Chapter 11

Dorrien did not stay long in the trapper's hut after delivering his news to Kolya. There seemed little point. Judging by his response, the renegade leader was obviously having difficulty either understanding or accepting the reality of Ladon Radim's bounty. Indeed, it had been a surprise to everyone when one of the visitors to the festival had brought the news. At first it was greeted with scepticism but then as more visitors confirmed the bounty, it was no longer open to speculation. Like most Genii, they had become accustomed to Ladon's tacit acceptance of Kolya's presence out in the galaxy, a mild irritant but not one that required a permanent solution. Until now it seemed.

Even though his visit had been short, it had taken him longer than anticipated to walk up the steep trail to get there, which meant he was leaving the remote mountain settlement much later than planned. He had come prepared for the half light of dusk and his lamp provided only the thinnest glow of light to guide his path now the full dark curtain of night had fallen. He looked up and cursed quietly to himself. Just his bad fortune that the moon was at its lowest phase and so provided minimal help. Although he had lived on this world most of his life, he had never been a man of the woods and the sounds of nocturnal animal activities created a background serenade that discouraged loitering too long at the lookouts that occurred at regular intervals along the path.

Still this solitary journey gave him chance to consider how news of this bounty affected him personally. Like many Genii who lived on these distant outpost worlds, he had never really been too concerned about the politics of his race as a whole. It had always seemed so far removed from his everyday life and, as long as it did not impinged on that life, he had been happily ignorant.

So right from the very beginning, his reaction to the stand-off between Ladon and Kolya had been muted. While Dorrien had provided some help to the renegade on occasions, it had been based on a sense of injustice over the fate Ladon delivered to former leader Cowen rather than strong support for Kolya. He had never felt strongly enough to demonstrate his support by leaving his family to join the band of rebels and suspected that most of the support Kolya had scattered across the galaxy was of a similar nature. Almost without exception, the men with the strongest commitment to his cause were those who had already joined the rebel force. He grimaced at the thought that a good number of those men had now been culled.

As a boy he had heard rumours of a wraith who had been captured and kept as an instrument of torture. Like all Genii, he was brought up in the shadow of the danger wraith cullings held for their race as a whole, but this story had been different. Genii parents told it to their children to keep them from straying into trouble. But as he looked back over recent events, the story started to take on a patina of truth as something in which Kolya might perhaps have been involved.

As the sounds of the festivities become louder on the light night breeze, he put his thoughts to the back of his mind and quickened his pace down the path. He had told Kolya that news of this bounty would have repercussions on the level of tolerance the villagers would have for his continued presence on this world. Certainly the bounty was attractive and, while he personally had no inclination to betray Kolya's cause, he could offer no assurances about his fellow villagers.

Besides bounties attracted bounty hunters and there was no place in this village for such men, even if they were just passing through. No, the village council must stand firm on this and he was sure the three of them would be of the same mind. They did not want trouble which meant Kolya had to be gone from this world as soon as possible.

x-X-00-X-x

The hive still sat above the world on which Kolya's now deserted base stood and Todd was in no hurry to leave. Not that he anticipated they would have any need to return to the surface. But they were in a part of the galaxy that held no interest to wraith, primarily because so few of the planetary systems here contained worlds suitable for human habitation, so he saw no harm in lingering longer. Of course, it would be better if this time could be spent over the home world they had left to come here but sometimes it was necessary for even a wraith to compromise.

But that was not the main reason why they remained there. For probably the first time in his long life, Todd had listened to strategic advice from a human. Sheppard had suggested it would be better to allow Kolya time to get back to that miserable world where they had been held prisoner. At first Todd's natural scepticism that a human could come up with a good idea had come to the fore. In his view, they needed to be there if and when the Genii arrived. Indeed he had dismissed Sheppard's view out-of-hand and sent the human off with the distinct impression that they would be leaving orbit soon because that was exactly what he planned to do.

But the Atlantean's argument had been based on the logic that it would be much harder for Kolya to escape if he were already bunkered down in the facility when they arrived. The more Todd thought about it, the more compelling the argument became. Given the fact that he would not be able to maintain the hive in orbit to jam the stargate to prevent any escape, Todd finally had to admit this was the best plan.

Now he sat in his quarters, mulling over how this mission had progressed so far. Of course it was disappointing to have Kolya slip through his fingers, but what was done was done and the appropriate action had been taken to discipline the culprits. There was no doubt things had taken some totally unanticipated turns; the capture of Sheppard and his small team of humans being probably the most unexpected but particularly rewarding twist. He smiled broadly and uttered a long, soft, purring growl of satisfaction as he remembered the look on the humans' faces when they realised he was not going to simply return their weapons and let them go.

The faint swishing sound of the opening door disturbed his reflections and he sensed his servant enter the room. Closing his eyes, he took in the sounds of activity going on behind him, including the sound of a pair of cleaned boots being placed in the corner. Jobs finished, the servant walked round to face his master but Todd did not open his eyes yet. If he meant this as a strategy to deter the servant from speaking, it failed.

"Sheppard is sleeping master. I gave him a draught to help the process. You should let him stay that way as long as possible." Strassen had taken it upon himself to look after the Atlantean without further instructions from the Commander.

"I am aware of his need for sleep." Finally he looked across at the servant. "You have provided everything he wants?"

Strassen nodded. "Except his weapons."

Todd chuckled. "All in good time." He had been wondering when Sheppard would want his weapons back but had to admit he was slightly intrigued the request had come through his servant rather than directly to him. Beyond the fact that they were both humans, they had absolutely nothing on which to base any mutual sense of trust but perhaps that is enough? Still, it was not an issue that really bothered him and talk of firearms reminded him of another matter he wanted his servant's views on.

"What do you know of bounty hunters?"

An expression of distaste immediately transformed the servant's face. "I take it you mean human bounty hunters?"

Todd was intrigued. "Is there any other kind?" He had never heard of such a thing happening in the wraith world. Indeed, he found the idea of betraying another for any other reason than to improve your personal position in the hierarchy completely mystifying.

"No, I suppose not." Strassen raised his eyebrows as he delivered his answer. "Well, I can not tell you much. They are not a breed with whom I've had any experience master."

"So you have never met one?"

"No." The denial was emphatic and Strassen's voice expressed contempt overlaid by just a little shock that he could even be considered to have ever moved in such circles. But he knew from experience that it would be to his advantage to provide at least some information. "From what I have heard, they are usually loners, men who have a very low respect for life, men who give scant regard for the person they are tracking and even less for the right or wrong of the reason why a bounty was even placed."

Todd nodded. The servant's view confirmed what Sheppard had told him although the Atlantean had also qualified his assessment by saying he had never actually met any such men in the time he had been in the galaxy. Putting the two views together Todd decided there was absolutely no doubt that he needed to find Kolya first. While he grudgingly accepted that he had little choice but to at least listen to Sheppard's arguments about allowing Kolya to be punished by his own people, this was entirely different. Under no circumstances would he surrender his right to exact retribution to a human motivated by sheer greed rather than a personal vendetta.

x-X-00-X-x

The candles had flickered and died long ago and Kolya had no idea how much time had passed since Dorrien left. He had heard his men come back from the village festival, some of them obviously the worse for drinking the strong liquor reserved for these occasions. While he needed to talk to them, tonight was not the appropriate time, so he made no attempt to go out to intercept them. If Dorrien's story was anything to go by, news of the bounties would be common knowledge among them and while he had been ready in case anyone knocked on his door, no one had come.

Although the jug of ale and tray of food had been finished long ago, he still sat at the table unwilling to make the short walk to his bed until he had cleared his mind of some of the multitude of thoughts that swirled through it like a whirlpool. His reflective journey had already taken him back to where this all began, back to Ladon Radim's betrayal. He had already been forced underground when speculation began to circulate through the Genii about his plans to depose Chief Cowen. But Ladon's deceptions had hit him hard and he was surprised to find that the feeling of raw emotional pain he had felt at the time was still not too far below the surface. Ladon had already been an outstanding scientist when Kolya decided to personally develop his military skills and his political acumen with a view to appointing the young man as his second in command when the time came to move against Cowen.

Ironically the root of his problem could be traced back to Cowen rather than Ladon. The decision to send his strike team against Atlantis before they had the skills and experience needed to succeed in such a venture still angered him. It had started his decline. Not to the point where it could be considered significant, but it had been enough to embolden Ladon into pursuing his own leadership agenda at the expense of his former mentor. Of course, he had realised later that it was almost certainly Ladon who had leaked his original plans to Cowen and set the whole process in motion. He had felt confident enough to share those plans, a mistake he had not made since even with his most trusted follower, but rather than lead him to glory, they led him to this current dilemma.

So now Ladon had finally been man enough to take the action that, if their positions had been reversed, Kolya would have instigated years ago. He huffed to himself. To say he had been disappointed with the approach Ladon took, to more or less just let him roam free, would be an understatement. To him it was an insult, an indication that he could be allowed to have his freedom because he had no chance of organising and implementing a successful coupe. It was a challenge he had one day hoped to answer but now, as he finally came to terms with the magnitude of the task ahead of him, he realised it may forever be beyond his grasp.

Yet despite the animosity he felt towards the man he saw as a usurper, he could no longer deny that in his own way Ladon had been very clever. Waiting for someone else to take the running, in this case Sheppard and his Atlanteans, had effectively allowed the initial support from disgruntled Cowan supporters to run its course.

Ladon's manner of governing the Genii had been hard but fair and it had created satisfied communities in which seeds of rebellion just withered rather than grew. People were happy, the Genii were at peace with all the other races who had the potential to pose a significant challenge and they had an alliance with the most powerful race of humans in the galaxy. His sources in Ladon's inner circle had been compromised and neutralised long ago and it had proved impossible to integrate new ones. So, much as he hated to admit it, Kolya knew his chances of attracting more men with the level of dedication to his cause as those lost to the wraith would be impossible.

He yawned, rubbed his hand across the rough stubble on his chin and decided it was finally time to sleep. He could not make a proper decision about the future until he had spoken to his few remaining followers. Dorrien said the bounties placed on their heads were small and Kolya suspected Ladon probably had an option for an amnesty attached too, a variation of the old divide and conquer strategy. He knew Ladon would not be foolish enough to offer him this option a second time around but the men had the right to decide their own path from now on.

x-X-00-X-x

Sheppard awoke with a start and it took several seconds for his mind to clear enough to remember he was not in his quarters on Atlantis but in a small room on Todd's hive somewhere a long way from home. The lack of clear definition between day and night on the hive was starting to play havoc with his body rhythms and he longed to spend some time basking in the warmth of the sun, preferably on a beach with good surf.

As he lay on the bed allowing his eyes to focus in the hive's subdued lighting, he realised the hive did not sound or feel like they were in hyperspace. Getting up quickly he went over to look out of the small window. He was right. They were in orbit around a world that looked remarkably similar to the one they had been orbiting before he decided to grab a short nap. Looking at his watch, he did a quick calculation and realised he had slept for almost twelve hours. So much for a nap. He could not recall ever sleeping this long before and suspected the food or drink had contained something to help him on his way.

Folding his arms, he leaned against the small ledge that sat just below the window. Before falling asleep he had been thinking about Todd's statement that they will have to go down to that forlorn world alone to look for Kolya. Part of him would prefer to have some extra backup, especially after the recent experience with Kolya's men that had landed him on this hive in the first place. But on the other hand, if he had got to do this with a wraith at his side, he would rather that wraith was Todd. As he considered the issue now with the benefit of sleep, he knew that with Todd alone there might be half a chance of talking him out of feeding on Kolya. A chance that would all but disappear if they took extra support in the shape of wraith drones, support he was sure Todd would have no qualms about using to get his own way. He leaned his forehead onto his folded arms. Yes, it would be far better for the two of them to go alone. With this decision made he also decided it would be wise to park his doubts at the back of his mind just to make sure Todd was unable latch on to them and decide he needed support after all.

At least he had a minor victory in developing their strategy. He looked out the window again. The fact that they were not in hyperspace indicated that Todd had taken his advice and decided to give Kolya chance to make it to the prison facility before they go searching for him. He moved over to sit back on the edge of the bed, pulled on his boots and wondered how long Todd planned to stay here. Well, there was only one way to find out so he set off, full of confidence that he could navigate his way to the command centre without having to wait for a summons and the mandatory escort.

-o-o-o-o-

Sheppard's initial confidence about finding the command centre was starting to fade as he rounded yet another corner to spot Todd and his second in command standing at a large portal. They looked to be deep in telepathic conversation but before he could step back into the shadows to watch them, they both looked in his direction. The second immediately turned back to Todd, bowing his head slightly as he melted away silently into the shadows. Faced with little choice but to keep walking, Sheppard had to admit that bumping into Todd like this actually saved him the potential embarrassment of having to ask for directions.

"Sheppard? I trust you slept well?"

Todd turned back to look out the portal and Sheppard moved to stand beside him. The view back towards the centre of the galaxy was quite spectacular and they took a few minutes to appreciate it in silence.

"Yeah, thanks, with a little help from Strassen I think."

"Who?"

"Strassen, your servant? You know, the guy who ties your shoelaces and makes your bed."

"Ahhh." Todd merely nodded his head, leaving Sheppard with the impression he neither knew of nor cared about the name of his servant. "I imagine you have been on enough hives by now to find your way around quite easily?"

Sheppard rolled his eyes. The mocking delivery of this question confirmed that Todd had sensed his guest was starting to feel a little lost but unwilling to confirm it, Sheppard took a more offensive approach with his reply. "Yeah. You know I'm surprised you're letting me just wander around. Who knows what kinda damage I could cause here?"

This time a smile spread across Todd's face. "To who's advantage? Certainly not your own," he purred in a soft, persuasive tone as he turned to look down at the human. "You will not leave until we have finished what we have set out to do. To damage this hive would only delay that from happening. Besides, you had an opportunity to leave but let your friends return to Atlantis alone. If you had pushed the point, I would have let you go too."

"So that wasn't just a generous gesture on your behalf?" Sheppard's question was tinged with sarcasm but he was annoyed that Todd thought him so easy to manipulate. "You were testing me? My commitment to finding Kolya?"

"If you wish to see it that way," Todd agreed but when he spoke again, the persuasive tone had been replaced by something much more focused on their actual task. "We have more important things to consider now though, such as how long we wait before leaving this world."

But Sheppard's thoughts were moving in a different direction. Todd was obviously relaxed so this was perhaps an ideal opportunity to push him to reveal more about his experience with the Genii, an opportunity Sheppard could not let pass. "Tell me about your time with the Genii."

Todd immediately swung back round to face him and, for probably the first time since their escape together, Sheppard saw a shadow of doubtful hesitation cross the Wraith's usually confident face. A strange thrill of satisfaction passed through his mind. Finally he had managed to put Todd on the back foot.

"You already know." The hesitation is gone, replaced by a cold, calm logic.

"Nah, I know what I saw but I know there's a whole lot more."

Not surprisingly, this statement was met with a low growl. "And tell me John Sheppard, why would I want to share this information with you?"

Sheppard shrugged his shoulders. "You never know, it might help me understand why you're so determined to feed on Kolya. Just a thought."

Todd stood motionless and Sheppard was sure he could feel the Wraith's mind rifling through his own, searching for what, he was not sure.

"This is not something I will talk about here." With one final look out the portal, Todd was gone before Sheppard had time to challenge him further although he stopped and turned back just before a division in the labyrinth of corridors. "We are leaving this world. Perhaps you should take the opportunity to get more sleep."

x-X-00-X-x

Ten men stood in the grassed area at the centre of the ring of huts. Three others had already made their choice and left under the cover of darkness. Disappointing? Yes, but Kolya was not really surprised. Nothing was more tragic or pathetic than a rebel leader who had all but lost his play for power. Most of the men looked everywhere except at their leader and even those two could not look him in the face. He had been a leader of men long enough to know that this was not a particularly promising sign.

A number of these men were here because they had kinsmen who also served this cause but now, without exception, those kinsmen were on that wretched wraith's hive, lost forever. Not for the first time since this whole venture turned into such a nightmare, he cursed himself for not just killing that pathetic creature when he had the chance.

Standing watching his followers, his pride came to the fore and he knew he must decide his own fate rather than wait for the village council to ask them to leave. Not that he could blame them. They had offered him sanctuary but he could not guarantee their safety if bounty hunters came here. He had already spoken to his key lieutenant who confirmed that they had all been offered an amnesty if they return to the Genii home world in the next two days.

Kolya took a deep breath. Speeches to instil confidence and bravery had always been his speciality, words of defeat and concession sat uncomfortably on his tongue.

"This is a point I had hoped never to see but sometimes decisions about our own fate are taken from us. I took a gamble and lost. Because of this we have suffered set-backs that it will be hard to recover from." He looked down at the ground in an attempt to hide the physical evidence of the feelings that echo in his voice. "You have been offered amnesty and you should all think very carefully about taking it."

"What about you?" One man asked the question but it was reflected in the faces of several others who were watching their commander carefully.

A hollow laugh involuntarily escaped Kolya's lips but his voice was tinged with bitterness. "My history with Ladon Radim is based on mistrust and betrayal. I would never accept any offer he might feel generous enough to extend to me. Besides, as you know, I have rejected such overtures before so I doubt he would bother again. No. I will be leaving this village before we are asked to go but I am not going to ask you to come with me."

With one final look at the ragged band of warriors, Kolya turned away before anyone could answer and walked quickly back to his cabin. He had never been a particularly emotional man but that speech had been difficult for him. A great weariness suddenly filled his bones and he realised that he just might be getting tired of following an ambition that never seemed to get any closer to being achieved.

-o-o-o-o-

Kolya cut a solitary figure standing before the DHD dialling the glyphs that would begin his journey. Momentarily he stopped and looked up towards the sun. It was a journey that would eventually take him back to that god forsaken facility where all this began, where that wraith had been held for longer than anyone knew, where his strategy to force the Atlanteans to hand over Ladon had failed. He knew the place like the back of his hand and it would be far safer, and more comfortable, living underground.

Who knew his two avengers might have already foreseen this as the logical place for him to go and be waiting there to greet him. He sighed thoughtfully. Perhaps that was what he wanted; to have the decision about what to do with his life taken out of his hands, perhaps his destiny lay in the hands of Sheppard and the wraith. Well, whatever fate held for him now, he was prepared to face it alone. His head was slightly bowed as he walked towards the event horizon but his mind was strangely buoyant. For the first time in years he felt totally free of a commitment to anyone, even himself.

"Commander. Stop. Wait."

He closed his eyes. No. This was not what he wanted to happen. The decision had been made and he did not want to be talked out of it. But for some indeterminable reason, rather than just walk through the gate, he turned back. Four men were running towards him; the man who had taken over as his senior lieutenant after the culling disaster, the two young recruits who been guarding the stargate when he had returned from the culling and one other, an older man who had been part of the team all but destroyed by Sheppard and the wraith during their escape.

"I told you I do not expect you to come with me. You have a chance to go back to your former lives and if I was you I would take it."

The lieutenant stepped forward to speak for them all. "Commander, we have been loyal to you without question," he paused and looked at the older man. "Some of us for many years. You can not expect us to forget that and let you face the future alone. Besides, if we surrender, do you really think Ladon would allow us to remain in the military? And the prospect of being a farmer really is not very appealing."

Looking at the earnest expressions on these men's faces, Kolya realised the were imbued with a level of loyalty that mere words on his behalf would not diminish. He had given them the opportunity to decide their own fate, to decide if they wanted to take the amnesty or continue to follow him. Then, by unilaterally taking the initiative to leave alone, he had effectively taken that opportunity away from them.

"Very well. But I can not make any guarantees that we will come out of this alive."

"Commander, life with you has never been about guarantees of safety. We follow you because we believe in your cause." He looked around at the others. "And we are not about to desert that cause now."

-o-o-o-o-

The event horizon burst to life casting a glow in the early evening light. The five men who emerged had gone through several stargates to get here, a precaution against being followed by any who might have recognised them and seen a chance to collect the bounty. Kolya had warned they might face an unfriendly welcome here, so they immediately fan out with their weapons raised ready to defend against any aggressors. But no challenge came so they quickly started down the track leading away through the lightly forested landscape.

No one spoke as they made their way along a path that bore evidence of three years of overgrowth. The dual moons cast eerie double shadows on the landscape, but the nocturnal noises of the world they had just left were missing here. The landscape changed subtly as they walked until they were finally making their way through the heavily forested landscape that surrounded their destination. They stopped at the remnants of the fence that used to circle this group of derelict buildings.

Kolya looked at the older man who had been here before. "You remember where the generator is?"

"Yes. it will have stopped shortly after we left when no one did the routine daily check. It should not take much to restart." He headed off round to the left of the buildings and within minutes the facility's lights sprang to life.

Again they had their weapons readied as they walked into the deceptively small building that housed the stairwell down to the labyrinth of underground tunnels. But again they were alone. Kolya set one of the younger men to stay at the entrance keeping watch as they moved down the metal steps. The facility was as cold and unwelcoming as he remembered. Although the Genii had an extensive underground community on their home world, something about this place made it particularly unwelcoming. Perhaps it stemmed from its past as a prison, perhaps the spirits of all the lives that had ended here still lingered in the cold, dark corridors, bound by the sheer horror of their deaths. Or perhaps it was just a combination of both.

As they moved further underground the stale air became mixed with a very faint lingering odour of decayed human bodies, barely noticeable to any who did not know what lay ahead. The faces of the Genii who had died here, both in this facility and outside in the forest, during that escape three years ago flashed before Kolya's eyes. They triggered a slight sense of something, guilt perhaps, that he had not organised a detachment to return and give those men a proper burial. One that would show the respect and recognition they deserved. He did not relish the job but decided it was one of the things they must do quickly. Besides it would give them something to do to fill the long, lonely days that lay ahead.

The man responsible for starting the generator caught up with them just as they arrived at the first main divergence in the corridors. Kolya turned to his lieutenant.

"We will split up, you two head down that way. We will do a sweep through the facility and then meet back here. Radio me if you find anything suspicious."

But before they can set off on their searches, the lieutenant bends down to inspect the floor of the corridor that heads of to the right.

"Someone has been here recently Commander."

"Could they still be here?"

"No. The dust has set thickly on this area of the floor. There's a set of footprints leading down this way and then the same prints return."

Kolya bent down to look for himself, hoping the prints may hold some physical clue to their owner. They did not but he knew instinctively they could only belong to either Sheppard or the wraith. He tended towards the wraith, it would be unusual for Sheppard to return here without his team. Standing slowly, he turned and looked back the way they've come.

"We need to establish our base quickly." He turned to the older man. "The armoury should be just as we left it. Collect some of the heavier firearms. We may have visitors sooner than expected."