Chapter 11

There was a time when I couldn't wait to wake up and go working, but since I have lost my job I have no other choice but to stay in bed.

If not-

It knocks at the door.

"Come in", I say.

Jack enters. Thankfully I already dressed and just lay on my back at the bed staring at the ceiling.

"The mayor said you wanted to go to earth?"

"Oh, and she humored you to go?", I tease him.

He smirkes, but shakes his head.

I stand up and leave my room with him. We make it to the gateroom in 5 minutes.

"Hey Chuck! You can dial the gate!"

"Yes sir!"

"His name is Chuck?"

"Yes, but no one knows his lastname. Some say he just appeared there after our old gate technician, Walter, went to Central-Gate-Station..."

I laugh and shake my head. When we rematerialize at the other side, my breath catches. We are in a huge glass building, on the sea!

Around me are hunderts of people. Some with Genii uniforms, some with green skin, other have the names of planets at their shoulder and others are...Wraith?!

"There are Wraith", I say and try to soud calm.

"Oh, yes...", Jack says,"I forgot to say...we are alliated with them since ninehundred years. We found a way to make them be able to eat the stuff we eat and still be able to eat their way."

"Why the latter?"

"To kill the bad guys. There are less since that."

"Reminds me of that planet where they gave them people who didn't do anything wrong or just stole something...", I mutter.

"Some people think the same, but I assure you, only murderers who killed at least two people become food."

"Mhh..."

"Now, lets go. We take the transporter to library."

He wents to a transporter and pushed a few buttons. Suddenly we are in another huge building with computers everywhere.

"Our people decided to make every book digital. We kept some though. For history stuff or so. Not my cup oc tea..."

"I see", I say while looking around.

"If you need me, I'll wait over there", he says and points to a large couch in the corner where bored kids are waiting for their parents to finish.

He sits down like a little child and I have to bite back a laugh.

Reminds me of someone...

"Erm...ma'am? We need to take your personal data. The system says you've never been here before", the woman at the information says.

"Sure", I say and go towards her.

"I need you to put your hand on this screen."

I do as she say. I hear a sound a the woman tells me to take my hand off the screen.

"Ok, now I need your name, date of birth and the place you're living at the moment."

"At the moment I'm living in Atlantis. My name is Elizabeth Weir...and...my date of birth is a little difficult..."

"Why?", the woman asks and raises an eyebrow at me.

"14th of October, 1974."

The woman lays her arms on the table in front of her and looks at me.

A few seconds of silence pull into dozens of seconds.

Slowly she starts typing something into her computer. She looks at the screen, looks to me and then back to the screen again.

Is that you she asks and turns the screen to me.

I look into my face...well, my old face. Me, in my uniform. Short hair and less stress in my eyes. I can't deny that I've got a few grey hairs through that job, but what did I have friend like Cadman for when not for getting me stuff to 're-brown' my hair?

"Yes, that's me ...", I say smiling.

"Ok. Now you can use the computers in all librarys on earth and all other planets of the federation."

"Thanks."

I go to one terminal and sit down. The first thing I'm searching for is:'earth, federation'

'Since 2010 several planets of the Milky Way and Pegasus have founded a federation. First reason to make it was because of some mistakes the Atlantis-expedition has made. Richard Woolsey proved the humans innocent and so they became alliated with the federation along with their allies.'

Ok, I must have made many mistakes as a leader... And Teyla said I was the best for that Job. Maybe Kavanaugh was right...

He said I was ruled by my emotions. Simon once said I was cold. I'd like to know who was right...

I think about the next thing I could look after. Maybe I could look what happened to my mom?

'Catherine Weir, year: 2008+'

Three articles, to my luck with photos.

Nothing interesting so far. She moved to Arizona and married man named Andrew Philips. After the SG-Project got public she moved with him to Atlantis.

I really wouldn't have thought that my mother would marry again. Not after she'd stayed alone so long after my father.

But I wasn't there anymore and Sedge wouldn't have lived an eternity. I knew that when I bought her. It was for my mother, so she wouldn't be so alone, when I thought I would come back or visit her from time to time.

She died when she was 92.

She got very old, but that doesn't make it easier. I have to think about the fact that I couldn't be there when she died. I wasn't at her funeral.

I can't even imagine how it has to be to die after the own child. You were at the birth, you saw it grow up, you came to birthdayparties, brought it to school, tried to cheer it up when it was sad...and then, suddenly, it's gone...

I try not to cry. I don't succeed. I try at least to hide my tears.

I know I can't read this stuff in public, that's why I ask the woman If it was possible to do a copy of the files of my friends and their families. She gives my a datapad.

I still can't believe that all the answer for my questions and all the informations, the whole lifes of my friends are on this little device.

It seems so small...