Chapter Text
“Chevron one encoded.”
The inner ring of the stargate was quickly rotating to locate the next glyph in the designated address. No matter how many times I’ve seen the gate dial, it always fascinated me. The age of the device was astonishing and yet it still worked like it was brand new.
“Chevron two encoded.”
I shifted my weight from my left foot to my right one. If this were to work, provided that the new naquadah generator developed at Area 51 could sustain the power output, contacting Atlantis and sending provisions would become hell of a lot easier than sending them on an eighteen-day trip on Daedalus.
“Chevron three encoded.”
“Tell me Walter, don’t you ever get tired of basically repeating the same thing over and over?” I asked the technician sitting in front of me.
“Not really sir, just part of my job.” He quickly answered and switched his monitor to check the power fluctuation of the naquadah generator. “The power output is holding steady general.”
“Yes, I can see that. We might actually pull this off. We can’t reach a real ZPM output level, but it still should be quite enough to establish an active wormhole capable of transmitting matter.” Replied a blond-haired woman sitting next to him.
“Chevron four encoded.”
“I thought that the Atlantis database provides a detailed manual on how to create a ZPM. Why not use it?” I couldn’t help myself but ask. After all, we had access to two of the most advanced sources of information available in the known universe; the Asgard database and the Ancient database.
“Yes, we do have the instructions to create one. However, irony lies in the fact that the power requirements are enormous. You need a ZPM to create a ZPM. We’ve focused on the early technological designs for power modules the Ancients designed, hence the enhanced naquadah generator. Unfortunately, the power source used to create the first ZPM utilized an element which is highly rare and insanely unstable. It took the Ancients almost a five hundred years and more than thirty failed experiments to succeed.”
“Chevron five encoded.”
“But the Asgard surely-.”
“The Asgard stumbled on a similar problem with their generators. In simple terms, we know how, but we aren’t capable.” General Carter cut me off.
“Chevron six encoded.”
I didn’t ask any more questions. While the general could most probably answer them, the answers would start to get too complicated.
Walter started to switch between two screens.
“General, I’m seeing some irregularities in the power readings of the gate’s capacitors, can you confirm?”
"Yes, I can see.“ She replied. “The capacitors aren’t drawing enough energy in preparation to establish a connection.”
“Does that mean it won’t work?”
“All it means for now is that we need to let the capacitors charge enough. Walter, once the seventh chevron encodes, hold the dialing sequence.”
“Chevron seven encoded, holding the dialing sequence.” Walter reported several seconds later. The inner ring of the gate rotated the last glyph to the top chevron and came to a hold.
10 seconds… 20 seconds… 30 seconds…
“Continue.” Carter exhaled.
“Chevron eight… LOCKED!”
The unstable vortex erupted from the center of the gate. It momentarily paused and then rolled back into itself to form the event horizon. The command center erupted in a wave of applause.
Carter pressed a button under the microphone in front of her and spoke. “Atlantis this is SGC, do you copy?”
“Loud and clear SGC. Congratulations on succeeding with your test.” A man’s answer sounded out.
“Yes, yes, incredibly exciting. Are you ready for the next stage?” Another man responded. His voice seemed almost annoyed. Yet the hint of excitement could be clearly distinguished.
“Yes, we are Dr. McKay.” Carter smiled. “You can send in the M.A.L.P. Walter.”
The probe standing at the foot of the ramp leading up to the event horizon moved forward.