Chapter 10

His initial entrance onto the hive was not met with the greeting he expected. Instead he entered the hive to no welcome at all. Despite a few soldiers guarding the halls it was rather deserted. In his best attempt to reach out with his mind he could tell there were far fewer wraith on the hive then there were when he left. The longer we went without seeing wraith the more distressed he became. The hive had been full of awakening wraith; the ship almost repaired enough to be able to take off again.

He finally reached the bridge where he found his father and his second talking. He approached boldly as ever and his father met him with a growl of displeasure, something Val simply brushed off. The human in him simply would not allow him to cower in a corner until he was called forward,

"What has happened?" He asked moving up beside the two ranking wraith in the hive, Second flashy an annoyed smile before bowing out of the room, leaving father and son to talk. Todd turned to Val, his expression as smooth as he could maintain, but a certain uneasy feeling poured off the commander. This caused Val to take a small step back. He hated seeing his father like this, it wasn't natural.

"With tensions and wars breaking out among the wraith, many feared we would be the first to go, since we no longer have a queen. The cowards fled." Todd snarled as he began pacing back and forth. Val could tell though, he felt the same way, without a queen, or at least without the idea of a queen, they were weak and vulnerable to deserters and attacks.

"What do you plan to do?" suddenly Val's little mission seemed insignificant. Todd rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath, leaning over one of the hives main controls.

"We need to make the others believe we have a queen." He said quietly, his mind racing through the possibilities.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Val was confused. How could you fake a queen? Surely they would require physical proof. The power a queen gives off can be felt all throughout the hive, her absence could be clearly determined.

"I'm not sure yet…believe it or not; your mother had that effect…" Todd whispered, as he glanced up and stared off into a corner. The slightest smile began to spread across his face. Not a cruel or devious one, but one of pure joy. It was as if he could see her. Val glanced to the corner and wished he could see her. How he wished he could know her. "She was so strong Valimor…what I had to do to cause her to break…" Val could tell his father was on the verge of breaking, but he would not see his commander show weakness, not at this moment.

"We will find another." He said suddenly. Unsure of where the idea came from, but it sounded good at the moment. It wasn't until he thought about it more that he realized how hard that would be. To find a human with the mental strength of a queen? Impossible. But instead of immediately dismissing the idea Todd glanced over at him, mulling over the idea.

"Perhaps, though that will not be easy…" Todd began when another idea struck Val.

"I know who." He said suddenly, his mind going back to his time on Atlantis. That girl, the Captain. She had a strangely powerful ability to connect to his mind, and he was certain this was the first time she had done it, perhaps it had something to do with him being wraith…would her effect be stronger on a pure wraith? His mind was suddenly reeling in excitement that he had discovered her that he did not consider the problems with this. Todd looked stunned.

"Who?" He asked, stepping towards his son.

"This female I met on Atlantis…" He was cut off when Todds hand shot up.

"An Atlantian? Have you lost your mind? We cannot simply sweep up an Altantian and force them to serve on a hive…they are far too stubborn." He muttered and shook his head turning away.

"She is very fond of me; I think I could use that to my advantage…" Val said with a grin. Surely he could manipulate her again. Todd's face reflected a certain type of distaste. It was a vicious cycle. Here he had used a women he had been attracted to, used her for his selfish purpose, and now his son was proposing the same thing, playing on human weakness to use them. Could he watch that happen again? Let his son make his same mistakes? For the sake of the hive…he could.

"That just might work…but you must play this game right, or you will lose everything." He said with a slight smile, he began to approach his son and put his hand on his shoulder. "You have a human side, so use it to your advantage, they are emotional creatures. That would be the easiest and fastest way to get her to trust you, but when you do have her, you must make it clear who is in charge. We cannot have a rogue human running this ship." Val nodded. He was determined not to let his father down; this would earn him his spot beside the commander.

"Of course, I have done it before, I can do it again." He said with as much conviction as he could. Meleni. Did he really love her? Or was she just a sad result from his struggle within? Sighing heavily, he pushed it prom his mind. It did not matter, he had a new focus, and no emotion would rule him this time.

"I will set up the meeting with the science team, offer them something they cannot refuse, you will have until the leave to succeed in convincing her to stay with you." With that Todd left the room and Val stood there alone. A small part of him dreaded this assignment, it told him it was wrong, but he snuffed it out. That was his weak side. This was for the good of the hive.