CHAPTER 2 – A SECRET REVEALED
"You've done what Colonel Sheppard? Please don't tell me that you and Major Lorne captured a live wraith and are holding him captive, in secret and you've only just now decided to tell me?"
Hands fisted on extremely trim hips and a not so pleasant expression on her normally attractive face, Dr Elizabeth Weir glared at her first and second military commanders, thinking that this perhaps would come under the category of missions that required a certain creative licence when it came time to write up the report.
"If it makes you feel better... then I guess I don't need to tell you that...?" John hung his head just slightly, thinking that it was already going a little better than he had envisioned. His first scenario had her with a slim hand firmly around his neck, squeezing hard. Better that than another part of my anatomy he thought somewhat irreverently, then caught Lorne's eye, who was trying to look everywhere but at the irrate Dr Weir.
"Colonel Sheppard. Sit down right now and tell me exactly what you have done. Leave NOTHING out, and I mean NOTHING. You, Major Lorne, may be excused as I am quite sure that most of the blame for this rather irresponsible act is going to rest squarely on your commanding officer's shoulders."
Lorne cast a quick glance at Sheppard who mouthed "dismissed" and he needed no further urging after that.
"Everything, Colonel Sheppard!"
"Yes mam..." he sighed. Well it could have been worse John, you've still got all your body parts...
She did calm down somewhat once he had finished his story and even looked more than a little interested when he outlined a possible plan for them to study the wraith, considering that he appeared to be undergoing some physiological changes. This was the deciding factor as they really had very little information about how their bodies worked, knew that they lived to be extremely old, some living as long as 10,000 years and that they required the human life force to feed and maintain longevity of their own life. They knew also that they possessed a high level of intelligence and means of communication within the wraith community, or at least within a particular hive ship, was through a form of telecommunication. As abhorrent as Elizabeth found them, she was able to acknowledge that they were indeed, a remarkable race and the higher powers on Earth had been pressuring her lately to begin more aggressive testing on the species.
This more or less pushed her forward in that direction and she was able to admit to herself, that she had deliberately dragged her feet on this request. She simply did not want one on this base.
John watched the expressions as they shot across her face and knew the moment when she had come to a personal agreement with his plan.
"You have a go on this John – don't make me regret this decision. Take Dr Keller with you, as well as a team of marines. He is to be shackled at all times while on this base and will be kept in the holding cell designed by the ancients. We need to give our personnel on this base, peace of mind that a wraith is not going to be wandering around the city. Is that clear?"
He nodded, and seeing that she had not yet finsished, chose not to withhold his verbal reply.
"And you will not bring him back here without the recommendation of Dr Keller. If she does not consider him a suitable candidate for testing, you will go with her recommendation. Are we still on the same page?"
Another nod, and watching her eyes, saw her winding up again.
"And you'll take Teyla with you. She is the only one capable of mind connection with the wraith. Consider her an advance warning system."
He remained where he was, watching her.
"Well John... what are you waiting for?" Impatiently she waved him out of the room, needing to get back to her reports.
"Uh... nothing. Just making sure that you were finished." He flicked her a somewhat cheeky salute that had a grin sliding across her face and she relaxed a little. Yes, some of his decisions and escapades had been deemed irresponsible, but he generally came through with the goods, and his intentions were always in the right place. And he had saved the city more than once, and that was enough for her.
"Go John, before I change my mind..." and her smile widened at his retreating back and cocky walk. Irrespressible she thought, that about sums him up!
It was later that afternoon that they arrived at the abandoned laboratory, having taken the time to organise the required medical supplies that Dr Keller would need and the time it took to convince her to come on this little field trip. She was strictly a lab doctor, preferring the comfort of medical and research work conducted in a controlled environment. She had not been offworld many times, and each time she had, it had resulted in something going drastically wrong. As a result, she did not relish the thought of another field trip, especially one that had her performing possible tests on a wraith.
As fond as she was of John Sheppard, those gorgeous eyes of his were not getting him off the hook that easily. Nor was the promise of a fancy earth dinner, next time they happened to be back there... at the same time. She and John had tried to go down that road once before... chemistry being a big factor in relationships with her... and there certainly wasn't any between her and John, hell, he was just a big kid. Cute and funny, but really not what she wanted in her life.
And so it was left to Teyla to appeal to Jennifer Keller's better side. Teyla she trusted with her life, and she let her convince her that it was the right thing to do.
So, standing at the doorway that led into the laboratory, she turned her nervousness into a glare for the benefit of John Sheppard, causing him to back off just a little and wonder at the claws this gentle doctor was suddenly unsheathing.
The wraith was in the same position as when they had last left him, earlier that morning. There was a stench in the laboratory, and Jennifer shivered, seeing the red glow of rodent eyes that stared unblinkingly from a corner of the damp, dark room and pushed herself a little closer to John. Better the devil you know that the one that lurks in the corner she thought and was rewarded with a touch from him, gentle enough that she didn't run screaming out of the laboratory.
The wraith looked up when he heard the key in the door, and once again light was cast into the room, giving off an eerie glow that added to the surreal quality of the scene that had been set before them.
"You bring me a food source... human. This one smells, fresh... young, just the way I like them." His eyes fixed unwaveringly on Jennifer's, and feeling Teyla's hand on her arm, she made herself pause, stilling the desire to turn and run. She heard the click of weapons, and knew that John and the marines had their weapons fully loaded and pointed and that at this stage, the wraith was no threat to her.
She felt Teyla grip her arm hard, and in alarm, turned to look at the other woman. Her face showed pain, and she had squeezed her eyes shut as though to block out something particularly unpleasant.
"Teyla!' John's voice was urgent and he moved around behind the two women, coming up on Teyla's other side, a reassuring hand going to her head. "Teyla? What's wrong?"
Jennifer's glance flickered between Teyla and the wraith and she saw his eyes were now on Teyla, and there was an intensity and a curious intelligence in there that had her staring back, fascinated, at the play of … emotions?.. that seemed to pass through them. Do wraith even feel emotion? Jennifer cast this thought quickly through her mind, disgarding it as soon as it appeared.
"It is nothing John. I am seeking to minimise his control over my mind. I will be fine, please do not concern yourself with me." She opened her eyes now, and looked directly at the wraith, removing her hand from Jennifer's arm and moving towards him, eyes locked.
"Ahh, human. You have a strong mind, that is clear to me. But strong enough? To keep me out? I don't think so... and are you strong enough to enter mine? Tell me, if you do... what will you see? Your death at the hands of myself? Or something more?"
Jennifer saw the flicker of pain that crossed quickly through the eyes of the wraith, and knew that Teyla had accepted his challenge and was attempting to access his mind. His eyes widened in surprise and she faltered, turning back quickly to John, as though needing to tell him something.
He was behind her, his hand reaching for her immediately. "Teyla? What is it?"
She shook her head then, exchanging another glance with the wraith, and Jennifer knew that she did not misinterpret that look. Teyla had seen something in his mind, and had chosen, not to divulge what she had seen and the wraith had acknowledged this.
"Teyla, don't shut me out here. I need to know everything, or we're going in blind. You saw something, you sense something... hell, we've been in the field together too many times for me not to see this. And I see now that you've effectively shut me down. Not acceptable Teyla!" He was angry now, and held her upper arm tightly, a little too tightly and she struggled to free herself.
"We need to get him back to Atlantis John. I cannot tell you anything yet until it is clear in my own mind. I am not deliberately misleading you, it is not the time to tell you what I know. Dr Keller?"
Jennifer moved up, so that she was beside Teyla again. "There are some basic tests that you will need to run before we can transport him back to Atlantis. Can you please take care of these? Do not be concerned. He will not hurt you, not at this time."
Again, that strange communication between Teyla and the wraith, and John felt his anger escalate and he had to exert a significant effort to calm it enough to unfist his clenched hands. Now was not the time to have this discussion, but damn it, he would have it with her, in private, once they were back in Atlantis. He was the commanding officer and needed to be in control of all the facts in order to make informed decisions.
Jennifer moved in closer to the wraith, wary of the strange yellow/brown eyes, eyes that John had become convinced had started changing in colour since they had first captured him. She needed to complete some basic tests, needed mainly to test that his health was of a sufficient standard to undergo the extreme testing that would be required once they got him back to Atlantis. Jennifer gave a small mental laugh. So how does one know what sufficient standard of health is for a wraith? What precedent have we got to measure these tests? Information from the ancient database, at best an incomplete source of information? Is this really what I spent all that time at medical school for? Questions tumbled through her mind as she took out the standard equipment to measure blood presssure, heart rate, temperature, innocuous equipment for a human, but would they really present a picture of any sort for the health of a wraith.
Muttering to herself, she forgot for a moment, who she was performing these simple medical tests on and started when she heard him speak, softly, so that his voice was for her ears only. "You are soft inside, young human. You feel more than the others, carry more pain and more... other feelings. What do you think of when you look at me? Hmmm? Do you feel revulsion for the way I look? Do you feel compassion for my having lived more than 1000 lifetimes? Tell me, young human, tell me what you feel..."
His voice was whisper soft and slid over her like a caress and she felt a shiver run down her spine. Her eyes darted up and looked deeply into the strangely compelling ones in front of her and felt him push his mind slightly at her, saw him wince when he could not.
"What are you called?" John and Teyla came to attention at the sound of her voice, moving in closer so that she was covered from all sides.
"Please... tell me what you are called. I would prefer to address you by name – now, and when we get back to Atlantis." He felt something then, felt her compassion, an unusual feeling to come from a human in contact with a wraith, and again, that glimmer inside him.
"You wish to give me a name. Perhaps you can choose one for me? Yes... I believe that would be acceptable, a name from a human. What do you wish to call me, young human?"
Jennifer thought for a moment, thinking he reminded her slightly, of a kindly english professor she had admired at school, young enough that many of the girls had harmless schoolgirl crushes on him. Mr Todd of the curly brown hair and twinkling brown eyes and she smiled, her face lightening and bringing a hint of mischief to her green eyes.
"Todd, I shall call you – Todd!" Not understanding the reason for her smile, but sensing the memories that moved through her with casual abandon, he felt keenly his own loss of such memories. A life lived so long, and the real memories must be kept hidden.
Hearing Colonel Sheppard grumble something not so flattering beside her, she ignored this and continued with her tests, feeling just a little lighter in spirit also. She flicked another glance at this alien who stood in front of her, shackled now by the race whom he had spent his many lifetimes viewing simply as a food source and saw his keen eyes were fixed unwaveringly on her.
"Todd... pleased to meet you. I am Doctor Jennifer Keller."