A/N: Sorry about that cliff hanger! I'm even more sorry to say there's another one at the end of this chapter. Hehe... The speculations you posted gave me an idea and I had to change some small details to get it to fit, but thanks for the inspiration!

I would say now the story is about halfway done, but I have no idea how many more chapters are going to be added, so who knows!

Enjoy!

Chapter Ten: When Wraith Attack

That day several people cursed when they saw the news. In particular, Minister Aangd of the Paedagogi people. One of her aides had alerted the Minister to the Agnascor broadcast. The elderly woman seethed when she saw it, knowing that their plans had ultimately been spoiled.

A handsome anchor smiled charmingly at the camera, "Today, an attack on the Agnascor Tactical Headquarters resulted in the death of one soldier who succumbed to an allergic reaction from an antidote for a nerve agent used in the attack. The rest have been taken to the hospital and are said to be in stable condition." The newscaster cleared his throat before continuing.

"It is currently unknown whether the attack was carried out by Paedagogi agents, no one has yet claimed responsibility. The only Agnascor Officer on the scene has also been reported missing, presumably captured. Officials believe he is being held for ransom or interrogation."

An image of Sheppard appeared on the screen, "If anyone has seen Colonel Jan Enderson, please contact the authorities immediately. It is unknown if he has been treated for his exposure to the nerve agent, and will need to be seen by medical personnel as soon as possible."

The Minister motioned for the program to be turned off. She sat mulling in her chair for a moment weighing the possibilities. "Get Colonel Rafal in here. We need to assemble an insertion team to eliminate our agent. He has been compromised."

The world didn't come into focus when he opened his eyes. Sheppard blinked them, wincing at the burning that made them tear up, but his surroundings remained unidentifiable blurs of color.

He couldn't remember what had happened. The feeling was starting to become commonplace and he hated it for that fact. Someone spoke near him, making him jump.

"Easy Colonel, it'll be ok, I'm just helping." The man's voice sounded familiar. A hand grasped his wrist to take his pulse.

"What happened?" it was difficult to speak and triggered a painful coughing fit.

The man helped him sit to ease his breathing, "You were exposed to a nerve agent. Don't worry, you'll be fine, an antidote was given to you after only a few minutes of exposure. In a few hours you'll be like new."

Slumping back against his pillow, he rubbed his eyes again to get the blur out. A different pair of hands grabbed him this time.

"Don't rub, it'll make it worse. Just lay back and take a nap. Like Fran said, in a few hours you'll be back to normal."

" Tara?" he squinted barely making out the shape of her face. What was she doing here?

"Yes, it's me. Now lay back and rest, you'll feel better soon."

Sheppard fought against her pushing him back into the pillows. The memory of the gas and attack was starting to come back. "No, wait." He brushed her hand aside. "What's going on? Who the hell were those people that attacked me?"

If Sheppard had been able to focus his eyes he would have seen the guilty looks on both Fran and Tara's faces. "Jan," Tara paused and looked at her roommate for reassurance. Fran nodded and gave her an encouraging look. "Jan, do you remember seeing that big ring?"

Sheppard nodded thinking back to his first impression of the massive object. It was nerve-wrackingly familiar to him. "So, what is it?"

"You probably don't remember if you were a religious person or not, but all of our lives we have been told of a ring that was the gateway to the home of the Ancestral gods."

"And you think that's it?" Sheppard was skeptical.

"Oh no, but if it were to become public knowledge the general population may think it is. What we do know is that this is one of the major things being fought for in this war. Whoever is in possession of it would have a powerful tool. The group that you encountered today has the soul objective to destroy that ring to stop that from happening and to maybe even stop this ridiculous war altogether."

"So you gassed me and those other soldiers so you could blow up that ring thing?"

"Actually that was just a diversion."

Fran broke into the conversation, "the ring is composed of an element that absorbs energy. If we were to just set charges, either the entire city would be destroyed by the release of energy or it would just absorb the initial detonation."

Sheppard raised his eyebrows at that news, "wow. So what were you doing in there?"

"Setting up and concealing a dampening field. Hopefully it's enough to contain such an explosion." Fran's voice sounded slightly uncertain.

"Hopefully?"

Fran coughed, "It's a well educated guess."

Sheppard nodded, "Ok…" He closed his eyes and let himself relax back onto the pillows. "I do have one more question."

"What?"

"What does that ring do? I mean, does it have some nifty function or is it more of an ambiance type thing?"

Tara spoke this time, "We've heard rumors, but there's no solid proof that the ring really does anything. At least anything we know of. Actually we were hoping you may be able to help with that."

"No offense, but why would I help all of you with this? You just gassed me!"

The woman sounded affronted nonetheless, "Maybe because it's the right thing to do? They call this a cold war, but if you ever had a chance to really see what the people are going through, you'd know that there are still casualties."

Knowing when to pick his fights Sheppard held up his hands in surrender, "Fine. Just let me think about it. For now, can I take my nap?"

"I'm sorry," her voice had softened, "but we're not through discussing this. As soon as you can defend yourself I am going to give you a piece of my mind."

"Oh joy," muttered Sheppard. He sighed and pulled a blanket over his head hoping that the headache he had would be gone by the time he woke.

"I would not give you the address to my home world if you had my own child being held hostage," spat out the elderly woman sitting before Elizabeth.

The leader of Atlantis rubbed her temple; the negotiations had been like this for several hours now. When she thought they were finally going to come to an agreement the other woman seemed to change her mind and decide not to cooperate. "Melba, I am sure there is something we can offer you. At least try to understand our situation."

Melba sat in silent staring at her obstinately.

"How about food or other basic supplies?"

"We have everything we need in abundance."

"Weapons? I notice that you do not have any defenses against a Wraith attack. We may be able to help you with that."

This warranted a raised eyebrow, "Wraith?"

Elizabeth had to keep her jaw from dropping. This woman had no knowledge of the Wraith? The implications were tremendous. It meant they had found a possible bargaining chip, and if their world was untouched by the Wraith, they may be able to come to some kind of agreement with the government of her world.

"You've never heard of the Wraith? Tall pale guys with fangs that suck the life out of you?" Major Lorne asked in disbelief.

Melba looked thoughtful for a moment, "there is a legend that I heard some time ago, but I thought it was religious metaphor." She hesitated, seeming unsure if she wanted to share this with the Lanteans. "My people believe that the Ancestral Gods created two races of humans on my planet. The Agnascor, people like myself who posses genes like the Gods, and the Paedagogi, created to serve the more evolved."

"The Ancestral Gods had a demonic enemy, one that could drain the youth from a person and control the mind. To protect the planet the Ancestors did something, I believe the phrase was, 'They rearranged the stars, so as to hide the world from the universe, and locked the gate, so that only those who have the key may come and go freely'." Melba stopped speaking and looked down at her hands clasped on the table, "if these Wraith are real, I do not think we will need your help to deal with them."

Raising an eyebrow Elizabeth eyed the woman, "I'm sure you believe your community here is able to defend yourselves. However, the Wraith are not something you can fight off and expect to never be bothered by them again. We know this from personal experience, and if you truly knew what you would be up against, you would accept any assistance."

"Dr Weir," Melba stood up and leaned towards Elizabeth trying to be as intimidating as possible. "You are asking me to give you the means to travel to my home world. In exchange, you offer assistance for an enemy that may or may not show up, and one that we may have the capability to defend ourselves from. Why should I cooperate?"

Elizabeth's temper flared, the woman before her knew how to get to the planet where the Commanding Military officer of Atlantis and the one individual who could master Ancient technology as it was meant to be, was. "The leader of my military is injured and on your planet. He is vital to my people and we need him back. We won't give up unless a body is produced. And at this time, we consider him to be held against his will; among my government that is enough to declare war, and trust me, you do not want to be our enemy."

Behind Dr Weir, Major Lorne glared at Melba trying to back up Elizabeth's statement. The effect was spoiled when his earpiece clicked on, making him jump. "This is Lorne, go ahead."

Ronon was on the other end of the radio, "Major, we've got gate activity. Three darts just came through."

"Damn!" the explicative made the two women stop bickering and look at him. "Ladies, we need to go now. It looks like we'll have a chance to show you first hand how nasty the Wraith can be."

Both paled visibly, "Melba, we have enough room on our transports to get most of your village to safety." Elizabeth was glad the community was so small; with the two jumpers they had, it would be easy to fit the twenty or so individuals in them and fly to the alpha site.

"Lt Jeffries, have the jumpers flown to the village. We need to get the hell outa dodge ASAP," Lorne motioned for the two women to follow him.

Gasping in surprise Melba held back when she saw the two puddle jumpers materialize above her. They landed several hundred feet away. "Those are Ancestral ships!"

Ronon, who was leaning out of the nearest jumper took the old woman's hand and helped her into the ship. He shrugged his shoulders at her comment, "Surprise?"

The woman stared at the interior in awe. Wandering up to the console she delicately reached out and touched it drawing her had back when it responded to her gene and lit up. Major Lorne guided her to a chair, "Ma'am, why don't we leave the flying to me?"

It took only a few minutes for the marines to round up the villagers and herd them into the jumpers. As the last group was running towards their means of escape, the whine of the Wraith darts became audible. One zipped overhead and made a sharp turn back towards the stragglers. Realizing now the danger they were in panic came over them and they sprinted the last few feet to the jumpers. It was effort spent too late however; the marine, three adults and two children vanished in the dart's beam.

Teyla began closing the hatch when Melba cried for her to stop. "We need to save them! Stop, open the door, let me out."

Putter her hand on the woman's shoulder Elizabeth tried to comfort her, "Melba, there's not much we can do. The best is to destroy the dart before it leaves the planet." The woman just stared at her in shock, and sat down heavily on one of the jumper's benches as it took off.

"Dr Weir, should I dial the Alpha site?" At Elizabeth's nod, Lorne punched in the address as the two cloaked jumpers neared the gate. "Uh, we've got a problem."

"What is it Major?"

Lorne looked pale, "I can't dial the Alpha site. The gate won't engage."