The Wraith had always believed the scientific side of his nature made him more open to new ideas than if he were interested purely in military and political matters, but he was finding the current situation really challenged that belief. Certainly, he'd experienced change before – society had evolved during his lifetime but the process had been slow – guided by new ideas or technologies and a desire to develop and improve the environment in which they lived. As a race, Wraith had always been competitive but they had survived and prospered because that competitiveness was underpinned by principles of discipline, honour, trust and cooperation. What he faced now were not superficial changes – they went to the heart of these principles and the belief system by which he had lived his life and succeeded in the dual role of military commander and scientist. And they certainly weren't developing or improving any facet of their lives.
Things became more complex as he began to get a clearer understanding of how his imprisonment and close involvement with humans had changed elements of his personality and outlook. Some changes were obvious and simple, such as the violent hatred he now felt for the human group known as the Genii. Others were more subtle and would need further analysis, such as his relationship with the human they called Sheppard. If this human was indeed one of these 'new' Lanteans the Wraith had heard about then he was more than just a resource waiting to be culled. They had used each other to escape but the Wraith also suspected that this link between them could one day be beneficial to both him and his whole race. All he would have to do is make sure Sheppard knew such collaboration would be to his advantage too.
But he also realised he had learnt things about himself, and his race as a whole, that he could put to good use immediately. Especially when the insights he had gained provided him with knowledge and understanding that was unknown to others on this hive.
Despite having spent all his adult life on a hive, he knew he had never really understood how important this physical environment was to his overall health – until now. During those long years of imprisonment he had believed the total despair and desolation he felt was the result of being separated both physically and mentally from others of his kind. Of course, being kept on the edge of starvation, fed only when his captors had an enemy they wanted broken or when they realised they were dangerously close to losing their tool of torture, had also played a part.
But now he knew that while his race drew strength from their collective presence and took essential energy and nourishment from feeding on humans, the essence of the hive provided something very different. A unique form of energy that went much deeper than hunger – it went to the core of their being and drove all their instincts. It sustained their unassailable belief in their position as the highest beings in the galaxy, it defined their strict social and political systems and fed the ruthlessness and courage needed to face an enemy. It cultivated the determination and strength of character that placed those who aspired to lead above the majority who were happy to follow. It also helped in dealing with the females of the species.
So while imprisonment had nearly destroyed his will to survive, it had also given him special insights into the character and spirit of his own race. And once he understood this other energy, he started to draw on it more deeply as he settled back into society.
-oOo-
Gradually he began to relax as his young escort appeared less often and he began to move around the hive alone. He welcomed the freedom and began to recognise and engage with others as he carried out his duties. He was now able to keep his most personal thoughts for the time he spent in his quarters. This had always been the one place on the hive that was considered a private haven - a place where entering another's thoughts uninvited was a breach of etiquette that could, in the most severe cases, result in temporary banishment from the hive back to a Wraith planet. He had been pleased to discover that this was one of the few conventions that still held – although he never forgot that there was one, the commander's lapdog, who was watching him, physically and mentally, waiting for the mistake that could be used to destroy him. He knew that this watcher would not adhere to such a rule of privacy but the Wraith now felt more confident in his abilities to sense when his thoughts were being assailed and turn his mind to away to insignificant matters.
He sensed that there were others watching him too although not with the same intensity and dedication of purpose as the watcher. He had recognised the second in command when they first passed in a corridor. This one lacked the air of concentrated suspicion that infected the commander's behaviour – he was older and more experienced and the Wraith wondered what position he had held under the previous leadership regime. There were a number of others who he sensed held similar positions to his watcher – the need for so many to monitor the activities of others confirmed the heightened levels of distrust that abounded in the hive. The Wraith became aware that there were others on board who had also served in the Lantean war although he could not sense any, apart from his older escort from his first days on the hive, who had served on his hive. This former guardian showed no signs of recognition when they met and the Wraith was still uncertain if that declaration of support made when he entered the hive had been genuine or a ruse to trap him. He would know one day but at present it was not a high priority – first he needed to find out as much as he could about the hive.
-oOo-
So his life became a process of gathering information. At first it had to be done carefully without engaging too deeply with other minds. There was, after all, much to be learned from just watching what was going on around, such as finding out where he was in the galaxy.
As he became familiar with the paths this hive travelled, the human worlds that comprised its feeding grounds and the uninhabited worlds they patrolled, he knew he was in unknown territory. He had not travelled this part of the galaxy before – not even during the Lantean war when hives had moved well out of their traditional territories. This realisation meant that looking for anything, a word, a thought, a link, no matter how tenuous, that would reconnect him to his old hive was futile. From the moment he had realised they were not hibernating he had anticipated finding them. Knowing now that they were out there but out of reach in distant part of the galaxy filled him with a new sense of isolation. But it was something he just had to accept – he needed to focus his attention on things he could achieve and not allow himself to be distracted by things he could not change.
It was also quite easy to find out about the alliance to which the hive belonged – it was one of the issues uppermost on every mind that he encountered. He learnt that prior to the war this hive had led one of the strongest alliances in this part of the galaxy but had lost their place after the death of the previous queen and commander. Life had been difficult until their new commander had managed to get himself a queen and negotiate his way into this alliance. It comprised four hives and nine cruisers but only one of the cruisers was directly affiliated with this hive, a situation that put them at a strategic disadvantage when it came to discussing tactics. Only two of the hives had queens, something that would once have been quite unheard although, from what the Wraith could gather, it seemed that quite a number of hives now lack queens. In the loosely arranged alliances that had existed before and after the Lantean war there was always a primary queen, one who sat above the rest and made decisions that concerned the whole alliance. The age and experience of the other hive's queen made her the primary in this alliance.
Interestingly, the crew of this hive seemed to know more about this other queen that they did about their own – a situation that was both intriguing and disturbing. It was said that she had hair as black as the space through which they travelled, that she was taller than most queens, that she was proud and unbending and ruled her hive, and its commander, with an iron fist. The Wraith thought she sounded like every other queen who had ever crossed his path. He wondered why she had chosen to aligned her hive with another that carried a queen as inexperienced as theirs – he suspected some vague genetic connection but had no way to confirm this.
He had not been surprised to find out that meetings between alliance members could be tense affairs. The one meeting that had taken place since he joined the hive was with one of the hives that did not have a queen. It had been held to discuss arrangements for patrolling the uninhabited worlds under the alliance's control to make sure they were not being encroached upon by rival alliances – and it had not gone well. Their commander clearly believed that having a queen placed him in a superior bargaining position but the other was more experienced and refused to give way.
The Wraith had managed to find himself a place from which he could watch and listen but he had found it very difficult to stay in the background. As he cast his critical eye over both commanders he was not impressed. He saw both as relatively inexperienced and more concerned with their own prestige than with the safety of their hives. They lacked finesse in the way they carried out negotiations – their lack of trust made them careless and they also lacked the ability to assess each other's words and proposals with the forensic incisiveness that a more experienced commander would use. They seemed to know very little about the arts of bluffing, persuasion and manipulation. Inevitably, the meeting ended with both sides losing their tempers and storming back to their hives. Nothing was gained for the hive, but the Wraith gained further insights into the commander's character.
Contact with others from outside the alliance was rare and when it did occur, it inevitably ended in conflict although, to date, their hive had been able to strategically withdraw from these meetings before sustaining anything more than minor damage. The idea of a confrontation between two hives intrigued the Wraith. In his time as a commander he had never faced the problem of how to destroy another hive – indeed the very idea of such an engagement was totally alien. As he saw it, a battle between two hives was the type of engagement that could easily result in the destruction of both – something a good commander would once have considered an unacceptable risk. Although he had a reputation for taking risks and expecting loyalty without out question, he had never taken his hive into action against the Lanteans without carefully weighing up the strengths and weaknesses of his opponent. Only stupidity would have persuaded a commander to begin such an engagement without making sure he had the additional resources, such as cruisers, needed to secure victory. One thing was sure - he would never have taken on a Lantean warship on his own.
-oOo-
Other parts of his life were not as productive as the intelligence gathering. The work he was assigned proved to be every bit as tedious as he had anticipated. He spent most of his time maintaining the hive's hibernation pods, although he was hard pressed to see that they would be put to use in the immediate future.
The rotating system of active and hibernating hives had worked for thousands of years because it was based on trust and respect – traits that were now in very short supply both in this hive and throughout the galaxy. He knew there would be no more hibernating until this civil war was finished and yet allowing some to sleep, thereby reducing the pressure on their food supply, was to his mind the quickest and simplest way to end the war. But this was a very different political landscape to the one in which he had operated and he knew it was impossible to expect any queen and commander to volunteer their hive to hibernate in the current environment of suspicion and hostility.
He wondered if others could also see the futility of the war or if his ability to look at things from a different perspective was another benefit of his time away. To him the conflict represented a complete breakdown of the collective discipline that had underpinned Wraith society. Could others not see that they were effectively destroying this society, changing their way of life and, if the stories he had heard about these new humans were true, potentially jeopardising their position as masters of the galaxy? He knew the answer to this question even as he posed it to himself – the fact that so many commanders would risk their hives when they did not carry a queen showed that any long-term strategic plans were being completely swept aside to ensure short-term survival. What was needed was an alliance of hives so strong that others would not dare to challenge and he knew exactly how it could be done.
-oOo-
Working with the hive's scientists proved to be useful, particularly the connection he was developing with the chief scientist. The scientist had been starved of interaction with those he considered his equals in scientific endeavour and so welcomed the knowledge and experience his new worker brought to the laboratory. But for the Wraith it went deeper that a mere opportunity to gain information. In the scientist he found a kindred spirit who was also having difficulty coming to terms with the changes wrought by the civil war, someone he could come to like and respect, someone he could come to consider a brother. He sensed this feeling was mutual and it served both their needs to meet on a regular basis to discuss issues of shared interest.
So he tried to spend as much time as possible in the laboratories without arousing suspicion from other scientists and his watcher. It was not too difficult. Like his commander, his watcher did not see the value of science or scientists and so never bothered to follow the Wraith when he entered the labs. Life on the hive followed a cyclical pattern and some periods were much quieter than others. It was during these quieter times that the Wraith sought out the company of the scientist. At first their conversations were wide ranging and they spent a good deal of time discussing Lantean technology and the computer virus that had deactivated the attack code of the Lantean's artificial successors. Once he was confident that a bond of trust had been developed between them, the Wraith decided the time had come to seek involvement in more significant work.
"My work on the hibernation pods will soon be completed and, as I doubt we will be using them for considerable time, they will not require further work in the foreseeable future. What would you have me do next?"
The Wraith could sense the conflict in the scientist's mind as he considered his orders to keep this ex-commander away from any of the more substantial research work that was in progress. He had been expecting the work on the pods to take much longer – obviously he had seriously underestimated his helper's abilities.
"You know I have been told to give you only basic maintenance work to do. I know you can do much more but I will not risk the wrath of our commander by giving you anything he may consider useful to you." The scientist looked down at his clawed hands as he spoke, not wishing to look the Wraith in the eye.
"Do not hide behind this commander." The Wraith found himself irritated by the scientist's fear of disobeying their leader. "You know as well as I that he will only be happy if and when you provide him with something of significance, something that can help to increase his power."
The scientist did not respond so the Wraith continued, leaning closer and lowering his voice in a conspiratorial manner. "I could help you and I would allow you pass the work off as your own. I know you have the loyalty of the others who work here so you would not be betrayed by them. Neither the commander nor my watcher bother with us when we are in this lab so they would be none the wiser." He paused and stood up to his full height. "And it would probably be in your best interests to come up with something the commander could use sooner rather than later."
He knew this last comment had hit home – as he suspected the scientist and his team were under pressure to produce something the commander thought worthwhile. Prior to the civil war, alliances had collaborated on scientific research and the results of new technological breakthroughs had gradually spread throughout the galaxy. Now, even collaboration between alliance members was rare so each hive was left to manage as best they could. He already knew that this hive had lost its best scientists and much as he had come to respect this chief scientist, the Wraith did not consider him to be in the class of those who had made some of the biggest breakthroughs over the centuries.
Still the scientist did not answer. The Wraith walked over and placed his hands on one of the terminals trying to decide if the time had come to adopt a more forthright approach in this discussion. He decided it had.
When he finally spoke, his voice was cool and clinical. "Shall we stop playing games with each other? You know that I understand the strengths and weakness of this hive far better than you and your inexperienced commander so I will eventually find out what I need to know. You may like to consider if it would be in your best longer-term interests to help me." It was a risk – it could jeopardise the respect the two had come to share but he was certain the scientist would not betray him.
"I knew the stories I heard of you were true and I wondered how long it would be before you showed your hand.' The scientist pulled a wry smile. "You are, of course, right. With your help I could achieve some of the progress in our work that the commander is expecting. I may not be the most brilliant scientist but I am smart enough to understand that eventually you will sweep our commander aside and take his place. He still believes that he can control you and I will do nothing to change that view. But I will not give you my loyalty without your guarantee that when you succeed, I be rewarded for the risk I am going to take."
The Wraith nodded. "You have my word."
So not only not only did his work become more challenging, he had made the first move in his bid to regain power. He now had access to all the scientific research being done in order to give this hive an advantage, any advantage that could be used in the commander's bid for power. This work would still be used in a bid for power – it would just be a different commander.