sg1genrecs | Ascend the Brightest Heaven of Invention, By Scrollgirl (PG-13)

Title: Ascend the Brightest Heaven of Invention
Author's LJ/DWJ/AO3:

scrollgirl
Categories: AU, Friendship, Crossover, SG-1/SGA, Jeannie McKay, Carolyn Lam
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: scrollgirl at Archive of Our Own
Link to story: Ascend the Brightest Heaven of Invention

Why this should be read: This is the first in what became an AU series, where some of the interesting minor characters from both shows are in the spotlight. The episode "Rising" is re-imagined and the new characters are shown preparing, (including off-world training), for the mission to Atlantis. I really enjoyed the mention of so many old friends, (Sarah Gardner! Catherine Langford! Ferretti!), and the friendship between Jeannie McKay and Carolyn Lam.

In 2005, Jeannie McKay prepares for the trip of a lifetime: a possibly one-way ticket to the Pegasus galaxy in search of the lost city of the Ancients. Stargate AU in which Jeannie, not Rodney, as well Sam Carter, Carolyn Lam, and many more female scientists are part of the original Atlantis expedition in "Rising".

"Colonel Carter is working with the Asgard to find a way to stop those bastards," Ferretti was saying. "I figure, a room full of eggheads, we might as well put you to work helping her out. For now, you're staying here at the Alpha site while my team returns to the SGC. You need anything, tell the sergeant, don't go bothering Colonel Caldwell." Ferretti grinned. "He's not cuddly like me."

Both he and Caldwell exited then, leaving Elizabeth and Colonel Mitchell to answer the sudden burst of questions from the trainees.

"Everyone, calm down!" Elizabeth called out over the din. "This may not be a training exercise, but this is exactly the kind of situation we're likely to face when we step foot in the Pegasus galaxy. I believe we have the capacity to attack even a problem of this magnitude. Let's just sit down and start thinking of solutions."

Jeannie wasn't quite so optimistic as Elizabeth or Colonel Ferretti, but she got her people organised, laptops and whiteboards at hand. The rest of the trainees--the medical team, the soft sciences, the military--sat off to one side and talked amongst themselves. Major Sheppard proved to be the exception, possibly because he still hadn't been briefed about most of the Stargate Program's extremely colourful history, because he seemed utterly fascinated by the theories Jeannie was tossing around with Drs. Markova and Zelenka.

"The Replicators adapt too quickly for new disruptor technologies to remain effective for long," Jeannie explained to him in a quick aside as Markova and Zelenka wrestled with an equation. "Even the disruptor weapon General O'Neill built using the knowledge of the Ancients couldn't hold them off indefinitely."

"I'm still stuck on the part about giant killer robot spiders," he said, sounding more baffled than afraid. Probably because he'd never actually seen a Replicator in action before. They weren't scary until they were chewing through four inches of solid steel wall, or tearing hapless victims to shreds.

"I'm sure Dr. Jackson has a PowerPoint to explain them," she offered distractedly as Markova tried to turn her attention back to the discussion at hand. Sheppard continued to eavesdrop shamelessly, though it all had to be over his head, until Colonel Mitchell finally stole him away.