Author: Miriel
Recipient: Grey Bard
Rating: PG
Fandoms: Stargate: Atlantis, Babylon 5
Summary: Following his death, the private papers of Satai Neroon were donated to the Intergalactic Learning and Exchange Project. What follows is a most controversial document; one that has sparked the curiosity of a vast number of academics and left the universe wondering if there is a forgotten race somewhere beyond the rim.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Famous last words that haunted many a man of lesser stature than the likes of Rodney McKay; John Sheppard, for example. After a hundred years kicking around hyperspace in a Puddle Jumper? They still grew truer every day.
Rodney knew, intellectually, that he wasn't the real Rodney McKay. That the real Rodney McKay had probably died a horrible, painful, unsanitary death somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy a good eighty years ago. And that was only if Colonel Sheppard's luck had held. Rodney knew that normal, living and breathing humans (or even Ancients for that matter) didn't pass a hundred years and not age.
That didn't mean that he didn't feel like the real Rodney McKay. Which just made the whole mess that much more complicated. Or would, if he actually cared about the fuzzy side of things. Since philosophizing about the moral implications of his current state weren't going to change it, he had discovered far more important uses of his time. Like discovering the Ancient version of Tetris on the Puddle Jumper's onboard computer system.
And beating the previous pilot's High Score, which had taken six years of consistant work.
Following that particular feat of skill, not-John had grown bored of amusing himself and taken to experimenting with the extent of their neural interface with the Jumpers; this had resulted in a new definition of 'cyber sex' which Rodney certainly hadn't complained about. He'd even conceded that there was, in fact, a two player version of the game. Time grew a little blurry around then, and when the beeping of the sensors finally penetrated their awareness Rodney wasn't entirely sure how long they'd been floating in the orange haze that might or might not have been another dimension.
After some quick calculations, they concluded that they'd been floating in the strange orange inter-dimensional haze for approximately one hundred and thirty four years since the accident which had almost claimed their sources lives. Well, that and the fact that whatever it was that had set off the sensors now had them in what John really didn't want to call a tractor beam. He had some dignity left. And really, at this point any kind of distraction would be a welcome relief.
The following report was discovered in the archives of Satai Neroon, who died in 2261. It was in hard-copy, and in a small collection of documents labeled Do Not File. It has sparked much controversy among scholars in regard to the unknown race mentioned within. It was translated into Earth-English in Earth Equivalent 2265 as part of the Intergalactic Learning and Exchange Project. All dates and times have likewise been converted to Earth Standard.
Contact with unidentified ship first reported at 2230 hours on 14 March, 2145 during routine transit through Hyperspace following negotiations with the Centauri Empire. Following standard operating procedure, the shift commander examined the suspicious readouts; upon confirmation of unknown contact, I was summoned to the bridge. Initial readings revealed a ship of unknown configuration with a minimal power signature. The vessel was unresponsive to all attempts at communication, and appeared to have no life signs aboard.
Following my arrival on the bridge, I granted authorization to bring the vessel aboard. The ship was small, barely larger than a standard flyer, and made of an unknown metal. After initial scans confirmed a comparable atmosphere, I ordered the engineers to attempt to force the rear hatch. After several attempts the hatch opened on its own, and revealed two humanoid life forms. Following several attempts at failed communication, one of them activated a device which provided translation assistance.
In appearance, they resembled Minbari more than any other race we have encountered. They were both male, and the same height as the average Minbari male. Unlike Minbari, they bore no bone crest - instead they had organic fiber similar to what the Centari call 'hair', distributed over the top of their heads. The identified themselves as explorers, using the racial identification of 'Lanteans', and hailing from a place named Atlantis.
I mandated that Ketann, the chief physician, perform complete scans of their physiology. This proved difficult, and lead to much complaining from one of the aliens who identified himself as a Dr. Rodney McKay. We discovered that those inhabiting the 'Puddle Jumper' were in fact replicas of the true Dr. Rodney McKay and Colonel John Sheppard, created as a fail-safe during an emergency unspecified years in the past. McKay assures me that all memories and intellect from his donor are intact, but there is no way to verify this. In exchange for information about their technology, they asked only for updated star charts and information on the theory of hyperspace nagivation (They were familiar with the concept of Hyperspace, but had no experience with the phenomena as we know it. Trigann, my chief engineer, has the specifications for their hyperdrive technology, see attached).
In addition, one of the young sensor technicians, Neroon, developed a good rapport with Sheppard. He has proven highly adaptable and also quick to learn, an asset in first contact situations. I will be attaching his comments as well - they mostly relate to Lantean culture, including their stated military goals or lack thereof. By their own account, when the accident occurred their people were involved in a war that was not dissimilar to our own war against the Shadows. Disturbingly, they have refused to delve into detail regarding these enemies beyond titling them 'The Wraith' and providing me with a very general idea of their location. Under the current circumstances, I feel there is no option but to bring them to Minbar for further questioning. An enemy as powerful as they have described cannot be ignored, and intelligence will be of utmost importance. Once we reach Minbar we will transfer their vessel into the care of the Grey Council and allow further decisions to be theirs.
Letann
Commander of the Warship Kitari
Attached to the report was a hand written letter; the writing was analyzed and concluded to belong to the deceased Satai Neroon.
My silence in this matter won me a nomination to the Battle Academy, and thus a chance to pursue a career in command. Had Letann not sponsored me, I would never have received such a nomination due to the mixed blood of my parents - My Religious Caste father insured that I would never rise within the Warrior Caste of my own merits. I have long questioned the need for silence on this matter, but it has never become the issue it might have. The 'Wraith' have never ventured to our stars, and we have never again encountered ones who title themselves 'Lantean', though many years later we encountered a race that was very similar in appearance who called themselves 'Human'.
Archivists Note: It should be noted that the above report appears nowhere in either the official archives of the Warrior Caste or the Grey Council. There is no mention in Minbari archives of a race titled 'Lantean', nor a location titled 'Atlantis'. The only reference to the name occurs in Earth Mythology, describing a city that sank beneath that planet's oceans millenia ago.
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who helped me in my monumental struggle against an inability to write Rodney, a need to create and entire cultural make-up for the Warrior Caste, and then my iniability to figure out what to do with the above. Stardust to anyone who can correctly ID the Babylon 5 episode that this is inspired by, and I apologize if I missed a canon reference to Neroon’s parentage (I know that he declared before his death that the calling of his heart was religious, and I know that Delenn has stated that caste follows the mother when there is a difference between the parents; I didn’t think Neroon’s parentage had been specified. I apologize if I am in error).