The New Girl
Chapter Nine
Sheppard really had no idea how to respond to what he was seeing and hearing, though it would seem Ronan had no problem pulling out his weapon and pointing it at Todd's head saying with a growl,
"Let her go!" Serena glared at the Satedan warrior, and said,
"Ronan Dex, you either put the gun away, or so help me, I will shove it up your ass and pull the trigger!" Teyla coughed to cover her laugh as she motioned for Ronan to stand down. After all they were in the middle of Atlantis surrounded by marines, so she seriously doubted Todd would try anything, if he were even thinking of doing so. But, by the looks of things, with his arms still securely around Serena's waist, starting a rouse was the last thing on the Wraith's mind.
Ronan put his gun away begrudgingly, and Sheppard finally found his voice, bringing everyone back to the current issue.
"Um, people, can we get back to the fact that a bunch of Wraith commanded by none other then or ever helpful resident Wraith, Todd; are in a cloning facility somewhere out there.." He gestured to the sky as he went on, "Just waiting for the word to start up the generators for production?"
At this everyone was silent for a moment, and then Todd spoke,
"They will only begin on my word, Sheppard."
"Yeah, I got that part." said John in a huff, "What I want to know is what will you do with them in the mean time? Cause somehow, I doubt you Wraith sit down and play poker when your commanding officer tells you to wait." Todd tilted his head at Sheppard, as if to question what this 'poker' was, but Serena decided to speak up, saying,
"I'm sure we can think of something that would be acceptable to everyone involved, if we all can remain civil with each other." Todd nodded his consent to her idea, and Sheppard couldn't help but be a little creeped out at the thought of this Wraith doing whatever Serena asked him to do. Not that he thought that he would, unless it suited him.
Never the less, everyone convened in the briefing room with Colonel Carter to decide what was to be done. Many suggestions were made, but Todd refused to pull his men out from their position, saying,
"If we leave the facility unprotected, the chances of another faction of Wraith taking over is very high. We aren't the only ones who know of this place, but, at the moment, we are the only ones with the means to power it. If any other group were to learn of this and have a healthy and viable Queen, they could take the facility over and begin producing new solders within just a few days."
"Now that's a scary thought." said Serena with a shiver. Todd pulled her in a bit closer to him, which didn't go unnoticed by Sheppard, as Todd went on.
"At the moment the other factions are too busy fighting amongst themselves to notice where my troops are. Though if they were to find out they would send more then enough ships to overwhelm my faction, which consists of only one ship in the immediate area. It would take some time to alert the other ships under my command to come to their aid and even then it may not be enough." Serena piped in at that moment, saying,
"Plus, if you remember, Todd said that many of the Hives under his command are without Queens to help repopulate the Hives. Though if this facility can make thousands of soldiers it would make sense to have a strategic positioning there, and if the event occurs that another faction tries to invade, we could always destroy the facility." Todd stiffened slightly, but Serena put her hand in his saying, more to him then everyone else, "If this place can make the massive numbers of clones as you say it can, then wouldn't it be better to have it destroyed before another faction can use it?"
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as they waited for Todd's answer. He contemplated Serena's reasoning, and in honesty could find no fault with it. After all, he came back for her, and he laid his life in his enemy's hands to do it. Now was no different, he must sacrifice a little to gain a great deal. Todd finally nodded his consent to the idea, saying,
"Agreed, but should the occasion arise when I am in need of new solders quickly..." he looked directly at Sheppard as he spoke, "Will you allow a decent amount to be made in exchange for your presence, supervision, and the possible destruction of the facility should it become necessary?"
Now everyone stared at Sheppard, even Carter, and this made John a bit worried. It meant that it was his decision whether they go through with this or not, and he really hated having to make these kinds of calls. Then again, if he were to say 'no way', they'd have to come up with a whole new plan of what to do, and to be quite honest he couldn't find anything other then the cloning part disagreeable. But, he knew Todd was giving a great deal of control over to him and his team, plus they would be the ones to say what was a decent amount of clones, should Todd have need of them. So Sheppard sighed to himself and looked at Colonel Cater saying,
"When do you want us to head out to the clone factory?" Carter smiled saying,
"I want your team and one other to go the facility, but this will only be a recon mission, John. Rodney will map out the facility and find the best possible places to lay charges, while I want Doctor Zelenka to check out how the ZPM's are used to power to facility. It may become useful in the future to know how the Wraith can make Ancient technology viable with their own."
It was at that point Serena said,
"If I may, Colonel? I would like to go along as well." Carter looked at Serena for a moment and said,
"I'm sorry Doctor Marlo, but this mission is for information and defense only. Your help is still needed here in finding a treatment." Serena fumed saying,
"And going to this facility will help my research. If I can get some more samples from other Wraith, and maybe take a sample left over from the facility's previous use, then it would help my research along immensely!" Rodney scoffed saying,
"Any DNA samples from the sight would be nothing but dust by now, if the facility hasn't been used in thousands of years there's no way you'll get anything viable, let alone testable." Serena's eyes narrowed at Rodney's comment.
"Wraith DNA has a very long shelf life Rodney, trust me, and if there is even a chance of getting some samples of it, then I'm going. Besides, even if you're right I still could use the samples of any, if not all, the commanding officers Todd has stationed at the facility."
Rodney was about to make a come back, when Carter interceded and said,
"Very well, Doctor...you may go with them; but I want a marine with you at all times while you get your samples, and you are to return here as soon as you've finished, is that understood?" Serena nodded with a smile on her face as she left the briefing room to gather up what she would need for the trip. Sheppard wasn't very happy about the arrangement, but he was happy in knowing that one of his men would be watching her on this little field trip. Todd had a look of pride on his face at Serena's outburst, and seemed more then a bit pleased with the outcome. John made a note to keep an eye on him while they were out.
Two hours later found Sheppard and his team, along with Lt. Lorn's team, filling up two jumpers. John wasn't looking forward to what promised to be a long trip, and his anxiety only increased when Todd appeared at the jumper door with Serena standing next to him. They entered the jumper and Todd helped to stow Serena's equipment before sitting down next to her for the trip. Sheppard made a note to tell whoever it was he assigned to watch them to pay very close attention to any sign that Serena might be compromised. It wasn't that he didn't trust Serena, he just still wasn't so sure about her choice of boyfriend. John shivered, thinking,
'God, that sounds so wrong!' as the last of their group made it inside and closed the jumper door.
"Command this is jumper one, everyone is packed and ready to go." said Sheppard as he prepped the ship for gate travel.
"This is jumper two, command, we are ready for the jump as well." said Lt. Lorn through the com. At that moment Todd stepped up to the front of the jumper, saying,
"I have the address for the space gate that orbits the planet, Sheppard." John looked up at Todd in surprise, but nodded as Todd pressed the symbols one the front panel of the jumper. The gate sprung to life as the symbols spun around the ring and the power began to build until the gate burst in a flash of light, which then settled into a tranquil glassy surface. The jumpers soared down from the jumper bay and passed through the gate to the darkness of space on the other side. A planet could be seen not far in the distance, and the scanners indicated on it's far side was a Hive ship in a fairly tight orbit.
John relayed this to jumper two and set a corse for the Hive ship. Todd mean while had reclaimed his seat next to Serena and waited for when they would arrive on his ship. Serena leaned against him, wondering what she would find on the planet, if there was even a chance of getting an old sample of a Wraith Queen from the cloning facility. But she was brought out of her thoughts when the Hive came into view. She was floored by how big it was, and for a moment was even a bit intimidated by how many Wraith might be inside. Todd wrapped his arm around her waist and squeezed at feeling her fear, and she was thankful for it as the Hive acknowledged their presence.
"We're receiving docking instructions." said Rodney as they approached the Hive. John sighed, and said,
"Well lets not disappoint them." Slowly he made his approach with Lorn's jumper right behind his. Once the jumpers were docked the marines gathered near the back, ready for a possible attack. Sheppard turned to towards the door and looked at Todd as if to say 'now what'. Todd stood with Serena following suit, and there was a knocking on the jumper door. The Wraith looked at Sheppard, but John shook his head, saying,
"Oh no ya don't, I remember what happened last time. You go first when I open the door." Serena glared at him, but John refused to budge on this. So Todd nodded to Sheppard, who then pressed the control for the door.
The back of the jumper opened to revile a commanding officer with two clones on either side of him. The officer bowed his head to Todd in respect, saying,
"Commander, we're in a stable orbit above the facility, and it seems to be in complete working order, but we won't know for sure until we do a test." Todd nodded, saying,
"Very well, but testing will have to wait. You will give Doctor McKay the layout of the facility and point out the best possible places for charges to be laid."
"Commander?" the officer seemed confused, but Todd went on.
"In the meantime, gather all commanding officers in the Queen's audience chamber. Doctor Marlo will be taking blood samples to help in her research for a cure." The officer seemed to straighten and turned to Serena with a look of reverence, and she nodded to him respectfully, saying,
"I'll also need samples from any officers currently on the planet, along with anything that can be salvaged from the facility's last use."
The officer nodded to her in respect, saying,
"After you have taken your samples from those present they will relieve those on the surface. I will also inform those returning to take samples from the DNA stores in the cloning system." Serena smiled, and said,
"Thank you, and Todd?" she turned to face him, "I'll need some work tables and a few chairs so your officers can sit while I take the samples." Todd gave a nod and lead the way first to the command deck to allow McKay access to their computers, then to the center of the ship and the audience chamber.