Preface to the Memoirs of General N. M. Lorne by Miriel

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Author: miriel
Title: Preface to the Memoirs of General N.M. Lorne
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gen
Word Count: 765
Summary: For those who survived the first few years, Atlantis herself proved both a blessing and a curse.
Warnings: It's the Dark Side challenge, people.
A/N: Thanks to wychwood for beta services. This is a short stab at a concept I've been playing around with for a while now; I hope it works for you.

Preface to the Memoirs of Gen. N. M. Lorne

---

There was a saying that was popular at the SGC when I served there:

Once you’ve gone through the ‘Gate, you can never go back.

It is disturbingly true; no one transfers out of the Stargate Program of their own free will. Most servicemen leave the program in body bags. This accounts for the fact that the program has remained a remarkably well-kept secret for as long as it has. The first words anyone learns upon transferring to any aspect of the program – Area 51, SGC, or Atlantis – is a variation on the theme of “What happens at the mountain, stays at the mountain.”

I have dedicated the last thirty years of my life to the Stargate Program, and they have been good years – first at the SGC and later in Atlantis. There are rumors that when (then) Colonel O’Neill was brought back into the Stargate Program, General Hammond asked him if he’d thought about writing memoirs. O’Neill is reputed to have said that he’d thought about it, but that he’d have to shoot anyone who read it because a large portion of his career up until that point had been classified. I don’t know if he ever followed up on the conversation or not. I find myself in a similar situation. Someday, the Stargate Program will be declassified and what I write may or may not be published. Regardless, I feel I have an obligation to leave a record of events as I have seen them.

I was not a member of the first Atlantis Expedition, I arrived on the USAF Daedalus following the expedition’s reconnection with Earth. All of us in the second wave were warned that there was a very real possibility Atlantis would be a one-way trip. Stories of life-sucking-aliens, a vindictively sentient city, and hostile natives were plentiful. We went out there fully expecting to end up on the wrong end of the city’s rumored AI. We ended up on the wrong side, all right, just not in a way anyone considered. The city loved those with the ATA gene, natural or artificial, and there were a lot of us. Everyone who shipped out for Atlantis received the gene therapy to allow interaction with Ancient technology; it took in just under 50% of us. The problem wasn’t that the city didn’t love us, it was that she loved us all too well.

When the world learns of Atlantis, they will learn of the brave explorers who risked their lives to establish the base there and befriend the natives. They will learn about the unspeakable enemy that so many of us gave our lives fighting against. They will learn about the mysterious and wonderful technology that was discovered. They will learn of the lives of brave volunteers lost to countless incidents whose details will never be remembered.

All of this is true. Every single expedition member faced hundreds of threats during their time in the city; we each surmounted innumerable odds to make it through a year alive, never mind five.

What they will not learn is that there were side-effects to living in the city that we never imagined. They will not learn about those who decided to rotate back to the SGC after a tour in Atlantis and collapsed in seizures on their first home leave in three years, because the chemical associated with Ancient Technology use (Known now as ATA-S) had built up in their bloodstreams and overloaded their nervous systems. They will not learn about the children born in Atlantis who received the therapy in their first year of life as a protective measure, whose parents learned far too late that they would never be able to take their children ‘home’ to Earth. They will not learn of the children whose parents decided to take them to Earth anyway, attempting to counter the ATA-S build-up with experimental treatments; children who invariably died of rare neurological diseases and inoperable brain tumors.

Atlantis has been a blessing and a curse to those of us who have lived within her walls. She welcomed us with open arms, but she is an unforgiving mistress. The stories contained within these pages may seem fantastical, even impossible, but believe me when I say that they are only a small portion of all that we have seen and done in the Pegasus Galaxy.

In closing, I dedicate this book to my children:

Thomas, who has never known the grandfather he was named for
&
Beth, who has grown up in the shadow of her namesake.

Comments

[anjak-j.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this works for me...in a way that says "MORE!"

Very well done... :o)

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Grins madly* I'm so glad someone likes it!

I have this whole universe spun off from essentially looking at Atlantis through the lens of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, including 2 different longer fics that keep going in fits and starts. I may eventually have to start posting them in chunks.

Out of curiosity, what particularly do you want more of?

[the-moonmoth.livejournal.com]

I agree with the "more" sentiment... well, kinda. The open ended mystery never fails to get my imagination going ;)

Nicely written. It really does read like a preface.

[anjak-j.livejournal.com]

I think there are a lot of ideas in there that could be expanded on, like the link with the city for one...

I would just love to hear Gen. Lorne's stories, whatever you came up with, because I'm sure they'd be great - because this definitely is.

[melagan.livejournal.com]

Ow, ow, ow. And a really interesting concept. And I just like the sound of 'General Lorne'

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Giggles* Because we all know that while Sheppard may bum around as a Colonel to the end of his days, Lorne has kept his nose clean enough to make General.

Yeah, it must have been hellish for those poor Marines who suddenly came down with inexplicable neurological symptoms. NM the poor kids

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Grins* I love a good open-ended mystery as well. It's so interesting to write your own conclusions and follow-ups and anecdotes and then rewrite them when your mood changes.

I honestly don't know if I'll do anymore in this particular vein, but I'm glad it read well.

[kbk]

This is cool. And the dedication made me flail, quite a bit. Yow.

[fred-god-of.livejournal.com]

oooh, Yay Lorne. This is a preface in the true sense of you will know write a book, yes? ;)And I like Evil!atlantis and the theory of not being able to go home.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it!

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

This is a preface in the true sense of you will know write a book, yes?

You do realize that is how I ended up writing Ripples (http://www.mardahin.net/sga/Ripples/ripples.html), right? Yeah, this just has so many concepts to play around with.

*Weary* I'll see what I can do.

[wabbitseason.livejournal.com]

Very chilling. Like others, I'd be curious to see more.

(Although, I translated his full name initially as Neiman Marcus Lorne and think I hurt my brain. So doesn't fit his personality!)

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

Neiman Marcus Lorne

ICK!! No, it was more my nod to the fact that there are 2 distinct first names floating around for Lorne as far as I know - Nick & Marcus. I figure this way people can read into it as they wish.

I'm glad you liked it, and I'm sorry I contributed to brain damage!

[fred-god-of.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's vaguely similar to Ripplesverse, you could you know just squish it under the umbrella of ungodly amount of stories Miriel has to write for Ripples and therefore feel like you’re accomplishing two thing at once. Or something.

Or you could just claim that it is the preface to ripples
;-)

[lapislaz.livejournal.com]

OK - you had me hooked when you mentioned Heinlein. But the idea of not being able to leave Atlantis? Brilliant! More? Please? With chocolate-covered Carsons on top?

[grey-bard.livejournal.com]

Oooooh. Heinleinesque Atlantis-fic! Sounds seriously cool.

[neviachiel.livejournal.com]

It's too bad we can't read everything he wrote. I wondered about the comment of a "vindictive" Atlantis, thinking that that thought didn't bode well.

Interesting theory on the gene treatment. Those with the gene *literally* can't go back once they've gone to Atlantis. Kinda creepy and its too bad that there's a good chance they'll never delve into the possibilities of gene therapy side effects. Ooh, so question. The natural gene carriers, is it only exposure to Atlantis and its tech that hurts them in the end, but they would have been perfectly fine if they had never gone? Like the gene would have remained dormant if they had never gone?

[neviachiel.livejournal.com]

Just thought of this, but can you imagine the implications if they ever decided to clear out Atlantis, shut down the mission and bring everyone home? Even if they realized what needed to be done (ie go back to Atlantis), somehow I don't think the government would be sympathetic to their situation, and in fact, would probably doubt that they were telling the truth.

[dossier.livejournal.com]

oh! side effects! cool. Very interesting, and I'm looking forward to more.

[lunasky.livejournal.com]

I loved the dedications at the end. Anything that mentions Elizabeth and Lorne together gets my undying fangirl love. I'm also intrigued about the idea of Altantis not letting them leave. I think she is indeed a harsh mistress...and I love that hint of darkness about her that isn't often explored.

[krabbypatty.livejournal.com]

It's kind of a different path from the Mother's stories, yes?

[krabbypatty.livejournal.com]

Ack, what I meant was that you had the ata brain thing in there too.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

^_^

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*Nods* That's something that's always possible. Granted, by the time they're realizing the issues with reintegration, the population on Atlantis is probably well enough entrenched that they could cecede, but it would be a mess business all around and getting back to Atlantis if they'd been force-recalled would be tricky. Given what we know of Ancient Ruins et al. the expedition members would be better off disappearing into the Pegasus Galaxy to one of the abandoned Ancient Outposts than returning to Earth. In the Pegasus Galaxy 'Gate access isn't restricted (Heck, in most of the Milky Way it's not) in the same ways that it's restricted on Earth.

If they *did* get forced back to Earth, you'd basically have to move the entire population of ATA+ crew to Antarctica indefinitely, especailly the kids. You'd have 1/2 a generation of expedition children that would essentially be a 'lost' generation because they could never enter normal Earth society. I'm thinking that for those who lived on Earth and reached adult-hood before receiving the therapy there would be at least the possibility of a step-down process. However it's also likely that more than 2 or 3 years of exposure could permanently re-wire basic elements of body chemistry.

*Shakes head* Bad business all around.

[mardahin.livejournal.com]

*G* Except for a few minor details. The names of Lorne's kids, the fact that the gene issues affect all artificial gene recipients.

Yeah, chloe_almathea thinks I should do a collections of shorts. I'm wavering.