“General.” Major John Sheppard raised his voice to be heard over the rotors. He gestured to the head set on the seat beside him as he turned to check on his other passenger. “General,” he called again.

The polar sun sliced through the cockpit as Sheppard watched General Hammond adjust the helmet then carefully straighten his leg. “We’re good to go, sir.”

“Then take us up, Major.” Sheppard grinned, hearing a pilot’s excitement behind the Texas drawl.

“How long will it take to reach the base, Major Sheppard?” General Carter’s sharp voice caused Sheppard to look over his shoulder again. Carter was one of the youngest Generals he’d ever met, and certainly the best looking, but she had edges.

“Should take about twenty minutes, General.”

Sheppard saw Carter lean forward and pass a thin file to Hammond. “That should be long enough, sir.”

“Major, what I’m about to tell you is top secret. In fact, you are flying this mission precisely because of your security clearance.” Hammond’s tone was grave, and Sheppard wondered how bad it had to be to rate three stars in his bird. “The base that we have been supplying out of McMurdo was once an alien outpost.”

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

“So, you were part of the team that originally found this place?” Sheppard asked as they traveled slowly down the shaft, blue ice rumbling softly.

“Yes. It was during the attack last year. It was pure chance.” Sheppard was sure he didn’t imagine the shudder that passed through Carter’s frame; he wondered if it was caused by the cold, by the memories, or just by chance. “If we hadn’t been shot down, I don’t know what would have happened.”

“Ah, the meteor shower you told me about.”

“We lost a lot of good men and women that day.” Hammond’s parka rustled as he rubbed absently at his thigh. “We can’t afford to let something like that happen again.”

The jury rigged elevator stopped before Sheppard could comment, the doors opening to reveal their welcoming committee. Sheppard thought he could see a man in a blue fleece pullover, and a woman in grey hovering in the background, but his attention was caught by the man moving toward them.

“General Hammond, General Carter, good, you’re here. We have so many things to show you.” A red clad arm shot out toward Carter “C’mon c’mon,” but was brought up short against Sheppard’s chest.

“Doctor McKay!”

“Rodney.”

“McKay!”

The voices overlapped and ranged from fond amusement to outrage, but the hand stayed perched in the opened zipper of Sheppard’s parka.

“You brought a bodyguard?” Sheppard watched the blue eyes flick over Carter in disbelief. “I knew I challenged you intellectually, but isn’t this a bit much?”

“Major Sheppard is our pilot. Stand down, Major.” Hammond’s voice was quiet, but firm and Sheppard took a step back. “Lieutenant?” A Marine materialized at Hammond’s side. “Could you please show the Major to a waiting area? Now, Doctors, I believe we need to talk.”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Sheppard watched the group walk down the hall. The two women were speaking, heads close together, and Sheppard felt a grin tilt his lips as he realized all they needed was a redhead. As the thought crossed his mind, his eyes were caught by flashing red arms describing huge arcs for General Hammond, and his grin widened.

“Sir, are you ready to go?” The quiet question brought his attention back, and he cocked his head toward the Marine.

“Sure thing, Lieutenant. So, what’s the deal with the doctors?” He matched his step to that of his escort and waited. Base gossip was the same no matter where you were stationed, you just had to ask.

“The deal?” The lieutenant glanced at Sheppard without turning his head, and appeared to think about it. “Well,” he began seriously, “first thing you learn around here is that all doctors are not the same. The guy in blue, that’s Dr. Beckett, he’s a medical doctor, geneticist, in charge of finding out who can make this stuff work. The lady is Dr. Weir, she’s some kind of PhD doctor, a diplomat, she makes sure we all play nice.” Slowing at an open doorway, he smiled broadly, “And you’ve already met Dr. McKay, he’s a scientist, the guy who figures out how it all works. Or so he tells everybody, all the time.” He stopped completely and gestured at the door. “Here we are sir, if you need anything, just ask.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant …”

“Ford, sir.”

“Thanks, Ford, for everything.” Sheppard crossed the room to sit down and began to wait.

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

Sheppard looked around the room. It hadn’t changed at all in the last two hours; the walls were still white, the air was still cold, and he was still waiting. The voices from the hall, however, were different.

“I’m sorry, Doctor, but there is little more to be done here. We’ve gathered all the data we can, and now we need to focus on more immediate problems.” Sheppard stepped through the doorway, into the middle of a discussion between Hammond and Dr. McKay.

“General, we’re this close!” McKay’s hands were moving so fast Sheppard couldn’t tell if he meant an inch or a mile.

“This close to what, McKay?” General Carter sounded tired and frustrated. “Dr. Beckett’s gene research is the only quantifiable result achieved here. Your suppositions about the ZPM are just that, suppositions.”

“Yes, General, because you won’t authorize the tests I need to run.” Clearly, the frustration wasn’t limited to General Carter. “If you’d just accept that you are not the only person who can have a breakthrough, I might be able to get you those results.”

“And if you’d accept that this is a military operation, not some pet project that you can waste time and resources on --”

Hammond raised his hand, and Sheppard watched Carter take a step back and a deep breath. “We need to speak to Dr. Weir about coordinating the details for closing the base.” The two generals moved down the hall leaving an agitated scientist in their wake.

“Right, that didn’t go well. They need some convincing, that’s all.” The scientist rubbed his hands together, twisting the fingers until Sheppard almost winced.

“You’d better convince them quickly, Doctor, we’re expected back at Williams Field within the hour.” Sheppard did wince at the look he received for this piece of information.

“Okay, time limits, nothing new, I can work with this.” Slapping his hands together, McKay yanked Beckett forward. “Give the Major a quick tour, would you Carson?” he said, waving his hand in dismissal. “I have work to do.”

Beckett rolled his eyes at McKay’s back. “Right, off we go then, Major. Anything you’d like to see?”

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

“So, what’s this for?” Sheppard ran his hand over the chair, surprised by the warmth of the metal under his hand.

“It controls the, well, the technical things.” Beckett looked at Sheppard as if daring him to comment on the vagueness of the response.

“Okay.” Sheppard circled the chair, his hand never losing contact with it. “How does it work?”

“Well, it’s quite ingenious actually. Those who have the gene merely sit in the chair and give mental commands. We believe the commands are transferred through the armrests, and the data is passed along through electrical impulses.” Beckett’s voice picked up speed as he warmed to his subject. “Really quite fascinating, far beyond our abilities, a true neural interface. Hey, what are you doing?”

“Just thought I might sit down for a …” Sheppard’s voice trailed off as the chair tilted backward and the room filled with swirling lights. His soft “wow” was drowned out by Beckett’s rising voice.

“Rodney!”

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

Sheppard was aware of a babble of noise, but his attention was held by the lights and the feeling of connectedness the chair gave. He could feel the equipment pulsing and flickering throughout the base.

“Enough!” A sharp voice cut through the white noise, drawing Sheppard’s eyes to a familiar red fleece pullover.

“Doctor.”

“Major.” McKay crossed his arms. “Having fun?”

“Oh yeah,” Sheppard said with a grin, and the lights swirled faster.

General Carter and Dr. Weir hurried into the room, with General Hammond trailing behind them favoring his right leg. “What’s going on here?”

“The Major is proving my suppositions.” Keeping his arms crossed, McKay gestured toward the chair with his head. “Obviously this interface can do much more than we ever imagined.”

“Wanna test it?” Sheppard grinned as McKay stepped forward eagerly, chased by a chorus of protests.

“General, we’ve never seen the chair respond like this. You have to at least let us try.” Sheppard was impressed. McKay had managed to make his request a command without even trying. Hammond’s quick agreement came as no surprise at all.

“All right, all right.” The red arms swung through Sheppard’s field of vision like a metronome. “Let’s see what we can do. Major, can you bring all of the systems on line?”

Sheppard thought about the base, felt the energy reaching out, and tried to think it ‘on’. “Sorry, not enough power left to light it up.”

“Okay, that’s okay, we just have to think smaller. Can you bring weapons online?” McKay moved closer to the chair, hand hovering over Sheppard’s arm. “We know the automated systems work, or none of us would be alive right now, or we’d have snakes in our heads, or something, but can you bring them online manually?”

Taking a deep breath, Sheppard focused on McKay’s face. “What do I do?”

McKay quickly darted back. “How do I know? Think defense.”

No sooner had the words left McKay’s mouth, when a console lit up behind Dr. Beckett and a map of a star system appeared in place of the swirling lights. “Well, that’s impressive.”

“That’s our solar system.” Sheppard knew the voice was Carter’s but the sharp edges had been worn off by awe.

“Yes, yes.” Sheppard found his attention drawn by the waving red arms once again. “It must be part of a tracking system that acquires targets for the ground based defenses.”

“It’s radar.”

McKay stopped directly in front of Sheppard and turned to look at the speaker. “Didn’t I just say that? I’m sure I just said that.” Sheppard suppressed a grin. “At any rate, the map itself looks fairly simple; all it needs is a red X and a ‘You are here’ sign.” McKay paused and glanced at Sheppard who responded with a small shrug. “Right, that probably would have been too much.”

“Major,” Hammond’s voice broke over Sheppard, “can you tell us if there are any more of these outposts here on Earth?”

Sheppard reached out again to the outpost, and the image of the solar system wavered briefly. “Sorry, sir, this seems to be the only one.”

“And it doesn’t have enough power to support itself.” Hammond sounded disappointed, and Sheppard wondered just how badly the man had wanted this outpost to be their salvation.

“Wait, wait, wait!” McKay flung himself toward the chair. “Major, are there other outposts?”

“I just told the General --”

“No! Not on Earth, anywhere.” Once again, an image resolved to match McKay’s words, and Sheppard wondered when his brain had become so attuned to the man. This time the map showed much more than a single solar system; it spanned galaxies.

“Jesus!” Sheppard wasn’t sure who spoke the word, but he knew he agreed.

“Major, I need you to do one more thing for me.” Sheppard watched McKay lock gazes briefly with Dr. Weir. “I need you to show me Atlantis.” Fast as thought, lights began to blink out on the map, and it morphed once more. Soon, the room was filled with a single galaxy, and at its heart was a shining light.

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

His quarters at McMurdo weren’t the most luxurious he’d ever had, but Sheppard didn’t complain. Instead, he leaned back on his bunk, idly fingering the coin in his hand. He wasn’t surprised when the knock came upon his door. He was a bit surprised when it opened to reveal General Carter.

“We’re mounting the expedition.” She certainly didn’t waste any time. “Based on Dr. McKay’s calculations, there should be just enough energy left in the ZPM to power a single transgalatic wormhole.” She paused and Sheppard nodded, unsure what was expected of him. “Look, you have the strongest gene Dr. Beckett has ever seen. The expedition needs you.”

“Guess I should expect my transfer soon then?”

Carter thrust one hand into her pocket. “The expedition is entirely voluntary, Major. We won’t force you to go; but we hope you will. The entire base will be shipping out of Antarctica by the end of next week. I’ll need your decision by then.”

The door closed behind her, and Sheppard turned his gaze back to the coin. Heads, he’d be off to Atlantis, on another world, tails, he’d spend the summer ferrying scientists around the bottom of this world. As the coin flipped through the air, Sheppard saw a flash of red dance along its edge. Lifting his hand to view the results, he puffed out a quiet breath.

“All right, best two out of three.”