CHAPTER ELEVEN
NOCTURNE IN BLACK AND GOLD: THE FALLING ROCKET
The emergency summons through the room's intercom roused Ronon from a deep sleep. Beside him on the narrow bed, Cassandra shifted but slept on until he shook her awake.
"Woolsey says there's something for us to see in the control room."
She yawned widely and stumbled out the door after him. She hadn't slept well since they'd gotten back from P1J-D2X. Sometimes Ronon heard her talking about kites in her sleep, but other times she held conversations with Nirrti or her mother. He hadn't said anything about her dream conversations … yet.
Teyla and John had already gathered in the control room, but Rodney met up with his team several minutes later looking as bleary-eyed as Cassandra. He always looked that way after being awoken in the middle of the night; she rarely did.
"As you know, the Daedalus upgrades were completed several weeks ago, and Colonel Caldwell was sent back to Pegasus to assess the situation there," Mr. Woolsey explained. He nodded to Chuck, who brought up a video on the wall-mounted screen. "We received this transmission via the Daedalus fifteen minutes ago."
The Ancient lights and scrolling text vanished and were replaced by a video feed heavy with static. Laden Radem appeared on the screen in the dark green, copper-trimmed Genii uniform. Ronon didn't like the Genii leader at all, but the firm set of his mouth and lines of worry around his eyes told Ronon he would sympathize with the Genii a little more after watching this message.
"This is Laden Radem of the Genii calling the Daedalus. Our sensors have indicated you are above our planet. Please respond. We have a message for Atlantis." Colonel Caldwell's voice instructed Laden to continue a few moments later. "Since your departure, the situation in the Pegasus galaxy has grown desperate. The Wraith are culling Coalition planets without opposition, and those that resist are destroyed. We know already of three planets to meet his fate. The Genii have taken as many refugees as we can, but we cannot fight the Wraith as you can. We have no ships and no delivery system for our atomic weapons to target their hives in space.
"The Coalition understands why you took Atlantis to your galaxy, but the Wraith threat must be defeated now if you are able to send the Daedalus back to Pegasus. We ask you to return and help us fight the Wraith again, as you convinced our Coalition you would do. Millions of lives are at stake. We cannot win this war alone."
The transmission ended with a frozen capture of Laden's pleading face. Ronon pushed off from the table he had been leaning against and paced around the control room with clenched fists, feeling furious and helpless, but not forgetting that according to John, in another timeline, when the IOA abandoned Pegasus, he had raised an army to fight the Wraith.
"I'll arrange meetings at the highest level," Cassandra said.
"To do what?" John asked, a touch of regret in his voice. "The IOA will never allow Atlantis to leave Earth now that we've lost the Antarctic weapons platform."
"I didn't say the IOA. We go straight to Home World Command, to Jack. We convince him and the President it's in Earth's best interest to send Atlantis, and the IOA will follow."
"That's not the way this expedition works," Woolsey started, but his assistant cut him off.
"This isn't an expedition, Richard. We're anchored in San Francisco bay for Christ's sake. We're a glorified guard dog."
Cassandra's use of his first name for the first time caught his attention. Ronon could see him considering a course that would shatter his chain of command and possibly lead to him losing his job. Woolsey had proven he had more of a backbone than anyone originally thought, though, and he showed it again now.
"All right, we'll try it." He looked from Ronon to Teyla. "There is no guarantee this will work, but we'll give it every effort. Don't forget, I was the one who promised the Coalition that Atlantis would be there to fight. This is as much my responsibility as anyone's."
Ronon clapped the leader hard on the shoulder and grinned down at him, although from his startled expression, it wasn't as reassuring a gesture as Ronon meant it to be.
"I'll set up the meetings discretely," Cassandra said. She looked awake and ready to spring into action. "I'll go directly through Walter Harriman so no one gets wind of it. No, Rodney, no going back to bed. I need to talk to you now about science stuff. I think you're the only one who can really prove to the IOA Atlantis needs to go back." She grabbed the shoulder of Rodney's jacket and dragged him off towards the transporter that would go to his lab.
"Hey!" he protested. "Is this how Hankan woman show appreciation for one's intellect? By man-handling people?"
"Yes. Although Hankan woman don't really show appreciation for intelligence. We just wanted men who could handle a plow and cut down trees," she quipped and nudged him into the transporter. "Anyway, I thought you had a thing for forceful blondes."
"I do. And apparently you're Hankan at heart because, let me tell you, I have seen Ronon chop firewood …."
The transporter doors closed, cutting off their conversation that had, against all odds, lightened the mood in the control room. Despite the midnight hour, Woolsey invited Ronon, Teyla, and John into his office to discuss other, less scientific, arguments to present to Home World Command.
o o o
The SF guarding the door leading to the holding cell ran his hand in front of the panel, and it slid back to reveal a long corridor with a metal cage made of horizontal metal bars at the end. Trembling, Cassandra walked forward to see the Wraith standing in the center of the cell. He was taller than the other Wriath she had seen with skin a lighter shade of green. Black facial markings and white blond hair seemed standard issue for their species, and yet she could tell the difference as easily as she knew one human from another. They called this one Todd.
"You're new," he said, by way of a greeting. "Sheppard informed me I would have no more guests since I am so uncooperative."
He had a sunken look about him, starving and withered inside his own skin. Cassandra knew he had not fed in months, possibly in five or six, and yet all she had read about the Wraith said they could last only around four months without feeding on a human.
"There is a possibility this city is going back to Pegasus. Perhaps you'll be more cooperative if you know there is a chance you may go home."
The Wraith laughed, but the sound was chilling. "Home. I will never return to my hive. You will keep me here in this cell until I starve or agree to Dr. Keller's treatment, which as we all know will kill me anyway."
"How many ZPMs did you have before your … underling usurped your place?"
The Wraith peered at her through the metal slats with disconcerting cat-slit yellow eyes. "I have been through this with more of your people than I can count. If you have nothing new to say, leave!"
"Could you feed on me?"
Cassandra pressed shaking hands to her thighs to hide her nervousness. She played a dangerous game here, taunting a starving predator and using herself as bait. Todd knew enough about Earth humans that he might call her bluff, but she gambled that she could talk him around to the point of this conversation and make him believe it had been his idea.
The Wraith started and pulled back white lips to reveal pointed crystalline teeth. "Are you volunteering?"
"I have a certain element in my blood that I'm positive no human in Pegasus galaxy ever has."
"I sense nothing wrong with you. Your life force is strong. But … we cannot sense the Hoffan drug. We may not be able to sense this element either."
"Then you could feed on me. But would you?"
The Wraith made a disappointed sound in the back of his throat. "Others may, but my survival instinct is strong. I would not try it. Not that you would follow through if I would."
Cassandra nodded. "You're right, I wouldn't. And to be honest, I didn't think you would want to try, but I had to ask if there was any possibility we could reach an agreement." She turned to leave, but the Wraith called out after her.
"There may be another way. You are the first human in this city who seems to understand all it will take to loosen my tongue is a meal. Stay awhile, and let's see if we can find a compromise."
o o o
The Asgard beam teleported Mr. Woolsey and Cassandra into a large office suite with lush blue carpet and handsome wooden desks. Walter Harriman rose from his desk in the outer office to welcome them.
"General O'Neill is finishing up a call with the President. He'll be ready in – now."
Jack emerged from his office with a big smile for Cassandra. She tried to restrain herself and remain professional, but she hadn't seen Jack in over two months and had barely spoken to him in all that time. She walked into his embrace and promptly pulled back when the hardware on his chest bit into her cheek.
"We'll save the hugs for off duty hours."
Jack motioned for the two Atlantis personnel to come into his office. General Landry already occupied a seat in front of Jack's desk, and he got up to greet the newcomers. When they had gained their seats again, Mr. Woolsey began.
"Generals, thank you for – "
Jack had a hand up. "Skip the pleasantries, Richard. Just tell us why you think Atlantis should go back to Pegasus."
Unflappable as always, Mr. Woolsey segued into the arguments without hesitation. "Less than a year ago, using my authority as leader of the Atlantis Expedition, I brokered a deal with a Coalition of planets in the Pegasus galaxy. That agreement stipulates that Atlantis leads the humans of the galaxy in the fight against the Wraith. In exchange for this, we have peace with a number of worlds where previously our teams could not go for risk of imprisonment or worse. We also have not extensively shared the technology required to defeat the Wraith, such as space flight or even weapons deployment systems. Simply put, the human worlds of the Pegasus galaxy do not have the ability to defeat the Wraith. We have brought to Earth the greatest asset in the fight against the Wraith."
"What about the lives on Earth?" General Landry asked. "Now that we've lost the Ancient weapons platform, we're defenseless too, against Wraith or Lucian Alliance or God knows what else out there."
"That is not entirely true, General. We have many battlecruisers and more in production. Of all the worlds in Pegasus we've visited, only one civilization has hyperspace travel. Even if the Travelers did agree to fight a war, their resources are finite and their ships are not new."
"We appreciate what you're here to do, Richard, but we're responsible for the safety of this planet not all the other ones in distant galaxies. I'm not saying I'm not open to the possibility of fighting the IOA on this, but you're going to have to give me a better bargaining position than 'we promised'," Jack said, not unkindly.
"Then how about this, General? If one Wraith can adapt a ZPM to function with a hive ship, then surely others can as well. Atlantis barely defeated the one hive that made it to Earth. Even with a backup ZPM, there is no guarantee we could win against two or more working in an alliance against us. The Wraith are kept busy for now by resisting human populations, like the Genii and Travelers, but sooner or later, without Atlantis to support them, their worlds will fall too and there will be nothing to stand between the Wraith and Earth. It would be better to have Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy actively countering Wraith attempts to gain ZPMs and make it to Earth."
"I'm sure that will be awhile. It's not like ZPMs are lying around on every planet," Landry commented.
Cassandra spoke for the first time in the meeting. "The Wraith we call Todd is willing to tell us exactly how long that might be. He will tell us how many ZPMs he recovered from the Replicator city and where they are."
"If …," Jack prompted.
"Well … he's hungry and he's a prisoner." The three men shifted uncomfortably as she added, "And we do have interstellar ships capable of sending him back to Pegasus …."
"We've been through this with him before," Jack said warningly. "It always comes back to bite us in the ass somehow."
"Yes, I know. Not surprisingly, this was his idea. And yet, it would solve two of our problems. We would know how long before the Wraith could conceivably reach Earth again, but most importantly, we could possibly find a way to retrieve those ZPMs so the Wraith can't come to Earth again."
Jack rubbed a hand over his forehead. "I'm having a hard time believing you're really suggesting this, Cassie. Releasing an evil alien species that has ruled a galaxy through fear and suppressed their technological development? Sounds familiar."
"I know. But it wouldn't be the first time. The SGC worked with Yu and Ba'al and even Nirrti when it was in our best interest."
Jack cringed. "Don't remind me."
"If we did get the ZPMs from the Wraith," Landry said, moving away from the more difficult subject, "it would negate the need to send Atlantis back to Pegasus."
"On the contrary, General," Mr. Woolsey interjected. His glance in Cassandra's direction told her he had figured out where she was going with this. "As I am certain Todd will tell us, the ZPMs are on a Wraith world or many Wraith worlds and retrieving them all would be a mission unto itself. A mission in need of a highly advanced off world base."
The Generals matched eyes over the desk. Cassandra knew the points had been well argued. Mr. Woolsey had done the leg work, but her piece of information had helped. The IOA would lose this battle.
o o o
"The Wraith have four more ZPMs located on these worlds," Mr. Woolsey announced at the senior staff meeting three days later. "And the IOA has decided Atlantis should return to Pegasus to retrieve them from the Wraith and carry out our standing orders."
The news was met with jubilance. The presentation couldn't continue for several moments as John and his team chattered excitedly about which worlds they would go to first and how many Wraith they might encounter. Jennifer and Carson bent their heads together to make a verbal list of planets they had left in need of medical assistance. Even Mr. Woolsey couldn't restrain himself and speculated on how he would appease the Coalition and solidify Atlantis's leadership position again.
Dr. Zelenka leaned over to Cassandra. "Not to rain on the parade or anything, but … what's to stop the IOA from recalling us after we have the ZPMs?"
"Don't worry, Radek." She flashed him a wicked smile. "I talked to Rodney about some … science stuff that I may have forgotten to mention to Generals Landry and O'Neill."
The Czech's eyebrows rose dramatically. "You're not going to destroy … ?" he rushed, but she shook her head. "Oh? Oh! You are devious, Cassandra. I'll remember to never get on your bad side. How did you come up with the idea?"
"You're one of five people who know about this, Radek …."
"Oh, you can count on my silence. You look positively gleeful about hoodwinking the IOA."
"What can I say? It's a little payback for some friends of mine."
The news spread through Atlantis like wide fire. The atmosphere on base went from the ordinary buzz of daily activity to high excitement. The science teams launched into brainstorming how to continue their previous experiments, the military units stepped up their off world training regiments, and the technicians began a full battery of diagnostics throughout the city.
Cassandra's desk and e-mail inbox quickly became the dumping ground for test results, inventory, and requisitions. That was not a bad thing because Mr. Woolsey had charged her with overseeing the complete resupply of the city. She spent most of her time away from her desk inspecting the completed repairs to the city structure and chasing down personnel who had yet to submit their inventory reports.
Daily operations continued with SG teams leaving and arriving through the Atlantis Stargate, but soon they would all be transferred back to the SGC, as much to their relief as to the Atlantis teams'. Gradually, SG teams and F-302 squads took over the task of hunting down any Wraith that popped up on the sensors. A puddle jumper was still the best way to transport an entire team, and sometimes John or Major Lorne's team took the mission.
Whenever Cassandra or Mr. Woolsey passed an Athosian in the corridors, they were obliged to stop and accept thanks for returning Atlantis to Pegasus. It seemed to unnerve Mr. Woolsey to touch foreheads with so many strangers, but Cassandra grew to appreciate their show of affection and how it introduced her to so many new friends she had not had the opportunity to meet before.
"Teyla tells us the people on your home world were farmers, like us," Halling said, during one of their brief conversations as Cassandra hurried from the central tower to the botany lab.
"That's right. We grew a kind of root vegetable like a carrot."
"When we return to Pegasus, you and Mr. Woolsey must come to the Athosian settlement for a celebratory feast in your honor."
"That's very kind, Halling."
Their exchange had done more than embarrass Cassandra. It had shown her that everyone part of the Atlantis expedition assumed she would be coming with them. Between her mad dashes across the city, meetings with SGC and IOA, and the few minutes she could spare every day to see Ronon, the possibility had not really crossed her mind. She was a Milky Way galaxy native, a product of Goa'uld oppression. Why would she go to another galaxy?
She was flung into turmoil as soon as she asked herself the question. She could not imagine living in Pegasus, but neither could she imagine living millions of light-years away from the best friends she had ever had. And much as her independent mind hated to admit it, she did not want to be a galaxy away from Ronon.
As she debated her decision, she noticed more keenly how seamlessly she had become part of this team. Mr. Woolsey rarely gave her a direct order anymore; he assumed she knew what he needed doing. Off world teams had stopped crowding the gate room and waited for her signal to gather in front of the Stargate. Personnel disputes had started coming to her as requests for meetings with Mr. Woolsey rather than tirades with her as a human barricade in front of his office door. Movie night and poker night had long ago become enjoyable events for her. When she walked into the mess hall for meals, there were smiling faces all around to invite her to sit and chat. Sparring practice was a daily routine, and the constant loses ceased to matter because her opponents were friends who would still like her even if she failed miserably.
"You seem distracted, Cassandra," Mr. Woolsey observed. The deadline for Atlantis's departure from Earth approached at a rapid clip, and their work load had doubled as the one month mark ticked by. "I think I know why. The bar examinations are coming up, and with all your additional work, you haven't had time for a traditional bar study. I had always planned on giving you some time off for that. It will be difficult without you here, but we'll manage if you feel you need the time for study."
"Oh, umm …. Yes, that is part of it, I suppose."
"What is the other part, if I can ask?"
She signed and laid her tablet computer down on his desktop. "I haven't decided to come to Pegasus."
Her boss looked genuinely surprised by that statement, but marshaled his thoughts quickly. "This is a volunteer mission, of course. But, Cassandra, you've become an integral part of our base team. I've seen you make friends and … a partnership. I thought you enjoyed your work and your colleagues."
"I do, Mr. Woolsey. I do. But this galaxy is my inheritance. I don't know if I belong in Pegasus."
He nodded slowly. "I can understand that, but I hope you come to think otherwise. You have shown me you are a practical woman, so let me provide a practical argument for you to consider. You have not made friends in the IOA. Helen Lackey, in particular, wants to see you gone. That you are an alien and that you have close ties to the military will always be obstacles for you. As my executive assistant, you have an opportunity to prove yourself. If you don't come with us to Pegasus, I'm not sure Helen will give you a chance to find any other position in the IOA."
Cassandra bowed her head and stared at the floor. "I hadn't considered that. In fact, I didn't even realize my mother and godparents were even part of the argument against me. I think Jack and Sam tried to tell me that when I first took this job, but I had already made up my mind."
"I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but … What does Ronon have to say?"
The personal question coming from Mr. Woolsey caught her off guard. She groped for words. "I don't know. I haven't mentioned this to anyone else. I'm accustomed to making decision by myself based on what's best for me."
"I see, and I can't fault you for it because I do the same. Of course, that's why I'm divorced and without a dog."
She searched for a response, but came up with none.
o o o
Ronon ducked the Bantos rod and grabbed for Cassandra's wrist, but she twisted and brought down the stick to strike his hip. He parried easily.
"I told you never go low. That's what your opponent will expect."
She came at him again, and defying all his advice, aimed low again. With well-placed strike to the back of her calves, she dropped like a stone onto the mat. Ronon loomed over her, and held out a hand.
"Do the unexpected."
Cassandra let him pull her to her feet, and she smacked his arm with the one Bantos rod she'd managed to hold onto. "Watch the legs. I have to be able to run all over the city to get everything done in time."
She hobbled over to the window bench – greatly exaggerating the pain, he thought – and took up a bottle of water. Ronon cast himself onto the seat beside her and waited until she caught her breath.
The gym was deserted so late at night, and they had the whole space to practice alone. It gave them both more freedom. The marines, especially the one named Colby, took issue with Ronon actually getting hits when Cassandra fumbled her footing or moved too slowly. Cassandra always seemed more determined to prove the strikes hadn't hurt when others watched their sparring sessions. Eventually, she had explained that on Earth it was frowned upon for men and women who were dating to hit each other with wooden sticks. On Sateda, it was encouraged.
"Did I really hurt you?"
"No," she said, flexing her calf muscles. "Just stings a little. You know I'm tougher than I look."
They fell into companionable silence for several minutes just enjoying the feeling of their arms touching and cool glass at their backs. At last, Cassandra shifted in her seat to look over at him. There was worry etched around her eyes, and she fiddled with the bottom seam of her t-shirt.
"It's good that Atlantis is going back to Pegasus." Ronon's brow furrowed. What should have been a happy statement, she made sound like a line in a eulogy. He said nothing and let her continue uninterrupted. "I always thought that it should. The Ancients left the city there for a reason, and not just because there were Wraith over Lantea. The city belongs in Pegasus. But … I'm not sure that I do."
He resisted the urge to leap to his feet and pace off the surge of emotion – anger or fear or whatever it was. Instead, he tightened his hands into fists on his thighs and looked away from Cassandra.
"The Milky Way is my home in a much wider sense than most of the rest of this expedition. They overthrew Ra thousands of years before the rest of the galaxy. I've lived under Goa'uld rule, and I feel like I owe the people of this galaxy my … I don't know, my talents, my efforts."
A deep frown marred Ronon's face. "The Goa'uld are defeated. There's only a handful on backwater planets, but you'd rather stay here and let the fear of the Wraith rule Pegasus? There are battles here, maybe, but there's a war in Pegasus."
"There's important work to do here that I think the SGC has neglected since the System Lords were defeated. Even one planet with a Goa'uld overlord is one too many, and I'll keep fighting until every last human in this galaxy is free."
The tension in Ronon's shoulders melted away, and he leaned back against the window again. Not long ago, he'd said he would fight until every last Wraith was dead. He'd meant it then and still intended it now.
"I'm not saying I won't come to Pegasus. Mr. Woolsey just informed me that if I don't, I might not be part of the Stargate program at all because the IOA isn't overly fond of having an alien raised by high-ranking military officers in their midst. I'm saying that I have a decision to make."
"So why'd you tell me if you haven't made up your mind?"
A rueful smile passed over her lips. "Because I took advice from someone who doesn't know you as well as I do."
"No, I'm glad you told me. I just didn't think you would," he added in a more jesting tone, "being the superior Hankan woman that you are."
"Okay, Mr. Machismo, let's go another round." She stood up and swung the Bantos rods around. "I am going to get one hit in before the night is over."
Ronon joined her in the center of the gym, twirling his own rods as he approached. Their easy banter had returned, but underneath lingered the question of how much longer it would last.