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Piercing the Veil	By : trudyw000 Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > Slash - Male/Male Views: 8942 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Stargate Atlantis, I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Author's Note ; Sorry it's been so long, this chapter has given me some problems. Trying to think my way around the time travel implications gave me a headache and tied my mind in knots. Still it's done now and I think it's basically consistent. if anything doesn't make sense let me know and I'll see if I can clarify. Thanks to ChaosLady and Alwayslove for your reviews. As always they are much appreciated.

Chapter 5

Sirius’ head shot up at the sound. Seeing no-one in front of him he whipped his head around so fast that he threw himself off balance and landed, sprawled on the floor, still trying to see who had spoken.

“Who’s there?” he snapped out sharply.

In reply he heard a soft giggle before the same warm, feminine tone sounded in his head, “it’s me, Lantia!”

“Where are you?” Sirius asked confused.

“I’m right here,” came the reply in a voice filled with laughter.

Climbing gingerly to his feet Sirius pulled his torch free of the railings and held it high above his head to cast a wider circle of light as he searched for the speaker. “Are you a telepath?” Sirius asked, finally realising why the voice sounded so intimate. The words weren’t being picked up by his ears but were instead sounding directly inside his head.

“Not in the way that you’re thinking,” Lantia answered. “Let me turn up the lights so that you can see me, then you can get rid of that horrible thing.”

“Ok,” Sirius agreed, bemused by the whole situation.

Almost imperceptibly at first the room began to lighten, slowly, very slowly, the vague outlines of the room beyond the limits of Sirius’ rudimentary torch began to resolve themselves. Eventually the lights stabilised at a comfortable level and banishing his torch Sirius gazed around himself at the massive room in which he found himself.

From his vantage point at the top of the stairs he could look down at the platform which extended out from the strange circular portal through which he had entered this place. As he stared at the ring, pondering the odd markings around the outermost edge he found himself muttering the words “Astria Porta.”

In surprise Sirius realised that he had spoken the unfamiliar words aloud, he had no idea how he knew that that was the name of the strange artefact, he just knew it. Then he remembered what Khala had told him in that brief time between his waking and her pushing him through the Astria Porta. ‘we have given you all the information we can without over-taxing your brain’ her words echoed in his ears, apparently this was part of that knowledge. Wondering what other information they had given him he focussed inwards, trying to determine what else he now knew. However, he quickly came to the realisation that this was an impossible task. How could he look for new facts in his own brain when he had no basis from which to start searching. He would simply have to wait and hope that more new information would make itself known at the appropriate time, just as the name for the portal had done.

Dragging his attention away from the giant ring he surveyed the rest of the high ceilinged chamber. It appeared to be spread over three levels, he was standing on the highest one, the Astria Porta was on the middle level with stairs leading down on each side of the platform to the lowest level.

Looking around he realised that he still could not see anyone else, “Lantia, where are you?” he asked again.

“I’m all around you,” came the reply in a voice tinged with humour, “I’m the city that you’re standing in.”

Sirius just stared around himself, stunned into speechlessness. Reaching out he gently ran one hand over the railing where he had secured his makeshift torch. “What? How can that be?” he finally managed to articulate the words.

“I am a computer, built by the Lanteans to maintain the city, they set me to hibernate when they left. I’ve been sleeping for ten thousand years, you awakened me when you called my name,” Lantia carefully explained.

“A computer?” the confusion was evident in Sirius’ tone, “Harry mentioned computers, but they were children’s toys, used for playing games and doing homework.”

Lantia laughed again, a joyful sound that could not help but raise Sirius’ spirits. “I am a little more sophisticated than that, there are automated processes that control many of the day to day tasks involved in running a city like this. I oversee those, interface with the residents and supply the complex processing power when needed.”

Much of Lantia’s explanation went clear over Sirius’ head but he politely smiled and nodded eager to ask the question that was foremost in his mind. Could Lantia help him get out of the city so that he could get back to Harry. He was about to ask when Lantia suddenly shouted “No!” in a panicked voice “she’s dying, please you have to help her!” the pleading tone had Sirius looking about him to see who he had to help.

“Who...?” was all he had time to ask before Lantia cut in.

“This way, please hurry,” and trail of lights appeared within the surface of the floor as she spoke.

At a run Sirius pounded through the deserted corridors of the ancient city, lights coming on in each section as he approached and turning off after he had passed. Sliding around a corner he came to a sudden halt as he piled into the wall of a tiny room just as the door slid shut behind him. Staring around the closet like space Sirius was once more swamped with confusion, it seemed to be an almost constant condition ever since he had first fallen through the Veil in the ministry.

Before he had time to voice his feelings the doors slid open once more and the trail of light in the floor had him running back down a different corridor from the one he had followed into the small room. Finally he turned into a good sized room full of strange consoles and over on the other side of the room he saw the cause of Lantia’s concern. In a strange cabinet against the far wall stood a woman, she was obviously very old with long white hair and wearing a flowing white dress. As Sirius entered the room he could see her gasping for breath although her eyes were still closed and she appeared to be unconscious.

Sirius hurried around the central console just as the glass front of the cabinet opened and the woman began to collapse. Quickly he took the last few paces and caught her before she hit the floor. Gathering the strange woman in his arms he carefully lifted her, surprised at how light a burden she was. His actions so far had been completely instinctual but now, as he stood in the fantastic city, cradling an incredibly ancient woman in his arms, he had absolutely no idea what to do next.

Looking down at the lined and wrinkled face resting against his shoulder he saw that the slight blue tinge around her lips was already fading and now that she was out of the container her breathing was more normal so that she seemed to just be sleeping. “Lantia, what do I do?” he asked, his eyes roaming around the room, searching for something to focus on. He was unused to carrying on conversations without being able to see the other parties face.

“Bring her this way,” Lantia’s voice was calm again now, although the faint, laughing tone of earlier was gone. The trail of lights in the floor lit up once again and Sirius followed them at a much slower pace than earlier back to the small closet like room. Knowing what to expect this time Sirius turned and waited quietly for the door to slide back open before shifting up the woman in his arms and following the floor light into a room that appeared to be some kind of infirmary.

Although the technology in the room was far beyond anything that he had encountered in the past, the stark, narrow beds seemed to be universal. Sirius laid his burden on one of them, covering her gently with a cotton sheet. As soon as he stepped back metal sides rose from the edges of the bed to flank the woman ensuring that she could not fall. With a muted hum a panel at the head of the bed flared into life with a number of displays and lettering in a vaguely familiar looking script. Staring intently at the letter shapes Sirius realised with a pang that he did recognise them and he desperately wished that he had paid more attention in Ancient Runes class during his Hogwarts days.

“What now?” he asked.

“Her condition appears to be stable, now we wait and see if she wakes up.” Lantia replied calmly.

“Who is she?” Sirius asked in a low voice, pitched to avoid waking the sleeping woman.

“I don’t know.” Lantia sounded curiously reluctant to admit as much. “I knew everyone in the city, I watched each one leave until only Janus was left. He shut down my systems before leaving the city. He was the last to go.”

“Could he have... I don’t know... snuck her into the city before he left?” Sirius asked.

There was a pause before Lantia replied, “no... unless...” she paused and it seemed to Sirius that she was thinking, he found it hard to equate the friendly voice with a soulless machine. Finally she spoke again, shocking Sirius with her words. “Damn him.”

“What happened?” Sirius asked surprised by the obvious frustration in the voice.

“I don’t know” Lantia said again, “there are gaps in my memories, I’ve just checked over everything from the week leading up to the final evacuation and there are holes and inconsistencies in the time codes. It had to have been Janus, he’s cut out everything from my memory that might have told me who she is or what she’s doing here.”

Avoiding asking the obvious question Sirius simply said, “then we’ll just have to ask her when she wakes up.”

And with that he looked around himself to find a chair and pulling it up to the bed side he sat down to wait. The seat was uncomfortable, in the manner of hospital chairs the world over, indeed the universe over if Sirius only knew it, but even so the events of the day quickly caught up to him and Sirius gently slipped into a restless sleep.

Several hours later he was awoken by a gentle voice calling his name. “Sirius... Sirius wake up” Lantia called him out of sleep. “She’s waking up.” The words finally permeated the fog clouding Sirius’ tired mind and he shook off the last remnants of sleep.

Scrubbing his hands over his face Sirius stood and moved over to the narrow bed where the elderly woman was beginning to wake, her head shifting position, her eyes moving restlessly underneath the paper-thin lids. Seeing her fragile hand twitching where it lay on top of the thin cotton sheet he took it in his as he waited for her to open her eyes. Eventually they fluttered open and he looked down into a pair of warm brown eyes that looked out alertly from the pale, lined face that surrounded them.

“Hello.”

“Hello” the woman sounded uncertain as she greeted Sirius. She seemed to be trying to look past him, as if she was expecting someone else to be in the room.

Sirius turned briefly to look over his shoulder, wondering who she was expecting to see. “How are you feeling?” he asked gently trying to bring her attention back to himself.

The woman’s gaze was drawn back to him and she stared at him, searching for something recognisable. “Who are you?” she finally asked.

“Sirius Black” Sirius quickly introduced himself, “and you are?”

“Elizabeth Weir” she examined his face for several more moments looking for some sign of recognition “I don’t know you.”

“No, we’ve never met. I just arrived through the Astria Porta, Khala sent me. She said that others would be coming soon but she didn’t mention anyone being here already.”

“You’re not part of the Atlantis expedition,” the woman, Elizabeth stated, “how is that possible?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about this Atlantis expedition. I was involved in a battle in London, I fell through a stone arch called the Veil and found myself amongst Khala’s people. They helped me and then sent me here, I need to get back to London, do you know how I can do that?” Sirius finally got the chance to ask for the help he needed.

Elizabeth simply looked shocked and Sirius found himself quite concerned for her wellbeing, she was obviously very old and he worried that he had no way to help her if she fell ill.

“You’re from Earth.” The simple statement stunned Sirius, it had never occurred to him that he wouldn’t be on Earth, he’d heard about Science Fiction and the concept of life on other planets from his god-son, but he’d never considered it a real possibility. However, if all he’d ever believed was true, then why would Elizabeth sound so surprised at that revelation. Hell it shouldn’t even be a revelation.

“Of course I’m from Earth, why, where are you from?” he asked somewhat angrily.

“I’m from Washington D.C.” she replied but was cut off before she could say anything further.

“On Earth!” stated Sirius, anger still obvious in his voice and his face.

“Yes, but this isn’t Earth” Elizabeth said gently, she was old, and she was tired, and she was weak, and this man, frankly, scared her a little.

Tearing his hand free Sirius flung himself across the room, venting some of his rage and fear by slamming his hands against the wall of the infirmary before turning back to the frail woman on the bed. “What do you mean, ‘this isn’t Earth’?” he snarled.

“This is Atlantis” she shrank back against the pillow of the bed as she spoke, fearful of igniting the wrath of this stranger who shouldn’t even be in the city.

Seeing her fear Sirius fought to control himself. Something strange was going on here but it wasn’t this woman’s fault. She was helpless, at his mercy, and at the moment she was his responsibility, there was no-one else here to take care of her. Then he remembered that there was someone else here, someone who might be able to answer some of his questions.

“Lantia,” he called out softly “are you still there?”

“I’m here,” she replied in his mind “she’s telling the truth, this place has been known by many names, Atlantis is one of those, and we are not currently on Earth.”

Sirius stared into space as he listened to the voice in his head. He had been on an emotional roller coaster ever since falling through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries. One moment convinced he would be able to get back home to Harry, the next having those hopes dashed only to raise them again and have them quickly dashed once more. Now he watched those dreams crumble for the last time, how could they have sent him to another planet, who knew muggles had become so technologically advanced. The wizarding world hadn’t even heard of the concept of life on other planets, muggles were actually visiting other worlds.

Elizabeth had watched Sirius since his strange question, he seemed to be listening for a reply and then his expression fell, he looked as if his life was over, but she had heard nothing. How had this happened, she had barely expected to wake again as she had sealed herself inside the stasis pod for the last time. But she had been sure that if she did wake it would be to find herself surrounded by her friends and colleagues from the Atlantis expedition, friendly faces with whom she could live out her final days. She knew it would only be days, the human body was not meant to survive for ten thousand years, even with the help of a stasis pod. Now here she was, awakened by a mad man who shouldn’t even be here, and she was at his mercy.

Shaking off his crushing disappointment Sirius realised that he had more important concerns for the moment. Looking down he saw that the fear had returned to Elizabeth’s eyes. “What’s wrong, you heard that, Lantia confirmed what you said.”

“I didn’t hear anything” Elizabeth feared to anger this man, with his black eyes and his mane of long, curling black hair, he didn’t look like someone who would take contradiction well.

Confused he raised his head once more, addressing his questions to the panel at the head of the bed he asked, “Lantia, how can she not hear you?”

“I don’t know... unless, oops she doesn’t carry the gene of the Lanteans, she may be descended from them but if so her blood-line has weakened over the generations. I cannot talk directly to her, not in the same way that I can speak to you.” Suddenly Lantia’s golden tones echoed through the room then swiftly modulated themselves to a more reasonable sound level. “Sorry, I didn’t realise that you couldn’t hear me Elizabeth, I’ve turned on the speakers now, is that better?”

Elizabeth struggled to lift her head and upper body from the bed and Sirius moved quickly to support her as Lantia adjusted the bed to hold her in the more vertical position. Once settled Elizabeth looked around in wonder, “Lantia, you’re the city, aren’t you?” she asked.

“I am” Lantia sounded pleased to be recognised.

“Why didn’t you help us the first time around?” Elizabeth was now the one to sound angry, “all but three of my expedition died and you did nothing. If you control the city, if you ARE the city then you could have helped us.”

“I have no memory of any of this, I don’t know who you are or how you got here, no-one has died here in over ten thousand years.” Lantia was taken aback at the sudden attack when suddenly Elizabeth’s words sunk in and both Sirius and Lantia exclaimed together “what do you mean ‘the first time’?”

So Elizabeth began her tale, Sirius sank into his chair muttering to Lantia “can you record this?” and hearing her assent in his head as he listened in wonder to the story of how the expedition had come on a one way trip from Earth. He heard of the bravery of the team members as they fought for more time to try to save as many as they could, but how only three survived. He heard how two of those three died as they were attacked after being thrown back in time. And finally he heard of the actions taken by Janus to secretly help Elizabeth to make it back to her own time and to save her friends.

As Elizabeth finally finished she slumped back, exhausted, against her pillows. Sirius seeing how the exertion of telling her story had drained her felt sudden guilt and he leapt to his feet to see what he could do for the obviously very sick woman. He fluttered around aimlessly for a few moments, but he quite clearly had no idea what do to help her and she waved him off muttering, “I just need to rest” as she slipped into a light doze.

Moving over to the opposite side of the room so as not to disturb the sleeping woman Sirius started a whispered conversation with Lantia. “What do we do now, she’s very weak, she needs food and water and qualified medical care. Is there anything edible left in the city?”

“No, nothing, we just have to wait until she wakes again. I can’t believe Janus would do something so stupid.” Lantia sounded seriously concerned. Sirius couldn’t help but wonder what was so stupid about wanting to save the lives of over a hundred people. Curious as he was he decided to wait until Elizabeth was awake again to ask so he settled down in his seat to nap until then.

Soft voices penetrated Sirius’ sleeping mind and he awoke to find Elizabeth and Lantia chatting quietly as they waited for him to join them. Shaking his head to clear the sleep from it he stood and stepped across to the bed to join the conversation. He heard Lantia finish telling Elizabeth all that they knew so far which wasn’t much. Only that after shutting down Lantia for the millennia long wait for life to return to Atlantis Janus had apparently removed all trace of information about Elizabeth from Lantia’s memories of the last days of the city.

Into the silence that followed Lantia’s words Sirius asked his question, “so, how do we trigger this failsafe device?”

Elizabeth stared at him as if he had grown a second head, the feeling was so strong he found himself running his hands over his neck, just to check. While Lantia immediately burst out with “No! That’s the worst thing we could do.”

Sirius didn’t understand their responses, it seemed so obvious to him, raise the city and no-one needed to die, or even worry, the expedition could come through safely and have a few days to acclimatise themselves to their new home before setting off to explore the new worlds open to them.

“Calm down and tell me why that’s a bad idea.” He asked, apparently it was a bad idea since both ladies agreed but he wanted to understand the reasons why, and hopefully vocalising their arguments would help Lantia and Elizabeth to reach a solution.

Elizabeth got in first and tried to explain “my expedition stepped through the stargate, the Astria Porta, on 19^th July 2004, Lantia, do you know the current Earth date?”

Knowing where this was leading Lantia wished she could answer, but she had no way of knowing the way that time was measured in another galaxy by a race that had scarcely existed the last time she had been awake. “I’m sorry, I don’t know that, but from what Sirius was told by Khala I imagine we have about seven to ten days before your team arrives.”

Sirius heard little more after Elizabeth mentioned the date her team arrived, it had been June, 1996 when he fell through the Veil, over eight years had passed. He had tried to reconcile himself to the fact that he would not be able to get home, but hearing that even if he could it would be years too late to save anyone was the death-knell to his hopes and it was all he could do to maintain consciousness as his vision began to grey out around the edges.

Elizabeth noticed something was wrong when she saw the suddenly white knuckled grip that Sirius had on the bars alongside her bed. Raising her eyes to his face she saw that all colour had drained from his features leaving them an unhealthy, pasty white. “Sirius... Sirius” she called his name and tried to raise her hand to his face but she was too weak and her hand simply touched his chest before slipping down the velvet lapel of the decidedly old fashioned coat that he wore.

Hearing the worry in her voice Sirius shook off his devastation and gestured for her to continue. She was not reassured, but feeling that her time was getting short she carried on her explanation.

“Changing the timeline the way that Janus did was an incredibly risky thing to do, with you thrown into the middle of the cycle the way you have been the risk of paradox becomes infinitely greater.” Sirius was confused, he had no idea what paradox was, but he refrained from interrupting. Someone of Elizabeth’s obvious age deserved at least that much respect from him. “If the city is raised before 19^th July 2004 Earth time then we wouldn’t have to go back in time to escape the drowning city, but if we don’t go back in time then I wouldn’t be here to tell you about the disaster to come and you wouldn’t raise the city. Do you see the problem?” she asked, hoping he could understand.

Sirius thought he understood but the circular thinking was beginning to give him a headache, that along with the fact that he hadn’t eaten or drunk anything in well over 12 hours now. “But you did go back, you’re here now so you must have gone back, and the failsafe is in place... Lantia, the failsafe is in place isn’t it?” Sirius asked, suddenly unsure.

They waited through the brief period of time while Lantia searched her systems before her voice rang once more through the speakers mounted at the head of the bed. “I cannot find any sign of such a device.”

Sirius rocked back on his heels in surprise, he’d been so sure that the failsafe would already be in place.

“The gaps in your memory,” Elizabeth put it together first, “Janus must have hidden all knowledge of the failsafe from you, but why, and how can it work without your control.”

Elizabeth was still puzzled but her words had given Lantia all the clue that she needed to finish putting the picture together. “Just in case something like this... something unexpected happened. He hid the knowledge of the failsafe from me so that I couldn’t do anything to change the cycle. He knew the risks of paradox in changing the past, he must have decided that it was safe enough in a closed cycle. But it’s not closed anymore, you’ve opened it up Sirius. He must have set up a slave system, buffered from me to operate the failsafe automatically, he probably did the same to your stasis pod Elizabeth, setting a slave system to waken you when someone arrived in the city. That’s why I didn’t know anything about you until you began to wake and I detected your life-signs in distress.”

“So, what do we do now?” Sirius asked again, this was all way over his head, he simply hoped to lead Lantia and Elizabeth to a solution if at all possible.

Lantia had the answer now, it was very clear to her. “We close the cycle again.”

Sirius and Elizabeth exchanged an odd look, “and how are we supposed to do that?” Sirius finally asked.

“We need to get you out of here.” Lantia replied and at Sirius’ shocked look she hurried on with her explanation. “The risks increase because you arrived in the middle of the cycle, so we need to get you off the city. You need to leave anyway because there is no food here, nothing to drink, you won’t survive until the expedition arrives if you stay here. Take one of the ships from the docking bay, I can manipulate the forcefields to allow you to fly out without drowning the city. Go to the mainland until the city rises. You will have plenty of food and water to support you until then. When the ship’s sensors show that the city floats once more then it will be safe to return.”

Sirius hated the idea that he would have to leave, he knew that if there was any chance of getting back home to Earth then it lay in this city. However, one look at Elizabeth told him that she wasn’t doing well, her only chance for survival was to get out of the city. His mind made up he asked Lantia where he could find the docking bay.

Taking Elizabeth’s hand in his he laid his other hand on her shoulder and looked down earnestly into those soft, brown eyes. They had been so clear and alert when she first woke up but now, only hours later they seemed to be fading, their depths clouding with pain. He was seriously concerned for her well-being but at the moment there was nothing he could do to help her. He concentrated on getting them out of there, hopefully to somewhere she could get help. “I’ll be back shortly, I’m just going to check out these ships to see if this plan can work. Lantia will be here if you need anything, she can relay a message to me, OK?” Elizabeth’s assenting nod was almost imperceptible and Sirius gently patted the frail shoulder under his hand before turning to follow the guiding lights that Lantia once more supplied.

Hurrying through the corridors once more Sirius soon found himself in a massive cavern-like chamber filled with ranks of strange vehicles. The lights led him to the rear of one of the large, grey, cylindrical objects. Sirius danced aside as the entire back of the vehicle opened out to form a ramp on the spot where Sirius had been standing. Tentatively Sirius walked up the ramp, starting slightly when the lights switched on as he entered the interior.

Looking around in trepidation Sirius wondered how he was supposed to know how to drive this thing. As he thought about it though, he realised that he did know. Moving over to the front of the compartment in which he found himself Sirius quickly found the control that opened the cockpit doors. Touching it the doors slid aside revealing two functional looking seats in front of a large and complex console. Sitting in the left hand seat he looked out briefly through the large window that covered the whole front of the ship before turning his attention to the console.

Surveying the controls he saw that they were marked with the same runic symbols as the display panel above Elizabeth’s bed in the infirmary. After staring at them for some time, trying to dredge up the knowledge of what they meant from his ancient runes classes so many years ago Sirius found the information swimming up from his subconscious mind. Reaching out he unerringly found the control to close the rear door. Heartened by this small success he reached for another control and felt the ship’s powerful engines surge into life as a small control yoke raised out of the console, settling into position in front of him.

Nervously he took a deep breath and gently pulled on the yoke. As the ship lifted up from it’s resting place on the floor of the large chamber Sirius panicked and released the yoke, pushing back in his seat to distance himself from the controls. Immediately the ship thumped back down to the deck with a loud clang.

Sirius sat for several minutes breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. What was he thinking, he couldn’t do this, he was a wizard, he didn’t do technology. Sirius was jerked out of his thoughts by Lantia’s voice in his head. “Sirius, you need to hurry, Elizabeth is not doing well.”

Remembering that he had other responsibilities outside of himself, Sirius resolved to do better than he had in the past and took the control yoke in hand once more. This time he was prepared as the ship lifted off and he carefully steadied it before asking Lantia, “OK, what do I do now?”

Suddenly a glowing column of lights appeared, leading up to a large door in the ceiling which slowly slid out of the way. Manoeuvring the ship very slowly, Sirius carefully followed the glowing path and eventually found himself hovering above the platform in front of the Astria Porta. Gently he set the ship down and shutting off the engines he quickly opened the rear door before hurrying off to the infirmary to get Elizabeth.

Hastening to her bedside Sirius saw her eyelids open as she was awakened by his entrance. “Ready to go?” he asked her before lifting her into his arms and swiftly carrying her back to the ship. Inside he got her settled into the right-hand seat, reclining it as much as he could and making sure that the seat-belt was securely fastened to keep her in place.

Fastening his own seat-belt he fired up the engines once more and brought the ship to a gentle hover just feet above the platform.

“What now Lantia?” he asked.

“Now you leave, I’ve programmed the heads up display to direct you to the nearest fertile land, you should be able to find food and water there. Check the ship’s sensors daily, they will tell you when the city floats once more. I will open the exit for you, but before you go I need you to do one more thing for me.”

“Of course, what do you need?” Sirius asked eagerly, Lantia had helped him so much, he would do anything he could to return the favour.

“I need you to repeat these words after me, exactly as I say them, and then leave as quickly as possible afterwards.” Lantia’s tone gave no room for argument and Sirius instantly agreed.

“Very well, say ‘Create function, Exit Protocol.’”

“Huh” Sirius just grunted in surprise at the unfamiliar words.

“Just say it,” Lantia snapped urgently.

“Create function, Exit Protocol.” Sirius dutifully repeated the words.

“Good, now, ‘Escape mechanism activate, wait 30, sleep until awakened, code-word Lantia, End function.’”

“Escape mechanism activate, wait 30, sleep until awakened, code-word Lantia, End function.” repeated Sirius.

“Excellent, now say, ‘function Exit Protocol activate’ that will trigger the exit route, follow the lights and leave. I will awaken when you call my name on your return. Fare well Sirius.”

Reluctantly Sirius followed his instructions and spoke the final phrase, “function Exit Protocol activate.” Immediately the lights appeared, directing him up through the roof of the chamber. They passed through several levels, each one opening up and then closing securely behind them before the next would open. Finally after the last transition they found themselves hovering just below the glowing forcefield that held back the ocean. The forcefield began to flex, twisting and extending until it enclosed the ship entirely. Now they were outside the main field the skin above them thinned and water rushed in to surround the ship. Moments later they were completely surrounded, the engine noise changed and Sirius found that the vehicle was just as responsive in water as it had been in air.

Casting a quick glance back to the underwater city Sirius tossed off a quick salute to Lantia before turning to check on his passenger. Elizabeth was sat quietly in her seat with her eyes closed, she looked pale and wan in the diffuse light that made it’s way down to this depth.

Sirius thought urgently of the heads up display that was supposed to lead him to land and immediately a glowing blue map appeared, overlaying the window in front of him. Taking a few moments to orient himself Sirius quickly got his bearings and manoeuvred the ship to follow the indicated path, rising swiftly to the surface of the ocean. As they rose the light grew progressively brighter, until finally they burst through the surface into the soft rose light of dawn.

Pausing to adjust to the sudden change in the light levels, Sirius hovered the ship above the tips of the rolling waves beneath them. He turned to Elizabeth and saw that her eyes were now open, smiling softly they both watched the dawn, staring in awe at the wonder of this new world on which they found themselves. Eventually the sun had risen clear of the horizon and Sirius decided it was time to go. As he reached for the control yoke once again he heard soft words from the woman beside him.

“That was beautiful, thank you Sirius,” her voice little more than a whisper.

Sirius smiled reassuringly over at her, “just hold on, we’ll be on land soon.”

Turning back he settled in to drive them as quickly as possible to the closest land. It wasn’t any where close to flying by broomstick, or even by Hippogriff but Sirius found himself enjoying the freedom of being in the air. He was pleased to notice as Elizabeth quietly slipped into sleep. Intent on getting to land as quickly as possible, he didn’t notice as her breathing became slower and slower until it finally stopped and she slipped slowly into a death long denied.

A little over an hour later Sirius sighted land, glancing over to Elizabeth in triumph he noticed how still she was, but refused to think on the possible implications. Instead he focussed on pushing the little ship harder, desperate to get to the land and ten minutes later he touched down in a pleasant clearing a short distance inland from the coast.

Unwilling to admit to the truth that his subconscious already knew, Sirius turned to Elizabeth, reaching out to gently shake her awake. As soon as he touched her arm he could no longer deny the truth, her skin was cold, warmed only by the sunlight through the large viewing window. Hanging his head in sorrow Sirius wept for the gentle soul that he had only known for such a short time. Once the tears started to flow Sirius found himself unable to stop as he grieved for all that he had lost, all hope of returning to Earth in time to aid Harry was gone, now he was exiled from Atlantis for at least a week and his only companion was dead.

Gathering his last reserves he gently released the straps holding Elizabeth’s body in place and lifting her in his arms he carried her into the rear compartment where he laid her out on the bench along one side of the ship. Searching through the various storage lockers in the rear of the ship he quickly located a sturdy shovel and triggering the door he trod down the ramp to locate a suitable final resting place for the only other human currently resident on the planet.

A/N : Well, there it is, let me know what you think, am I butchering your favourite characters, please review!
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Piercing the Veil