Chapter 25: Now see, that's gonna stain.
Waking this time on a very hard floor I at first had no idea where I was. I opened my eyes slowly and looked up at the ceiling. Okay – still on the Wraith ship – that was bad. But not back in a cocoon – was that bad or good? Before I could decide two guards arrived and opened my cell door. They each grabbed an arm and dragged me down the corridor. I was still feeling the effects of the stun and couldn't completely carry my own weight as I stumbled along between them.
"Where are we going?" I gasped out, feeling the panic starting to spiral out of control again. How did John handle this? I could barely think, let along keep my head enough to work out a plan of attack.
We'd arrived at a large chamber with a very high ceiling and what could only be described as a throne at the far end. Along the walls yellow pin pricks of light emerged from the floor and travelled in the air almost to the ceiling. The guards halted a few steps into the chamber and stood with heads bowed. I had been looking around curiously but my gaze was quickly drawn towards the throne when a slight sound alerted me to the presence of someone else.
"You escaped our storage cell," the Wraith Queen rasped in a weird echoing voice. She was draped over the throne and fulfilled every description I'd ever heard from John. Her hair was long and black streaked with silver ... down her neck to her chest were black tattoos in a pattern that probably meant something. She was attractive in a grey, waxy, inherently evil way ... if you could get over the teeth which I so couldn't.
"Yeah well I find it really hard to sleep anywhere other than my own bed," I quipped somewhat nervously, deciding to take a page out of the John Sheppard book on Wraith Queen interrogations. "Not that your hospitality wasn't lovely and all."
"You do not belong on the planet we culled - where are you from?" the Queen demanded, getting up and walking slowly towards me.
"I come from a land down under," I half sang. "You wouldn't like it though – very hot."
"Do not mock me!" The Queen invaded my personal space, baring her teeth as she hissed in fury. She raised her hands beside my head and glared at me intensely ... I felt the force of her mind slamming into my own ... I could hear her voice in my head commanding for me to yield. It was more powerful than anything I'd experienced previously but not unfamiliar. It was that fact that enabled me to resist her initial attack. She was trying to bring me to my knees and although I could feel my knees shaking I held strong and managed to remain standing.
The Queen roared in fury, slapping my face before stepping back and pacing in front of me.
"Hey!" I protested, raising a hand to wipe at my lip and discovering she'd actually drawn blood.
"You will tell me what I wish to know," she promised menacingly.
"You'd have to treat me a lot better than this before I'd even tell you the time," I smiled mockingly. From some unknown place deep inside I drew the strength to not only resist panicking but also to give the impression that I wasn't even scared. I was though. Scared that is – I was really scared.
"Insolence!" she roared, slapping me again. Not to state the obvious but that really hurt! Blood from my broken lip ran down into the neckline of my white t-shirt.
"Now see, that's gonna stain," I complained in an annoying whining tone. I don't know what was driving me ... all I knew was that John's smart arse tactics with the Wraith Queens had always worked well for him in the past. Perhaps the Wraith were so used to a lack of resistance after so many centuries they lacked the ability to control their reactions. That certainly seemed to be the case with this Queen – her eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets and if her teeth weren't so pointy I'm sure she'd have been grinding them right about then.
Again she slammed the force of her mind towards me ... expecting exactly that I had decided on a different tactic. Any wall, no matter how well braced, would fall if enough power was thrown against it. But if you couldn't see the wall ... well that would make it all the more difficult. So I filled my mind with a constant stream of 'noise' – song words, book outlines, maths equations, and computer programs – anything I could use to confuse her.
We struggled like that for a few seconds before the Queen again broke off her attack. Screaming in frustration she strode away, motioning for the guards to take me back to my cell.
I was all set to try escaping with the blade I still had in my boot but my plan was thwarted because as soon as they pushed me inside one of the guards stunned me again.
"
I woke up much as before although this time I knew immediately where I was. Trying to shake off the effects of the Wraith stun I rolled onto my hands and knees, dropping my head to the floor when the room started spinning. I was glad I didn't have a mirror handy because from the way my face was feeling I would not be a pretty sight.
After a few moments I was able to pull myself slowly to my feet and stumble over to the cell door. I thought maybe I could use what I'd learned about Wraith telepathy from Teyla to activate the door controls. After all, I was already experienced in controlling technology with my mind. I tried using a similar technique to that required by the Ancient technology but had no success in the time it took for the guards to come and get me again.
As the guards escorted me back to the Queens chamber I wondered how long I'd been on the Wraith ship and whether there was any chance that Atlantis had mounted a rescue mission. I would just be deluding myself if I relied on that though, because I knew they'd have no way of knowing where I was – hell I was there and I had no idea where there was!
"Are you ready to cooperate?" the Queen had obviously calmed down since our last encounter.
"Not really," I said making a big production out of looking around the chamber. "I like the whole ... disco thing you've got going here by the way," I told her. "Kinda reminds me of Saturday Night Fever – but without the tight pants." I turned and looked her up and down mockingly, "Wait a minute – there they are!"
"You're insolence will not provoke me this time," she almost grinned, showing me more of those teeth than I really wanted to see up close.
"You can't blame a girl for trying," I excused my behaviour, wondering what tact she was going to take this time.
"I can be ... generous to those who give me what I want," the Queen offered, with a cunning look on her face. Okay – so bribery was the next card on the table.
"You have nothing to offer that I could possibly want!" I laughed at the very thought.
"How about the lives of your friends?" the queen suggested smugly.
"What friends?" I asked with an obviously confused look on my face.
"The ones who were with you on that planet," she explained. I looked closely at her expression but the waxy skin and protruding teeth left little room for interpretation of subtle emotion. The best I'd been able to work out so far was when the Queen was angry or really happy about something.
"I'll tell you what," I offered reasonably. "If you can describe even one of these friends you say you have then I'll consider it." When she turned away in angry frustration I breathed a silent sigh of relief. "I didn't think so," I said smugly.
"But you can't be sure," the Queen turned back to me in calculation. "Are you really willing to risk the lives of others?"
"I'm gonna have to go with yes," I replied simply.
The Queen moved faster than I'd expected, slamming a knee up into my stomach. While I was doubled over in pain she launched her mental attack. I was hurting and not completely ready but again was able to slam my own forces back at her. We engaged in a silent battle for a few seconds even though it was clearly a stalemate – kind of like sword fights in old movies when the protagonists crossed swords but neither could break the others hold.
"You are strong," the Queen acknowledged, breaking off her attack. My initial resistance had angered her but now she seemed intrigued ... for some reason that made me a hell of a lot more nervous than her anger had.
'You might as well just let me go," I instructed helpfully. "Ask any of my friends ... I'm really a lot of trouble most of the time."
"If you won't tell me what I want to know there is no point in keeping you alive," the Queen leered at me. "I will end this by draining your life – your defiance will satisfy my hunger in a way it hasn't been satisfied in many years."
"I wouldn't recommend that ... I'd probably give you indigestion," I warned nervously. Inside I was quaking at the very thought ... I'd never seen the Wraith feed and John had carefully edited his accounts to remove any kind of description of what happened beyond the whole hand thing.
"We shall see," the Wraith queen promised.
Rather than waiting to see what she'd do next, I slammed my mind at hers just as she raised her hand over my chest. My only goal was to prevent her hand from connecting and I applied my full force to that alone. I knew from previous experience that the Wraith mind was dark and ugly and driven primarily by hunger. The Queen was different – the overriding hunger was still there but with it came calculation and deception and a keen intelligence.
I was surprised the Queen didn't push me out immediately ... I didn't pause to think about why that might be. Instead I held that block on her hand while trying to see anything else that might be useful. The Queen was concentrating just as intently on me ... I could only hope that she wasn't picking anything useful up from behind the noise I continued to project out in all directions.
When it looked like the Queen was actually beginning to shake with the effort of holding me off I took the opportunity to move the conflict to the physical level. I knew the Wraith were both stronger and faster than I could ever hope to be. But this Wraith was distracted and weakened by the mental effort she'd already expended. The element of surprise allowed me one free shot and I tried to make the most of it. I leaped at her, going for the jugular and slamming a hard chop across her neck. Hoping that would take her out as it would a human opponent I still followed up quickly with an elbow to her nose.
The Queen howled in rage, clawing at her throat for air as disgusting Wraith blood spurted from her nose. The two guards who'd remained in the room ran towards me, pointing their stun guns but unwilling to use them because my close proximity to their Queen might mean they'd hit her instead of me. One of the guards rushed me with a Wraith knife - I pushed the Queen straight at him but he still slashed at me as he fumbled to keep the Queen upright. Ducking around his other side I grabbed the stun gun and got off a quick shot. Spinning I fired two quick blasts at the other guard before turning back and blasting multiple stun shots in the direction of the queen.
When I was sure they were all down for the count I ran over to the Queens console, put my hands on the control and used what I'd gleaned from her mind to access the Hive ship schematics. Their systems were different from the Ancient technology ... there the technology itself did most of the work – you just had to be open to the connection and focussed in terms of mental control so the machines would do what you wanted them to. The Wraith technology seemed to require a much more intense mental effort – you had to force your way into the neural interface, force it to register the presence of the Wraith gene, and then impose enormous control to command whatever action was required. Maybe in time I could get just as good at that as I was with the Ancient stuff but for now it was all I could do to focus enough to find out where the Dart Bay was.
Taking the stun guns with me I ran out of the Queens chamber, sprinting down the corridor. When I say ran I mean limped – I hadn't been quite quick enough and the guard had managed to slice my thigh. It stung like hell and I could feel the blood beginning to soak my pants but I didn't risk stopping to see how bad it was. There were surprisingly few guards throughout the ship – I guess the Wraith weren't used to their food fighting back. I only had to stun a couple of them to reach the Dart Bay. I said a silent thank you to Rodney who had continued to give me all the intel on the Wraith language, including what he'd learned about Wraith Darts while working with Lieutenant Ford.
I knew the Dart would go on automatic pilot to exit the Hive ship once I'd activated it – once clear of the ship I'd have to fly the Dart somewhere and contact Atlantis from there. It was John's instructions on flying a Puddle Jumper as well as what I'd learnt about flying in general that saved me. Still, flying a Wraith Dart was much more difficult than I would have expected. My head was pounding only a few minutes into the flight as I struggled to keep control and fly in a straight line.
My first bit of good fortune in days was the discovery that the Hive ship was in orbit over a planet with a space gate ... relying on the Puddle Jumper to provide me with the crucial 7th symbol I'd need to dial a gate address I breathed a sigh of relief when the dialling sequence to M7G 677 (the only address I could remember off the top of my head) completed and the wormhole opened. Somehow I managed to fly the Dart through the gate, arriving to a sunny day on the planet with all the kids.
Knowing I couldn't fly the ship near their settlement I instead dialled M6B 373 immediately and ended up back on the planet I'd started the mission from. Knowing the Wraith had completed their cull and were long gone I thought it the safest place to hide – surely that would be the last place they'd look.
The headache the Queens attack had caused was getting steadily worse as I grappled to control the Dart. I didn't think I'd be able to land so I flew it into orbit instead and deactivated all the systems. The pain from my ribs coupled with the loss of blood from my thigh wound was making me light headed. "I'll just have a little rest," I thought, "then I'll try landing the Dart on the planet.
Authors Note:
"I come from a land down under" is taken from the song of the same name by Men at Work – being an Aussie and all I just couldn't resist! chevron7 - I hope you liked the Aus reference too!!
I don't know if a Puddle Jumper can provide the 7th symbol for a stargate address but I'm assuming it can - especially for space gates how would they know the return address to Atlantis unless the Jumper can work it out??