Sam hurried into the control room. "What's happening?"

"We have an unscheduled off-world activation."

"Do we have any teams currently off-world?" she asked.

"No, ma'am."

"Close the iris." She watched as the iris closed over the center of the Gate. Seconds later it connected.

"We're receiving a radio transmission," the Staff Sergeant told her.

"Put it on the speaker."

"Hello? This is Urvan, Ductere of Elarecira I am trying to reach Dr. Evander Walsh of Earth."

"Get Dr. Walsh up here," Sam ordered a soldier standing nearby. She waved at the Gate. "Open a channel so I can reply."

"Yes, ma'am." The Sergeant tapped a button and nodded to her.

"This is General Samantha Carter, I'm the commander here. We're getting Dr. Walsh, he isn't present at the moment. How can I help you?"

"It is an honor to speak with you, Dr. Walsh spoke highly of you while he was here studying the artifacts in our museum. We would like to request that Dr. Walsh return to Elarecira. We wish to study the building left behind by the Teachers but we do not have the resources or knowledge to properly catalog all that is there. Dr. Walsh showed interest in studying the building when we last spoke and he displayed a wider knowledge of the Teachers than anyone we have encountered, and we know he will treat the building with the utmost respect."

"I'm sure Dr. Walsh would love to return and assist you. I'll speak with him."

"Thank you, this is all we can ask."

"You're welcome, we're happy to assist those we call friends. We'll let you know whether Dr. Walsh can make it to the planet."

"Again, we thank you." The Gate disconnected.

"Get SG-1 to the briefing room." Might as well get them all at once and brief them together rather than wait for Dr. Walsh to make it to the control room.

"Yes, ma'am."

She climbed the stairs from the control room up to the briefing room. It was a nice change to have a friendly encounter with another race, they'd had too many run-ins with the Alliance of late.

Van smiled as they stepped out of the Gate. "Hello, it's good to see you again," he told Urvan.

"You as well, Dr. Walsh. I am glad you agreed to return and study the building."

"I'm excited to see it." He indicated Oliver. "This is Dr. Kain, he's going to be assisting me."

"It is very nice to meet you. I believe there was a Captain Kain with you the last time." Urvan directed the last comment to Van.

"Yes, she's Oliver's sister."

"A talented family."

Oliver cleared his throat. "Um, yes."

Van chuckled. "Can you take us to the building?"

Urvan stepped aside. "You remember Mala?"

"Yes, of course. It's good to see you again."

Mala smiled and nodded.

"Mala will take you to the building. I'm sorry but I have several conferences I cannot miss. I wish you luck!" Urvan hurried away back toward the city.

Mala smiled. "It's good to have you back, Doctor."

"Thank you. I'm happy to help however I can." Van and Oliver fell into step beside her when she started away from the Gate.

"We are hoping you will find new artifacts to replace those that were taken by the Alliance."

"I'm so sorry they destroyed all of your hard work."

She nodded. "It was very sad to see what they did to not only the museum but our cities as well. We are still rebuilding. Many people are still without homes."

"I can speak with General Carter when I return, perhaps we can help speed things along in some way," Van told her.

"I'm sure Urvan would appreciate that a great deal." She waved to a small hill in the distance. "The building is beneath that little bump in the field there. We don't know what the building was used for but our scientists believe it is some type of laboratory. They have been unable to make anything inside work."

"You likely need to have the ATA gene to activate anything," Oliver told her. "It shouldn't be a problem, I have the gene."

"Then I'm glad you're here." A small frown marred her features. "Is this the gene you spoke of where you were studying the artifacts?" she asked Van.

"Yes, it is. Both Oliver and his sister have the gene."

"Ah, I see. And you are related to the Teachers, this is why you have this gene," she said to Oliver.

"It would seem likely our family is somehow connected to them in some genetic way. Very distant descendants at this point I'm sure," Oliver replied.

Mala stopped. "I'm certainly glad you have come with Dr. Walsh then and I do hope the two of you can find information that will help to tell us what this building was used for. The entrance is on the opposite side of the mound behind several staggered stands of rocks. If you have any issues you can call me on this." She held out a small device. "Run a finger over this button here to speak."

"Thank you," Van said as he took the device from her.

"Yes, thank you very much for your help," Oliver added.

"I wish you luck. I must get back to the city." With a quick wave, she turned and left.

"Well, let's see what we can see," Van said and struck out toward the mound. He turned and walked backward as he spoke to Oliver. "So how do you think this whole thing will work?"

"I'm assuming we'll get in and the place will hopefully come alive when it senses the ATA gene but who knows."

"That wasn't what I was talking about."

"Then spit it out, Van because I have no clue what you're trying to tell me."

Van grinned. "I was talking about you dating Mala."

Oliver snorted. "She's an alien living on a world billions of light-years from Earth. I think that is a long-distance relationship that could never be maintained no matter what you did. And I never expressed any interest in the woman, I've just met her!"

"Thank you very much for your help," Van mocked.

"I was expressing gratitude not flirting! Let's find the stupid door into this place," Oliver muttered.

It took them little time to find the door. The moment they stepped inside, the place lit up and consoles came to life.

"You and that snazzy gene are exactly what this place needed I guess."

"Very funny. Let's see what this place was used for." Oliver moved over and began digging through the files on the computer system. "It's definitely a lab of some sort."

Van moved to stand beside him and studied the screen. "Wait, go back. Yeah, there." He bent to read what was on the screen. "This is amazing."

Oliver nodded in agreement as he read the same passage Van had. "We knew they were studying Ascension for quite a while but never to this extent. This lab appears to be one of several they set up in secret to study it without the knowledge of their enemies." He switched pages. "They feared the constant threats in the galaxy would overwhelm them and they would be lost. It looks like they believed Ascension was their only option."

"They must have given up the research at some point, at least briefly," Van said. "I mean this lab was set up before they left for Pegasus. Maybe they believed once they reached Pegasus there would no longer be a threat," Van reasoned.

"Yeah, then the Wraith came into being and they lost nearly everything to them. At that point, they didn't have much of a choice. Atlantis was all that was left and they were forced to return to Earth. They must have picked up the research at some point because we know they succeeded."

"All this data warrants further study though, who knows what we could learn from it. This is so exciting!" Van grinned and slapped Oliver on the back.

Oliver stood back from the console. "Let's see what other secrets this place holds. It's pretty big." He turned and looked around. "It reaches far back into this hill they built."

"Go ahead and look around. I want to read more of this data."

"We have plenty of time to read, Van, we should explore the place and get an idea of the layout and what else might be here. Who knows what we might find?" He turned back to look at Van. "There might be a ZPM here."

"If there is, we'd have to get it out of here without them seeing it, I don't want to try to explain why we need it to them and I certainly don't want the Colonel and the Captain to stage another heist," Van said.

Oliver chuckled. "Good thing they aren't here then."

"Yeah, good thing."

Oliver wandered away and left Van to his reading. The building was a large oval shape that was one big room with various computer consoles and stations set up around the space. "Hey, Van, come here!" he shouted.

"What, what is it?" Van asked as he came running.

"There's a chair platform," he called out. When Van stopped beside him, he gestured to the chair on a small, raised dais. It resembled the chair in the Antarctic outpost and also Atlantis. "The question is why would they need a weapons platform in a research lab?"

Van shrugged. "Maybe it performs a different task than the chairs we've had previous experience with. It does look slightly different." Van stepped over and studied the chair more closely. "Neither the chair in the Antarctic outpost or the one on Atlantis have this piece here near the top of the chair."

"No, they don't. Maybe this one is a precursor to those two," Oliver replied.

"I don't think so. This may be the next generation after those two. After all, the Gates in Pegasus are the next version after the Milky Way Gates."

"So they went from the iPhone 6 to the ... what number are they on now?"

"No clue, I don't keep track of that stuff," Van muttered as he continued to study the chair.

"But if this outpost was built before they left then this one might be a precursor to the others. Though we know the one on Antarctica has been there for a good long while." He stared at the chair a moment as Van continued to study it. "Well, we aren't going to find out much standing here staring at it." He dropped his pack to the floor.

"Wait, Oliver, I don't think it's a good idea to sit in that thing until we figure out exactly what they used it for."

"What can it hurt?"

"A lot. It can hurt a lot!" Van screeched.

"You worry too much. How do we find out how things work if we don't take it apart and look at or punch a few buttons! Trial and error, Van!" Oliver took a seat and the chair lit up and reclined. The piece at the top flipped forward so it rested against Oliver's temples. There was an electronic whirring sound and Oliver's back arched, his fingers clenched over the arms of the chair, and he let out a pained whimper.

"Oliver!" Van tried to yank him free of the chair but nothing he did seemed to make Oliver budge.

The chair disengaged after a minute or two, Oliver went still and Van felt a moment of panic when he believed that Oliver was dead. When he realized Oliver was still breathing he let out a sigh of relief. "Oliver? Are you all right?" he called out. This went on for several minutes as Van's panic increased until Oliver finally released a groan and sat up.

"I don't want to do that ever occur again."

"Are you okay?" Van asked him.

"Yeah, I'm good. I have no clue what happened but I'm glad it's over." He got up and gave the chair a disgusted look. "Maybe it had something to do with jump-starting their minds to reach the stage they needed to be in to ascend?"

"I have no idea but I think we should get you back to the SGC and have Dr. Grayson check you out to be certain you're all right."

"But there's so much here for us to study."

"You were stuck in that chair, Oliver! I tried to pull you out and it wouldn't release you! We have no idea what it may have done to you! It could have altered your DNA or something! Maybe that thing was supposed to do some kind of alterations to help the Ancients get closer to Ascension! You need to get checked out!"

"Fine, but after the Doctor tells us that I'm perfectly fine we are coming back. I want to take a closer look at this chair."

"Fine, as long as Delaney gives you a clean bill of health we can come back." They hiked back to the Gate. On the way, Van used the communications device to let Mala know they needed to return to Earth but they would hopefully be back soon.