The forty-four-day Pegasus supply cycle

The loss of Midway Station leaves ship transport as the dependable way to move substantial supplies between Earth and Atlantis. An eighteen-day passage each way, plus two to four days at either end, produces a minimum round trip of about forty-four days. For most of that journey the ship is between galaxies and far beyond immediate assistance. It then emerges into a theater dominated by the Wraith, so aircraft, weapons, engineering, and internal security must already be ready. Dividing a complement of 214 among three watches leaves only about seventy-one people nominally on duty before specialist demands are counted. Action stations can bring everyone awake for a battle, but that surge cannot replace sustainable watches throughout the voyage. This route exposes how quickly a seemingly large crew disappears into continuous readiness and ordinary shipkeeping.