Chapter 3 – Love and Hatred

The reports were good. The MALP had shown no activity in the gate-city, and the scouts had reported back saying none of the other settlements had been culled.

The hive ship hadn't returned after its leave at the Daedalus' arrival, which was now five days ago.

It had taken some time to get the Quenans to calm down, settle in and enjoy their short holiday at the City of the Ancestors. Samantha had had her hands full with the Consul and his advisors, who were all desperate to hear news from their home world. Which was, of course, understandable. But with the Quenans, the term 'panic-stricken' had taken on a whole new meaning.

So she had decided to authorize regular MALP probes of the planet, and a once-a-day reconnaissance by puddle jumper to check up on the people who were left behind. It hadn't helped much, but at least they weren't whining and complaining and hyper-ventilating 24/7.

Originally, the Consul had decided along with his advisers that Colonel Caldwell should go back there again, taking all of the Quenans with him, to drop them off after a week or so, if everything stayed safe.

The good Colonel had almost suffocated, having just taken a sip of his well deserved coffee, bewildered by the assumption that he would just go and do that without a moments notice. John Sheppard hadn't been kidding when he'd said the Quenans were actually an impossible people to deal with. Totally irrational in their thoughts, ideas and demands.

After discussion all possible solutions – there was no way the Quenans were willing to go home so soon, who knew what kind of danger good still be waiting for them? – besides the only one the Quenan leaders could come up with, they'd finally agreed on the terms.

Samantha was now seriously considering following John's advice on not continuing an alliance with these people. And she already had a vote in favours for that from Caldwell, dr. Keller, and several other expedition members who'd gotten tired of the endless Quenan complaining after no more than a day.

Some people just really knew how to elevate complains and helplessness to a higher level.

Just one more day, and the Quenans would be going home. Samantha had the feeling that the silence that would cause was going to be deafening. Right now, with all the whining from every single Quenan, she and pretty much the rest of the expedition members couldn't hear themselves think. Maybe once they left, Atlantis' inhabitants would reconsider the meaning of the words 'quiet times'.

At least Steven Caldwell had his hands full during this brief stay at the city. All the Quenans had so many questions and demands, that all personnel was getting rather agitated and snappy, so they had asked if the crew of the Daedalus could please come and help them out a bit. Working demanding functions and also giving explanations and tours and such were fine with everyone, for the first day or two, but after that, it became more annoying than anything else they could think of right now.

And Steven hadn't minded that, it gave him a sense of being somewhat important and appreciated. After three and a halve years, he still had the feeling that his duties were taken for granted by the larger part of the Pegasus-crew. Maybe now that would change a bit.

"I'll be glad when this is all over. I haven't had a decent nights sleep since our guests arrived." Samantha stifled yet another yawn.

Even though he'd liked helping out, Steven knew precisely how she felt. "Yes, amusing as these people might be, they do get tiresome after a while. I for once wouldn't mind to take a brake and catch up on some sleep. But I suppose that'll have to wait until they're all settled back in on their planet."

"Let's hope tomorrow's scans are positive too. Than we can put these last few days behind us and move forwards, find ourselves some real valuable allies."

"I take it you are not going to pursue an alliance with the Quenans then?"

"For the time being, I think it might be best if we don't run in to each other too often. Maybe we can become allies in the future, but I don't think we'll be of much use to each other right now. Chances are our crew is going to get homicidal if contact between our people becomes too extensive."

"You're probably right on that account. Though some Quenans are rather normal and okay to talk to." He thought about the young lady who had a crush on one of the expedition members. At least her company hadn't been annoying as hell, even though it puzzled him why she'd come to him to vent her insecurities concerning her feelings towards the lieutenant in question. Not that he didn't feel somewhat flattered by it. Things like that just didn't happen to him very often.

"The common folk might be easier to deal with, but it's not them we have to deal with on a regular basis in case of an alliance, that much is clear to me. Everything that happens has to be approved by that Consul of theirs, and his advisers. And right now, I'm not very much in the mood to deal with them anymore."

Nor is anyone else, Steven thought. They are as agitating as it can possibly get. "Let's wait and see what tomorrow is going to bring us."

"Yes, let's wait and see."

#

Guarding two silent Wraith was about as boring a task one could be given. But a military officer didn't complain. And besides, it had been fun in the beginning, when the Wraith had tried to scare them with their mind tricks. But considering that hadn't been effective whatsoever, they'd fallen completely silent.

Too bad he hadn't had guard duty then. He'd only heard the tales, here, in this room, where their prisoners could hear the guards mocking them. Not that they'd given any reaction as a result.

Now the guarding came down to watching two statues in a holding cell. Not exactly what he'd had in mind when he left Earth two months ago. He'd wanted off-world adventures, meetings with alien cultures. What he'd gotten was guard duties and training schedules.

His orders were to stand here, doing basically nothing, for five hours, and report any abnormalities. Taken into thought that these Wraith had been silent and frozen for the past few days, since their arrival and questioning, he didn't think any thing out of the ordinary, let alone something spectacular was going to happen.

Of course, the Wraith that had given them the samples – vigorously blocking the way to the second one – did appear to be more restless the last day or two, but that wasn't something to directly report to Colonel Carter. Simply filling out one of the many bureaucratic forms would suffice for that.

If his life in Pegasus didn't become more interesting than this, he would definitely consider going back to Earth. Being a sergeant seemed to mean more there than it did here. Not to mention he'd see his family again. He never thought himself as a sentimental man before, but being this far away from his loved ones, with no means to just go and visit them, made him realise something about himself. He could get homesick, and he did need his family more than anything.

Standing guard gave him all the time in the world to ponder on that revelation, and others, too. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

Time crept by slowly, and every second he got lost more and more inside his thoughts. After a while, he didn't even see what he was looking at anymore. The bars faded together, the prisoners seemingly disappearing, the whole room changing into memories of his past. His childhood, college years, joining the military… Daydreaming made life here so much more bearable.

It came as a complete shock when all the other guards suddenly came alive, major Lorne dispatching information on the current situation through the radio.

Having been lost in his own memories for who knew how long, he'd totally missed what the commotion was all about.

Taking a look at the holding cell clarified the sudden activity. One of the Wraith had lied down, and the sample-giver was standing over him now, predatory like, sending a clear message to the guards on the freedom side of the bars. 'Don't come near if you value your life'.

Apparently, guard duty had momentarily left its dullness behind. For how long remained to be seen, but he wouldn't complain about the shifted sight.

But all too soon, the sight became monotonous again. One Wraith on the floor, the other one guarding its unconscious body. No more than statues again. Only the poses were different. It wasn't even worthy for Colonel Carter to come and have a look, or at least team 1.

As long as the Wraith pretended to be statues, no one of importance would come down here, unless there was something they needed from them. And in that case, the expedition members would sooner get information from a rock than from those in the cell.

Frigging waste of time. Why did they even bother taking prisoners? It wasn't like it was useful. Like they would learn something new. It was just completely and utterly useless. At least in his opinion.

But than again, what did he know about the agendas of the big folks here? He only followed orders. They would never tell him what was to happen, not until it needed to be done immediately and without question. Like a good little puppy.

Why did he ever join the military? Why?

It had seemed like a good an honourable thing to do at the time. Not to mention seeing the proud look in his fathers eyes. His father, who was disabled, handicapped. His father, who's dream had always been to serve his country, but who never got the chance. Through his son, he'd had that chance at last.

No, he was going back to Earth. Try military work there. At least there, if it didn't befall him, he could always turn his attention on something else. Hobbies. A family of his own.

At home, everything would be better. He wouldn't miss this for a minute.

He looked at the standing Wraith. A chill went up his spine. The Wraith was staring at him. Didn't move, didn't blink. Just stared.

Why?

It made him feel amazingly uncomfortable, even though he was not the one behind bars. Still, the Wraith made him feel as if he were, as if he were the one trapped in a cage, without hope of escape.

And perhaps he was. Not behind bars, like the Wraith. No, his cage was bigger, yet more confining. He was a prisoner of his own life. Subjugated to the will of his superiors; the demands of modern day society.

Even caged, the Wraith's life still belonged to himself. Out here, on the freedom side of that same cage, the sergeant's life was in the hands of the rest of the world. His life would never truly belong to him. Never had truly belonged to him.

He'd lived an illusion up till now. Still lived that same illusion.

Strange that an imprisoned enemy could open ones eyes the way the Wraith had opened his. Caged, the Wraith was still free. Free, the sergeant was still caged.

The realisation made his dreams of going home seem all the less appealing. Sure, people waited for him, and yes, he missed them too. But now, now he would forever be aware of the prison that was called his life.

Even encaged they messed up your life. The sergeant felt as if he was fed upon. All illusions shattered around him, like a broken mirror. The life he thought he had was gone. And it would never come back.

He gave the staring Wraith a hateful glare. Damned Wraith. At least he was still on the freedom side. Whatever little satisfaction that gave him, it was enough.

Damned Wraith…

#

Everyone knew about the City of Splendours, City of Hope, City of the Ancestors. That mythical city no one knew the address to. The one place they now needed to reach.

The Dream had brought back hope. Hope for the continuation of the alliance. Hope for the completion of the experiment. Hope for the future. All hard work had not been lost, had not been in vain. They were alive.

He was alive. There were no more feelings of dread and foreboding. Only determination remained. She was going to get him back. She was going to preserve the alliance, ease the tension that had been growing between scientists at both sides. And even more important, she was going to exchange their amulets before his depleted fully.

Time was of the essence now, they needed to get into that city, fast. But with not one people of her human trade relations having the address to the City of Splendours, it was going to be tricky.

Thank god the Queen of the hive knew some human worlds who did have the address, even though they did their best to keep it a secret. The moment Gabrielle had told her about the Dream, and the complication, she sent one of her commanders to interrogate the humans they kept in the cocoons.

One of them had information. He belonged to one of the few worlds in possession of the dialling code, and, with some persuasion, gave the name of his home world.

After informing Gabrielle of this revelation, they'd set out to that world, with the promise they'd cull every last person if that was what it took to get the address.

Gabrielle hoped it wouldn't have to come to that. She was aware of their need to feed of humans all too well, but the entire point of their experiments was to find an alternate solution. It still made her feel quite queasy to think about the fate of all those humans on other worlds. She hoped that these people would be wise enough to just give the right symbols, in the right order. She'd had no dealings with the Genii, but she hoped they were a wise people. That they wouldn't fight too much. That they would help her out, even if they didn't know of her existence.

She walked around the Gate room, a huge hall beneath the Palace. The big circular Gate stood in its centre. All around it were devices for who knew what. There was a device that dialled to other worlds, their were machines to generate voice messages to people on the other side of the activated Gate, and as a result of their alliance, the Gate room now had a machine that could make video images and sent it to devices similar on other worlds, so there could be contact without actually going through the Gate.

Gabrielle had no idea which devices did what, but the engineers working with them said everything was in order, and ready to be activated as soon as the address was dialled.

She hoped the hive would return soon, she didn't like to spend time down here. The walls were barren and made of stone the colour of a rain filled cloud. It depressed her to look at them.

Normally she didn't come down here. Very few people did. Ever since their alliance with the hive, the Gate had been rather inactive. They had staid in contact with only three other worlds, who still had a long way to go before getting as technologically advanced as her world was. She'd managed to persuade the Queen to leave these three worlds alone, since they provided her people with the ores, minerals and food they needed. She didn't have enough farmers to provide for every single one of the worlds inhabitants.

In any other case, she would have sent one of her advisors down here to deal with other worlds, but this situation was quite different. She wanted to deal with those Atlanteans herself. Besides, only she had the necessary expertise to make this rescue mission a success. Persuading and convincing people was what she did best. It's why she was leader to her people.

She wasn't born Princess. It didn't work like that.

After the last King had died, the Palace had become vacant again, all it's occupants moving out, except for the servants. Servants lived their entire lives in the Palace, unless they were no longer wanted there.

The King's advisors had searched for a new leader. A strong person who could handle the duties that came with such a demanding position. Someone who could represent every last person on the planet, no matter what they did or who they were. Someone who wasn't afraid to make decisions. A person who dared to take risks, if for the benefit of all.

They'd picked Gabrielle.

After she became Princess, she had set up court at the Palace and picked her advisors. She kept some of the old ones, dismissed others and replaced those by people she knew and trusted.

Today, she was going to show to all that she was worthy of her position, even though no one but herself really doubted that.

She'd done so much for her people previous Kings and Queens had not.

If she could forge and maintain an alliance with one of the hive Queens in the galaxy, how hard could it be to negotiate the release of two prisoners who were of no value to their captors?

Comparing the two, getting those Wraith back basically seemed like child's play. Soon, they would be back here. It was only a matter of time.

#

It didn't prove too difficult to obtain the address. A shame really. Good thing they said it would be pointless to use it. Without elaborating on that comment. Some humans really were stupid. But this way, the Princess wouldn't be too upset about the amount of life force that had been taken. The Genii actually gave them a reason to continue feeding, until they clarified why dialling would be a waste of time.

So they needed some kind of code to get access to the city. The Queen couldn't help but laugh at this. The Genii needed a code. She didn't. She wasn't going to go to the city at all. The Princess was. And that girl could talk her way into anything, and out of it again. So what if those worthless nobodies needed to identify themselves with a device? Gabrielle had the means of broadcasting video signals. To her, that seemed to be a more effective way of gaining the trust of the intruders than a stolen code, thus being allowed into the city.

She took the last few years the man had left in him. Sighing in contentment at the strong meal, she let him fall to the ground. One of the drones would take care to get rid of the dead man's body, they always did.

Giving directions at the bridge to get back to the Palace, she strode through the web like corridors and passageways to her throne room.

Within the hour, Gabrielle would have the address to the City and talked her way into it. Knowing her, she wouldn't take no for an answer. When Gabrielle wanted something, she got it, precisely the way she wanted it. And she knew very well what the Princess wanted this time. One of her Wraith. The one wearing the counterpart of the amulet the Princess wore.

It had disgusted her at first, this closeness between one of her subordinates and a human female, cattle. But she had to admit; Gabrielle wasn't the typical human. Her mind worked like that of a Wraith; survival of the fittest. Gabrielle was a cunning woman, fearless. When she had her mind set on something, she didn't stop until she reached her goal. Just like a Wraith. And what she lacked in telepathic communication, she made up for with her ability to talk you into believing whatever she wanted you to believe.

No, there was absolutely no shame in having an alliance with this woman. Her closeness to one of the hive was an added bonus, actually. It kept everyone in check, even those who despised the decision to work alongside humans. They wouldn't slip for as long as Gabrielle lived.

But when she'd lived out her life, when she died, the alliance would die too. When that time came, they would have a very rich feeding ground to sate their hunger. Four planets with a rapidly expanded population.

No doubt people from other worlds would have heard that there had been no cullings at these planets for a very long time. They would move there, mingle with the natives, making stronger, more potent tribes.

The mere thought about that prospect made her hiss in anticipation. There was no way in Hell that she was going to give up on her nature. Not even when the experiment was a success, when a permanent solution would be found. She was still Queen of her hive; her instincts made her that. She would never allow it to change.

It wasn't long before her elite commander came to tell her that they had almost reached their destination, and would be dropping out of hyperspace momentarily.

Good, it was about time everyone got back into action. Her scientists had become increasingly tiring now that the experiment had been on a hold indefinitely. Now they could finally get to work again, and off her back. She was sure the Princess felt the same way about hers.

Before long, she would have her crewmembers back. Then she was going to find out what had happened for real on that planet.

Somehow, Kaos had to have been involved in this fiasco. Not just involved, but probably the direct reason. It didn't even surprise her anymore. He always did something majorly stupid. It was a matter of when, not if, that was going to lead to a nasty situation. Seemed like he finally outdid himself on stupidity. Who would have imagined? Getting trapped in Atlantis!

If he was the only one who'd been captured, she would have left him there to rot. It would serve him right.

But no, he had to bring the key link in their experiment with him, the moron. This was the last draw. Enough was enough. She'd had it with that idiot. Why didn't he just let himself get killed? He made her hive look bad, not only endangering himself, but the rest of the crew as well. He'd been a valuable member of the hive at first, but as all those long years passed, he'd made himself become more and more expandable.

Now, it appeared Kaos had finally reached his expiration date.

He would get no more leniency from her. If he returned, he'd die. For his sake, if he valued his life, he should stay away from her territory as far as was possible.

Yet it gnawed at her. He might be a stubborn pain in the neck, but he was honest. And loyal to a fault. His impulsiveness is what kept getting him and those with him into trouble. Not that that was any excuse, but it did seem… wrong, to punish him so severely, without letting him know the state of affairs.

How was she going to let him know, however, without the rest of the hive finding out. She was not going to show them any weakness. Not for Kaos, not for anyone. She was getting soft enough as it was, protecting four human worlds now from any Wraith activity. Well, negative activity anyways. Having Wraith at the Palace was inevitable.

That was it. The Palace. She was going to have a private word with the Princess when they arrived there. Gabrielle could relay her message to him when she saw them. It was the perfect solution. She would not lose face, and Kaos would not lose his life. Unless he so choose to.

Moments later they dropped out of hyperspace. The Queen made her way to one of the transport ships, leaving the hive for the Palace. It was time to get their man out of Atlantis' clutches.

#

To be continued...

Disclaimer: Since this is a fanfiction, it should be obvious that I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of it's characters and worlds. They're owned by MGM and the likes... unfortunatly.
I do own: Drew Ashford, the Wraith Queen, the Quenans, Kaos, the nameless Wraith, Nerio and Gabrielle. They are the creations of my own overly active imagination.

A/N: Chapter 3 of my SGA fanfic. Yes, this Chapter has A LOT of OC's in it. Not to worry, in later chapters (like Ch.4) I'll put in more of the series own characters.
Don't know if you fine quality people who take their time to read my drabbles think the chapters are too long or not, but I never notice the length of them until they're actually finished. And if you think these three chaps're long... wait till I post Chapter 4... Reviews are welcome, too, if any who read this can spare the time to make some.