Note of the author.
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"Return to the Pegasus" is my opening for the season 6 "Stargate: Atlantis" - and it all started from reading somewhere on the internet the idea for the first episode of the new season: the unexpected return Atlantis to the Pegasus, thanks to the security program , that ordered the city to return. And if I'm not mistaken, the idea comes from Joseph Mallozzi blog.
It is also the first of the stories in the series: "Between," which are assumed to be short stories that tell different stories from different periods, but mainly focusing on events that are taking place between the three main my stories: "Memories of forced worshiper," "Moonlight," and "We are your past and the future." Hence their common title: "Between."
In "Return to the Pegasus " there are also a few references to the Stargate Legacy series of books, that I know from "hearsay" (ie. from the posts of other fans).
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Forgive me for my English, but this is not my native language.
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NOTE:
1. The conversations begin with a dash.
2. Telepathic conversations are written on a new line in quotes.
3. Italics have been used to abbreviations or words of Latin origin; based on Latin or being "blend" of such words.
Other names as: persons (Wraith) names, names of the ships, planets, or titles, etc.., was written only with a capital letter.
4. In order to distinction "flashback" or dreams/memories, applied line a break and quotes.
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Restless rains ruffled a orchard, and we are on this war for a few years.
We'll come back to home, we'll make a fire in a stove, we'll feed the dog.
We'll make it before the night, But first we'll win, and this is an important game!
From the Polish movie: Four Tank Men and dog.
"Restless rains"
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Chapter 1.
Prisoner of war.
"...The corridor leading to the cell was empty and deep in the twilight.
Starburst glanced quickly around the corner, and then looked grimly at the two teenagers.
- Remind me, why are we doing this? - he muttered grimly.
- Because it's exciting - said carelessly Nightwind. - Besides, someone has to cover us - she said, and led the way, all time holding her friend by the hand.
- You mean, that someone has to take the blame on himself... in the case of setback - he growled.
- This also - she said cheerfully, looking over her shoulder.
The young Wraith growled quietly under his breath, reluctantly, and followed by them.
Both females were in similar age, and since he remembered, they stuck together. Both had also likewise crazy ideas ... at least according to him. And he, as the older brother of Nightwind, could not afford to them put themself into much trouble... So, in the case of problems, blame often fell on him.
That's why he was afraid that this time this can end up the same way.
They stopped in front of the organic cell bars. On the other side, on the floor, lay a young man in a bright uniform. He did not move and did not react on the appearance of three Wraith.
Snowflake crouched, watching him intently.
- He's so young... How do you think, what they will do with him? - she whispered and looked at the Burst.
- Hard to say - he murmured. - As any prisoner, he probably will be live as long, as long he will be useful.
- It is sad, that his end is so close - said, also in a whisper, Nightwind.
- Do not regret him. It's his own race which led to this war.
- More specifically, the part of them, and their human allies - young female corrected. - You can not blame everyone for the deeds of a few.
- You write lately too much of the Old Code.
- And you apparently already had to forget about it - she pointed out.
- No - he said gravely. - ...But recently I realized, that its rules are inadequate to the reality, which made us such like him - a gesture of the head he pointed on the still lying on the ground Lantean. - So, forgive me, but a little too late for such philosophical statements like yours.
The young female snapped, but she said nothing.
- Are you two, no longer, have to argue about what? - suddenly asked gravely Snowflake, raising and looked at them. - None of us do not know a different world, than those engrossed in war... We can only dream about this, which we have lost... And pray, that we may live to the time, when it will pass - she added sadly. - But when it happens, I would like to be able to proudly look another in the eye, knowing, that my enemies I was treated better, than they treated us... But sometimes I'm afraid, that in the end, we all begin to think like you... War slowly changing all of us. I see it more clearly. We lose ourselves in it, forgetting, what we were taught in the past, by one thousand years...
She paused, looking suddenly somewhere behind the two friends.
Standing there Wraith, was growth and stature of Burst, but sixteen years older than he.
He looked at her yellow eyes, smiling gently corner of his mouth.
- Words worthy of the Old Code - Bullseye said calmly.
- I'm trying to draw conclusions from the teachings contained in it - she said.
- Then pull also the request from the words often used by Father... - he replied seriously - ...Get off your asses from here, before you will be into trouble - he joked.
Both young females smiled amused and without a word left the hall.
Wraith glanced behind them and then looked at the Starburst.
- And you I would advise to read it again... Somewhere in Code it refers to not lose oneself in anger and bitterness - he said. - I understand your pain over the loss of a friend. I myself lost many in this war. But you not allow, that the pain has become the essence of your life... Because it will be a long, but very sad life - he said, patting him lightly on the shoulder and turned on his heel to leave.
- You lost on the war almost the whole family - Burst said. - How you can still be so calm?
Bullseye looked at him over his shoulder with a slight smile.
- Peace and sobriety of mind are this, what we now needed most - he said. - It is thanks to them we gain advantage over our enemies... Besides, I try to follow the example of a person, who always kept cheerfulness and used to say, that: there is never so bad, that it could not be worse - he said and walked
down the hall, and then turned to the right.
Young Wraith looked after him until he has not disappeared around the corner, and then he glanced back, at the prisoner lying on the ground.
- You have your chance... Lantean - he muttered and walked down the hall, when the lattice cell parted sideways.
The young man opened his eyes suddenly, looking around, then got up quickly, going carefully into the corridor.
He could not be sure, that this is not a trick... but as the Wraith said: this was his chance…"
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…Starburst suddenly opened his eyes and stood up, sitting on a metal bench.
Unfortunately, the bars of his cell were still closed, and the entire cage surrounded by a force field.
What an irony of fate, he thought, remembering his dream. That one Lantean escaped from the hive, using one of the fighters. Officially never explained how he managed to escape, but Burst felt, that his parents knew the truth. They gave him a sense it in discussions on this topic. Now he remembered, that he had met this man later. During one of the battles over thirty years later, when his fighter was damaged and crashed on the planet. Wraith was then seriously injured. He remembered how he was lying in the cockpit of the machine, he saw above him some form targeting to him with his gun. He could not see the face. Sun blinded him behind back of warrior. But the silhouette he could tell, that it was a man.
Then he heard the words, that for a long time stuck in his memory.
- You have your chance... Wraith - said a male voice and a soldier walked away, back to his fighter.
Then Starburst realized, that this was the same Lantean, which once he released from the cell.
"Our deeds someday return to us" - sounded one of the operative part of the Old Code, but until that moment he did not fully understand its meaning...
But since then the Wraith mentality really changed the face of what they professed before the Great War. For almost one hundred years of struggle made, that the wisdom of the Old Code have almost been forgotten, remaining alive only in the minds of those, who were born long before the war. And in a few minds of the younger generations Wraith, as Snowflake...
The big door of the room, where was his cage, suddenly twitched and opened slowly, snatching the Wraith with his thoughts.
Inside came a familiar figure.
Colonel John Sheppard stopped in front of the metal bars, looking at the high Wraith still wearing a one-piece, gray outfit.
- I have good news for you - he said, holding his hands in his pockets. - For now you stay on Atlantis. Thank Doctors Keller and Beckett. They convinced the Stargate Command and IOA, that as a prisoner of war, you have your rights... and that here you will be more useful in the study on the retrovirus. Command also awarded the right, that remaining at the station, you will constitute a lesser threat to others, than elsewhere... although some scientists probably already can not wait to cut you to pieces alive - he added with a hint of irony.
- Certainly you would be watching this with satisfaction - retorted calmly Starburst.
Peace and sanity are now most needed for him, he remembered the words of an old friend and his First Officer. The problem was, that with the soundness of mind, he slowly began to have problems... over the increasing hunger.
- You might be surprised, but this fate I would not wish anyone - said the colonel. - Even you.
- In that case, thank Doctors Keller and Beckett for me. Apparently I owe them my life... Measly... - he added, glancing the cage - ...but it is a better, than the alternative. Sheppard smirked corner of his mouth.
- Remember this, before you try any tricks... or I personally will drive you to the Area 51 and tie you to the table - he warned him calmly, and turned on his heel, to exit.
- Hope dies last - Starburst said.
Sheppard looked at him in surprise, how Wraith may know the earthly saying... but suddenly he stopped himself to asking him this question. He probably knew it from the mind of someone from the crew of Atlantis, he thought, and left the room without a word.
Metal gates closed behind him, leaving the Wraith with his thoughts and memories. Standing in the hallway Jennifer Keller looked at the colonel with a little surprise on her face.
- Why did you not tell him, that you also vouch for him? - she asked, when they both walked slowly down the corridor. - I think, that your words have bigger an impact on decisions Command and IOA, than mine or Carson's.
- For now, he does not need to know - he answered calmly. - I reproach him it, if will be necessary - he added with a hint of irony, glancing at her with a slight sneer.
The doctor shook her head with a slight amusement.
- I'm starting to think, that you still like these games with him - she snorted.
- Irritating him is my hobby - he said carelessly. - Besides, after all, personally I'd rather shoot him, than to let some of the scientists get to him. I do not know at all these scientific terms, but I guess, what they want to do with him.
- Yes - she admitted reluctantly. - I could not believe, that such a highly respected scientists, can to come up something like this... I'm starting to seriously wonder if some of these secret mission in Pegasus, mentioned by Colonel Coldwell, was not to catch... several research objects, how Doctor Fiedorovich says it.
- I must admit that it also came to my mind... after what I heard - he said, opening the transporter door.
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Doctor Beckett had been materialized in a medical laboratory on Atlantis.
The sizable room was still empty, so he carried his bag into the office, and found the medical apron.
It was going to be another day of painstaking research on retrovirus, he thought, and sighed quietly, sitting by his laptop.
From when Atlantis returned on Earth, the IOA more than Stargate Command insisted on continuation of the studies, designed to eliminate the need for Wraith feeding on humans. Especially, that in a cell was, in the words of one of the delegates of IOA, "necessary object of researching."
And, the SGC was not denying it.
According to Richard Woolsey, this meant, that both sides, despite disagreements on how to manage the city of Ancients, were consistent in one point: the Atlantis should return to the Pegasus galaxy to continue the fight against the Wraith.
The question was only: when?
Because for now, there were no signs, that would occur on it in the near future… despite the find for the station an almost full ZPM. Therefore, a large part of the staff was seconded to leave, and few were transported to and from the station by land or through the Daedalus teleport device, that passed a thorough repair on the far orbit the Earth…
- As usual the first – said a woman's voice suddenly.
Carson looked at her, snatched from his thoughts and smiled.
- You know me, work is my life – he said.
- Because you have not poked your nose from the lab – Jennifer cut off by dressing her apron. – If you gave to convince to this double date… Kristin is a really nice and funny girl…
- I'm not saying that she is not – Beckett calmly interrupted. – In the end, it's your best friend and you know it well… But I just… I'm not convinced to such… double dating.
The younger woman stood on the other side of desk, folding her arms across her chest.
- It's romantic to believe, that somewhere out there is the second half for you – she said. – But sitting still in the laboratory for sure you will not meet her. She will not come to you? – she added and walked over to the microscope.
- I know – Carson sighed and went back to review the data on the laptop. – Sample number eight seems to be the most promising from the all – he said finally. – Even more, than the three previous ones, which we found to be the most promising…
- And which and so has led us to a dead end – almost muttered Keller and looked at him. – Sometimes I feel, that all our work is moving in this direction. That there is no other way like only to use the retrovirus to the total transformation of the Wraith in humans, and all our effort to create something intermediate, and so are doomed to the failure… There are too many variables in all of this puzzle.
- Nevertheless, we should not give up, until we have exhausted all possibilities – he said. – Unfortunately, the biggest problem is the low differentiation of samples. It is difficult to develop a serum for the entire population, based solely on samples of a few individuals, which in addition, everyone reacts differently to the same factor.
- I know… That's why more and more I feel like we were wandering in the fog… – she said with a hint of resignation. – The answer is somewhere out there, at your fingertips… but we did not see it…
- But I'm sure, that you will find it finally – a male voice said suddenly.
They both looked towards the entrance to the laboratory, where has just appeared General O'Neill,
followed by four armed soldiers leading tethered in handcuffs Wraith.
- The eternal optimist – Jennifer said
- This is me – said cheerfully Jack, stopping in front of them. – Besides, I believe that two of our best doctors and their… charming object of study… - gestured hand on Todd - …finally find the solution for this very pressing problem, with the benefit of both sides.
The Wraith snorted slightly under his breath, giving him an ironic look.
- You starting to campaign for the election? – Beckett snorted.
The general looked at him.
- It sounded so? – he asked.
- Definitely.
- That's good… because it's part of my speech for IOA – he explained.
- And I was afraid, that they pull you on their side – said slightly amused Jennifer.
- No… but the one thing we all agree: the protracted matter of retrovirus, which as least will be interfere in the Wraith DNA, it begins to make, that more and more people are inclined to the original version.
- To the total transformation Wraith into the humans? – said Starburst. – My people will never agree.
- They can have not another option. Or total dewraithisation… or… – he stopped on purpose.
- Death – Commander finished for him and snorted again slightly. – This is, this your all, humanitarianism? Or we agree on your terms, or you will exterminate us as parasites… Like you do it with the Goa'uld.
- Certainly greater, than idle watching, how you feeding on people – cut off general.
- The same would have to say each herbivore about each predator… Our food chain is no different from yours… It's just that we stand at the top, not you – noted maliciously Wraith.
- I will be not discuss with you about it – said bit annoyed O'Neill. – You have a choice: either to find solution to the problem, and you made a retrovirus, which eliminates your need to feed on people… or we proceed to plan B… which was once a plan A – he added.
- It's not as simple as it seems to you… And by that time he will die from hunger – Jennifer interjected.
- But you have this… conditioner for the Wraith – Jack twisted his finger in the air.
- Protein intravenous infusion – Beckett corrected. – Which, unfortunately, is even more in the experimental phase, than our REV and it barely enough for two… three days.
- Almost every time we try on Todd a new mixing ratio – Keller added, pointing on the Wraith.
- And this is why he's here – general remarked calmly. – He has to help you in study.
- His knowledge, and not as… experimental object – outraged the woman. – He's a prisoner of war, and has rights guaranteed to him by the Geneva Convention.
- Which refers to people…
- Who uses the term: PRISONER OF WAR – Jennifer firmly interrupted him – and not: "a man taken to the prisoner"… Would you like, that in the case of Teal'c, it was also so interpreted? After all he is Jaffa. An inhabitant of another planet. You have already forgotten how others treated him at the beginning?
- It's not the same… Teal'c is a man.
- Genetically modified to ensure that he constitutes an incubator for Goa'uld larvae – she said. – But anyway, aside from this fact, after all these years, since the Stargate project was launched, still a large part of the insiders believe, that anyone who comes from another planet, should not be protected by our law… If we apply such a policy, it will be better if we do not leave the Earth… and even less, anyone bring here – she summed up, folding her arms.
O'Neill did not answer. He watched her for a moment, then smiled.
- Please remember this, because at the next meeting of the IOA and SG Command, your assurances may not be sufficient about his suitability to this project, or guarantees of Colonel Sheppard – he said finally calmly, what totally surprised the two doctors. – And then you will be need just such arguments, if you are not wanting him… – general glanced quickly at the Wraith - …to be taken to a secret laboratory – almost muttered Jack and walked toward the exit. – And you still work at this retrovirus. It may be the only chance to save his green ass.
Jennifer and Carson looked behind him, and when he came out of the lab, they looked at each other.
- I think I will never understand him – Beckett said, shaking his head with resignation.
Keller did not answer. She only smiled slightly and looked at the Wraith.
- So, let's get to work on saving your green ass – she said jokingly and looked at monitors on the walls, looking at displayed on them the results of their research.
Starburst approached to her calmly.
- I think I am again indebted to you, Doctor Keller – he said.
She glanced at him.
- I just said in what I believe – she said. – If we want to contact with the other worlds, we cannot treat all differently.
- The ideal world does not exist – Wraith said.
The woman looked at him gravely.
- This does not mean, that we can stop to pursue it – she said, and pointed to one of the screens. – Carson believes, that the sample number eight is promising…