And here we go! After about four years of no new chapters (Talk about procrastination!), we finally have one! ;)

Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing, MGM owns everything (except for my original characters and plot)!

7.

Elizabeth blinked. "No idea? None at all?"

Raena shrugged apologetically. "I am afraid not. I am sorry. I have not yet had the opportunity to study it, I…"

"That's quite alright, Raena." The leader placed her hand gently on the young woman's shoulder and gave her a small smile. "I understand. I commend you for what you have already accomplished. We would know nothing at all about this, were it not for you."

Subtle relief spread over the face of the smaller woman as she returned the smile. "Thank you, ma'am."

Elizabeth nodded, then turned her eyes once again to the data on the screens. Her thoughts wandered as she tried to focus on the information before her. The Asurans were so eager for her approval, and – as the sole human in the fleet – it never ceased to amaze her. That they had requested that she be their leader was even more amazing – she truly could not fathom it - but it had happened nonetheless. She had been deeply moved by their trust and unwavering faith in her, and had resolved from the beginning to never take it for granted. She owed them her life – a fact ever present in her mind. However, she would have never allied with them had their objectives not matched her own, no matter how indebted to them she felt. Thankfully, that had never been an issue, as they were of one mind with regard to ridding the galaxy of the blight that was the Wraith.

The thought of the pale life suckers pulled Elizabeth out of her musings. "What's the Wraith activity like in that area?"

"Non-existent."

She returned her attention to the red-head standing next to her. "Excuse me?"

Arlon answered before Raena could reply. "It is one of the things that has puzzled us about that particular system of space – there is no Wraith activity present at all. Not only that, but they have not ventured near there for some time."

"Some time? I thought you had only just discovered this planet."

The First Officer shook his head. "No ma'am, we have only just discovered the energy readings. We have been aware of the planet, itself, for some time…..though, admittedly, we know little about it. We did not even know it had a name until recently."

Elizabeth put her right hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry, I'm a little confused…."

Arlon turned to the small technician. "Raena?"

She nodded and returned her attention to the Commander. "As you know, we have been monitoring Wraith activity since we entered space."

The leader nodded, so she continued. "We had been monitoring the fleet for some time – as well as referencing data previously collected by our predecessors - when we began to notice a specific pattern. The Wraith fleet took many different courses through different parts of the galaxy, but no ship would ever venture to that particular system. Not one." She touched the control console to bring up yet another screen, displaying a mapped history of Wraith movements. "As you can see, this area appears to be avoided."

Elizabeth was startled by this new information and could not keep it from showing on her face. "Why wasn't I told about this before?" Any place the Wraith did not want to go was certainly worth mentioning, in her opinion.

Arlon answered for the slightly distressed technician. "That was my decision, ma'am. I wanted to investigate the matter before bringing it to your attention. If it had been merely an anomaly, there would have been no need for you to know of it."

"Since I am only just hearing about this now," She gave him a look that let him know she was not particularly happy about that fact, regardless of his reasoning. "I assume that your initial investigation did not produce anything you felt was of note. Am I correct?"

The First Officer nodded, determined to explain himself. "You are correct, ma'am. There is very little of any interest in that system." He reached over to the console to pull up all of the data that they had initially collected on the planet they now knew was called Niom. "There are two suns and one moon – though the moon is somewhat small. The planet, while not devoid of plant life – it certainly has an abundance of that – has no humanoid life at all. At the time of my original investigation, Raena had not yet created her new scanning program. Our standard scans showed nothing worth pursuing on that planet or in that system. I assure you that I did a thorough study, but I did not find anything noteworthy. As far as I could determine from the data available at that time, the Wraith were not avoiding the system; they simply had no reason to venture through it."

Raena quickly looked away, but not before Elizabeth saw something momentarily flash across her face. "You do not agree, Raena?"

The tech avoided Arlon's gaze as she hesitantly looked back to her Commander. "It is not necessarily that I do not agree, ma'am – there is, of course, logic to Arlon's reasoning – it is just that I am uncertain. I do not believe the pattern to be an anomaly – the history of their movements certainly implies that the Wraith are circumventing that area of space - but I also do not see a reason for them to do so. It is true that there is no humanoid life on the planet. That is assuredly reason enough for the Wraith to have no interest in it, but is it enough of a reason for them to actively bypass the entire system? It is a mystery, to be sure."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Well then, shall we visit this mysterious planet with the energy readings that may or may not be a shield and cloak working simultaneously and that the Wraith may or may not be intentionally avoiding?"

TBC