing guard at the entrance to this room.
"Without precise descriptions of the methods and technologies for controlled mutations, their knowledge is useless to us," Ihaar repeated. "We could spend hundreds of years trying different combinations and never even know if we managed to replicate any of their medicines or mutagens."
"This failure will be a lesson for all of us," Teyla said conciliatorily, walking up to Ihaar and putting a hand on his shoulder. Yeah, she's our famous peacemaker. And I'd prefer her to act like a peacekeeper from Farscape, or at least a UN peacekeeper. Not like a caricature psychologist from a sitcom. God, how infuriating this all is! Can I please get some normal assistants instead of all this? "Maybe it's even better this way. The Ancients didn't want to deal with them for a reason."
What am I doing wrong? Besides the simple answer: "Living."
"We can always ask about it," Alvar suggested. "Since the database is gone, why not talk?"
"He wiped the local virtual intelligence," I reminded him. "And the natives are just a little bit dead."
"Well..." Alvar drawled. "I wouldn't say that..."
My body reacted faster than my brain understood what was happening.
Spinning on the heels of my combat boots, I raised my rifle, aiming it at the figure standing in the doorway. Teyla, stopping her focus on Ihaar muttering about his innocence, repeated my actions.
And Alvar, as it turned out, had been keeping our uninvited guest in his sights the whole time. We're a real dream team! And okay, I have a shield, but what about the others!
"Who are you?" I asked, keeping my sights on the unknown figure's torso.
"Well, that's a black hole!" Ihaar started, jumping to the side and pulling out his electroshock weapon — he categorically rejected firearms or impulse blasters on principle. "Where did it come from?"
"She," Alvar corrected, standing a bit closer to us. "Don't let the appearance of defenselessness fool you — she walked through the debris-filled corridor completely silently!"
Looking closer, I noticed the Ermen was actually right.
Standing before us was a woman. A girl, even. Completely naked, with defined muscles (but without the excesses bodybuilders love), and a network of some kind of tubes running all over her body — from head to toe.
But that wasn't what drew the attention. Not even the attractive naked female figure.
It was the eyes glowing an unnatural blue.
"Summer Glau, I hope that's you," I said quietly, figuring the last thing we needed here were evil Terminators.