Chapter 7
When they got to the other side, the gate shut down. Sam stepped forward 'til she touched the ship and she managed to find the two buttons and push them, and then the ship appeared. They walked onto the ship and sat down. Sam was in the passenger seat while John was in the driver's seat.
"Shall we?" Sam asked.
John started up the ship and they flew into the air. Sam told him where to go. They all looked out the forward view screen.
When they were close, "Slow down… go through there." Sam pointed to the opening for the cavern. John guided the ship through the hole for about fifty meters then they were in the underground chamber.
"Land over there."
"Wow, how many ships do you think there are Colonel?"
"Don't know, Captain."
When the ship landed and the door was open, they all got off, Sam was last. She noticed that John and three others had their hands up. Sam stepped out when she saw Cam, Teal'c and Hailey pointing their guns at them.
"Lower your weapons" Sam said as she stepped forward.
"Colonel Carter," Teal'c said.
"Yes, Teal'c, it's ok. They're from Atlantis." The weapons were then lowered.
"Sam!" She turned to see Daniel running over to her then stop.
"Ah, hello. You're from Atlantis."
"Yes, Daniel. What is it?"
"I found another hidden chamber."
"Where?" Sam walked over then followed him.
"Might as well go and see what it is," Cam said.
Then he started following Sam. The others followed him. When they came to a wall, Daniel pressed some symbols then part of the wall opened. Sam got out her flashlight and as she walked into the room, she turned it on. The others followed Sam 'til she stopped at a stone.
"Colonel, can you touch that?"
"Why?"
"It's the light switch," Hailey said.
"Oh." He stepped forward and touched it. The chamber was immediately illuminated.
"What is this place?" Hailey asked as they walked around the room.
"Oh my God," Sam said.
"Sam?" She turned to the others.
"This is where the drones are made, and over here," she walked back to the other wall, "is where the ZPMs are made… I think."
"But that would take a lot of energy." Sam looked up then she looked around the room. She walked over to some controls.
"Daniel?" He walked over to see what Sam was looking at.
"Which one says 'roof'?"
"This one." He pointed. Sam pushed the button then they looked up as they saw the roof slowly opening, then it stopped. Sam walked over to where the sun was shining on the floor.
"This is where they get the power from… the sun and these must be solar panels." They walked over to Sam and looked down.
"Wow, now we know."
"Uh, Colonel Carter?" Sam turned to see what Hailey was looking at. They walked over to a machine. They could see the lights flickering on and humming coming from it. They watched and waited for couple of minutes they they saw what was coming out of one end of the machine.
"It's a drone making machine," John said.
"We could use it on Atlantis," the captain said.
"I think the reason it is here, is because this planet is pretty close to the sun," Sam said. She looked around and walked over to where she saw a ZPM in a machine and computer screen next to it.
"Daniel, can you translate this?" Daniel walked over and read what was displayed on the screen.
"It says 'thirty percent'."
"Thirty percent... it must be recharging the ZPM."
"It must be, because it just changed to 'thirty-one'."
"It must be like a battery charger."
They looked around for a few minutes. When they heard footsteps approaching, they hid the best they could. They relaxed when they saw who it was and then stepped out of their hiding places.
"Carter, what is this place?" Ferretti asked.
"ZPM charger." She pointed to the machine.
"And drone maker." She pointed to one of the other machines.
"As for the others, we're not sure yet."
"Ok… you from Atlantis?" he asked John.
"Yes, Sir, Colonel John Shepherd."
"Colonel Lou Ferretti." They shook hands.
"Hey, you're the one who flew General O'Neill down to the outpost a couple of years ago."
"Yep, that was me."
"General O'Neill told him not to touch anything." Lou smiled.
"I know what happened, Daniel told me… you know Carter, Colonel Shepherd and the general have three things in common."
"What's that?"
"The Air Force, the Ancient gene and they are always touching something… it must be the gene thing." Sam giggled.
"You're right. Come on, we have ships to load. The Wraith are on their way to Atlantis and they are almost out of drones."
"Sure." Sam walked over to the controls and made the roof close, and then she followed the others out of the room.
They walked over to the four closest ships and filled three of them with drones. While that was happening, John and another officer flew two of the ships to the Stargate then returned in one of them. Then John got off the ship and onto another while the others continued with the loading.
Once done, Sam managed to squeeze herself into the back of one and closed the door. She felt the ship move so she breathed in and out slowly until she heard,
"We've landed, Colonel." Sam opened the door and walked off, and then she closed the door and walked over to the fifth ship.
She got the ZPM power box and wires then walked over to the DHD and started working on getting it connected. Once it was done she gave John the thumbs up then, she dialled Atlantis.
When the wormhole was formed, she turned to see John talking. He gave Sam the thumbs up and a salute then he piloted his gate ship through the gate first, then the other three went through the gate. The gate shut down a minute later.
"Good luck."
Sam removed the wires and then picked up the Ancient ZPM box and walked over to the ship and put it on the floor just inside. Then she pushed the two buttons and stepped back to see the door close and the ship turn invisible.
She walked over to the DHD and dialled earth, and then she sent her GDO code through before walking up the steps and through the gate back to Earth.
When Sam stepped on the ramp, the gate shut down behind her. She smiled as she walked down towards Jack.
"How did it go in Washington?"
"He wasn't happy at first 'til I told him what was in the cavern… now he is happy and understands. How about you?"
"Good. Now Atlantis is well prepared for the Wraith ships when they arrive."
"Good… cake?" Sam smiled sweetly at him.
"Sure." They walked out of the gate room side by side.
"Daniel found a hidden room."
"Anything interesting in there?"
"Oh yeah."
"Care to share?"
"A ZPM charger and a drone making machine, how about that for starters?"
"Sweet!" Sam giggled.
"The IOA want to see me tomorrow."
"Why?"
"Don't know."
"Ok."
They talked about other things 'til they reached the mess hall to get something to eat and drink. Ten minutes later they returned to work.
The next morning, Jack flew to Washington since Prometheus was flying to the Alpha Site. Sam was in her lab working on one of the ZPMs. Later that afternoon, Jack walked into her lab; she looked up and could tell that things don't go well.
"What happened?" He sat down on the stool
"We get our budget cut."
"By how much?"
"Half!" Sam was shocked.
"Half? They have got to be joking!"
"The money is going to be spent on new ships, off world sites and Atlantis." Sam shook her head.
"And the number of teams is being cut in half and personnel are going to be transferred to other bases."
"I can't believe this."
"You and me both, Sam."
Author's Notes: Feed back, yes please
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