The Midway Space Station.
Developed by Earth scientists and built by human engineers, Midway sat in the middle
of the vast emptiness between the Milky Way and Pegasus Galaxies.
It served as the linchpin of the Intergalactic Gate Bridge, allowing travelers to journey
back and forth between Earth and Atlantis in a matter of minutes.
But the station also posed a security risk, ultimately permitting Wraith foot soldiers
to reach Earth ...
Everyone knows that a standard Stargate address has seven symbols, making use of seven of
the gate’s nine chevrons to connect a wormhole to another planet in the same galaxy.
But if you want to dial to another galaxy you need an eighth chevron – and, most importantly,
you need a power source capable of making the long-distance connection.
That fact made it next to impossible for the Atlantis expedition to maintain regular contact
with Earth.
The Ancient city in the Pegasus Galaxy doesn’t have enough Zero Point Modules to let them
dial the gate directly home to Earth.
The arrival of the Daedalus helped a bit.
The ship could ferry supplies and personnel between the two galaxies – but the round-trip
journey takes more than a month.
Enter the McKay-Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge.
Earth and Atlantis spent months harvesting Stargates from planets that don’t need them
– probably because they are unpopulated.
Thirty-four gates from the two different gate networks were then placed, by ship, in a chain
to cover the expanse between the Milky Way and Pegasus Galaxies.
But don’t worry – you don’t have to emerge from one gate and dial the next manually.
Dr. Rodney McKay wrote a macro that orders each gate in the chain to store transiting
matter in its buffer, automatically forwarding the traveler on to the next point.
That’s one quick journey through the Pegasus Stargates, followed by one quick journey through
the Milky Way gates – and you’re back home!
Total travel time is a little over 30 minutes … “Cue applause!”
Midway stood at the point where the two gate networks meet.
Colonel John Sheppard tested the Gate Bridge using a Puddle Jumper,
when the station was not yet complete.
But a few months later Midway was capable of holding an atmosphere, as Samantha Carter
and Bill Lee worked to bring it online.
It even had artificial gravity.
Now fully functional, the space station allowed people to travel the gate bridge on foot – stopping
at the station along the way for rest, for debriefings, or temporary security quarantine.
And Atlantis could relay daily status reports to Earth through the gate bridge.
The Midway station was equipped with advanced computer systems and radio transmitters, plus
a limited number of sleeping quarters, and food rations.
Because it provided easy access to Earth, Midway was a high-security area.
A security contingent was stationed there to monitor gate travel, and inbound travelers
were required to undergo a 24-hour quarantine period before continuing on to Earth.
The Milky Way gate cannot be dialed without a special security code.
And the macro used by the Pegasus gates was heavily encrypted.
Ultimately it wasn’t enough to stop the cunning and clever Wraith.
After learning of the existence of the gate bridge and hacking a D.H.D., a contingent
of Wraith managed to infiltrate Midway Station.
They overpowered the soldiers and scientists, and even cracked the code for the Milky Way
Stargate – eventually reaching Stargate Command itself.
Fortunately, Teal’c and Ronon Dex were present on the station at the time, and followed them
through to Earth and put an end to their invasion.
Meanwhile, back on Midway, John Sheppard’s team stormed the gate room
and retook control from the Wraith.
But in the process of securing the Stargate’s systems, Dr. Peter Kavanagh inadvertently
activated the stations’ self-destruct protocol.
Personnel hurried to evacuate to a Puddle Jumper docked outside, and ten minutes later
… Midway Space Station was destroyed.
Visit the Stargate Omnipedia at GateWorld.net to read more about the Midway Station and
more from Stargate Atlantis!
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