THE END OF BEGINNINGS

NINE (part 1)

Marcus Van Scott felt himself flinch when the doors of the small transporter slid shut.  Teyla pressed a button in front of her.  And then, absolutely nothing seemed to happen.  Seemed to being the key phrase.  Teyla had barely moved her hand away from the controls when there was a subtle a blink in the lights of the square box.  Then, the doors swept silently apart.  The scene beyond the open doorway was no longer the same as it had been when Marcus had followed Teyla inside.  They weren't in the central tower of the city anymore.  Now, Marcus beheld the balcony above the damaged atrium of the once forgotten museum.
Teyla took a step out of the transporter then looked behind her.  "This way, Marcus Van Scott."
"That was..."
"Not what you expected," Teyla asked with a small smile.
"Not really, no."
"Perhaps you will get used to it."
"Hopefully so," Marcus said, following Teyla out of the box.
They descended one of the curved ramps leading to the atrium floor.  There was a lot more activity in the rusty foyer than when Daniel, Jonas, and Zelenka had entered it barely two hours earlier.  Crates of equipment were being stacked along the walls.  A few technicians were setting up portable lights while others were examining wires and crystals in open panels.  Marcus watched them as he followed Teyla toward the open archway under the balcony.  More of the Atlantis crew members were in the gallery beyond the entrance.  Marcus saw some taking pictures of the various pedestals along the wall of the inner chamber.  A few were gathered near the long gash on the outside wall to his left.  One had a tablet in their hands while others pointed to different regions of the black and jagged tear.
Teyla followed the gallery floor to the right.  Daniel Jackson was discussing something with one of the Atlantis scientists when he noticed the two newcomers to the ancient place.  "Teyla," Daniel said with slight smile. "There you are.  Good."
The scientist Daniel was speaking with nodded to the archeologist as he quickly gave her some final instructions.  She smiled politely at Teyla and Marcus before making her way toward the archway.  Marcus watched her walk past them before looking ahead again.
"You certainly have awoken this section of the city, Dr. Jackson," Teyla said, glancing around them.
"Hopefully for the best," Daniel replied.  "Come on.  You definitely have to see this."
"As many years as I have called Atlantis home, I must be honest, this is the first time I have ever been in this section of this structure," Teyla confessed as she followed Daniel around to the front of the long chamber at the center of the museum.  Her eyes were trying to look at everything.  It was all truly new to her.  "I have been in the labs on the upper floors, of course.  And, I have run past the atrium entrance while exercising."
"According to Zelenka," Daniel said, looking slightly over his shoulder at Teyla, "this place didn't seem to have anything going on.  And then, having taken damage, it seemed like a place to stay away from."
Daniel led Teyla and Marcus Van Scott past the console that had opened the long box and down the short ramp into the chamber.  "It appears," Teyla said, somewhat in awe as she followed close behind the archeologist, "that was quite the incorrect assumption to make."
"How did this place go undetected for so long," Marcus asked as he watched the half-dozen other members of the Atlantis science teams busily move about the long, rectangular room.  They were setting up laptops and other equipment on narrow, portable tables.  The little workstations had been placed on each side of the column of glowing tubes and glass panels.  A few of the scientists were trying to find ports on the honeycomb of glistening technology to interface.  One of the team members looked away from his work at the sound of Marcus' question.
"Easy," Zelenka answered curtly.  "We simply weren't looking for it."
"And by all accounts, it was designed to be less than obvious," said Jonas as he entered the long box from the opposite end.  "There's almost no forms of detectable radiation coming from this thing.  It isn't drawing any substantial amounts of power.  In fact, it seems to be powered separately from any of Atlantis' other main systems."
Jonas stepped in front of the group that had come to stand at the corner of one of the portable tables.  He extended a hand toward Marcus.  "Hi.  Jonas Quinn."
Marcus smiled and shook Jonas' hand.  "Marcus Van Scott," he said, introducing himself.
"It is also not interfering with any of the city systems," Zelenka said, his face practically inside the cluster of technology.  He grunted something in Russian, most likely a curse word.  His hands were lost somewhere inside the illuminated column, his fingers wrestling with a connection.  He cursed again then leaned his head back.  With a sigh, he continued explaining, "It seems the only thing it is connected to is the Ancient Database."
Jonas nodded his head.  "And even that seems to be limited and by a proxy."
"Was there something I could help you connect, Dr. Zelenka?"
The chief scientist stopped moving his hands.  He leaned back uneasily, his glasses sliding a little farther down the sweaty bridge of his nose.  "Umm...yes?"
A panel near Dr. Zelenka's left knee slid open, revealing a series of ports.  They varied in size and were ringed by small, softly glowing lights.  "These might work.  But, I'm not sure what kind of connector you're using."
"Is that the...server talking," Marcus Van Scott asked hesitantly, his eyes darting around the chamber.
"Yes," Daniel replied.  "But-"
"I'm not actually a server," the Seegan said.
"Right.  It's not actually a server," Daniel repeated slowly.
"What is it then," asked Marcus.  "Besides a big computer?"
"You said it called itself...Seegan," asked Teyla, glancing at Daniel for a moment.
"I am Seegan," Seegan said.  "I am a computer, yes.  My original primary function was interstellar archiving, correlation, interpretation, and projection."
Dr. Zelenka stared at the talking column.  "It was a navigational computer."
"That's correct, Doctor."
Marcus put his hands on his hips.  "So why is a navigational computer hidden down here in an abandoned museum?"
"Navigation is no longer my primary function-not that it is a diminished skill," Seegan replied politely.  "Since my installation here on Atlantis, I have been more of a repository.  I have information stored in my memory that is not included in the main database archives."
"Why is that," Marcus asked.
"Wait, like what," Zelenka asked the Seegan at the same time Marcus Vas Scott was speaking.
"Most of my data was collected first hand," Seegan said, answering Marcus' question first.  Zelenka's answer came in the very next beat.  "Many things, Doctor."
"Do you know where the Destiny is," Dr. Zelenka asked urgently.
"No.  I'm sorry, Doctor.  At this time, I do not."
"But you do know about the Destiny," Teyla asked.
"Yes.  Very much so."
Jonas stared at the glowing, talking cluster of crystal tubes and glass displays.  "Seegan," he said, his brow furrowed as he considered this thoughts.
"Yes, Jonas Quinn?"
Jonas couldn't help but smile at that.  "You said that most of your data was collected first hand.  Does that include the information on the Destiny?"
"Yes," Seegan answered.  "I helped design it."
There was an audible series of surprised gasps and sounds from everyone in the room.
"That's why I want to help you find it.  I want you to be able to rescue your missing personnel.  But, I cannot deny my own desire to see that the ship is safe, functioning, and in good status."
It was finally Daniel's turn to ask the ancient computer a question.  "So, how do you plan to help us find it?"
"By using the stargates."