Chapter 38
Chaos suddenly broke out as every one with a radio tried to figure out what was happening.
"I have to get to the infirmary." Jennifer said and took off at a run out of the mess hall.
"Control room?" M'Rhinna asked.
"Control room." John said and she reached across the table, simultaneously grabbing Rodney's and John's hand. They disappeared from the mess hall and reappeared in a frantic control room.
"Thanks." John said as she released them.
"Don't mention it." She said.
"Rodney, I need to know what the hell just happened!" John said and Rodney went to a control panel.
"The city received direct blasts to the shield generator and the drone bay doors." He said.
"What the hell is going on?" Sam asked, entering the control room.
"We were attacked." John said.
"By who?" she asked.
"Colonel Carter, we're receiving audio and visual." Chuck said.
"Put it up on the screen." She said and he did.
"Atlantis, it would be in your best interest to respond."
"Michael." John said and M'Rhinna and Ronon growled at the sight of the Wraith-hybrid on screen.
"Open a channel." Sam said and he did. "This is Colonel Carter of Atlantis. State your business, Michael."
"So good of you to reply. I can see Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay, Ronon Dex and oh my…a Noctin." Michael said and M'Rhinna's fangs dropped. "But where are Teyla and her baby?"
"Safe." John said through gritted teeth. "What do you want?"
"My request is simple. Give me the baby and I will spare your city. You may also be wondering why you are not picking my Hive up on any of your equipment. You can thank the shielding generator of the Puddle Jumper I took for that."
"You're not taking my son." John said.
"Your son? Did I get the fraternal blood line wrong? Oh, you mean the son of your heart. How…touching." He said with a sneer. "Give me the boy, and you all live."
"He's lying." Ronon said.
"He does that." Rodney said.
Unseen by all of them, M'Rhinna closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, reaching out with her mind to David on the mainland. They instantly connected and she opened her eyes.
On the mainland Teyla stopped mid-sentence with a gasp, getting an image in her mind of the control room, Michael's face up on the screen. She looked down at David in her arms who was gazing up at her with M'Rhinna's startling blue eyes.
"Major Lorne!" she called out, leaving the tent and Kanaan behind.
"Teyla!" he called after her but she ignored him.
"Evan!" she called out again and the Major looked up from a piece of Athosian art. "One of Michael's Hives is shielded in orbit, we have to get into the jumper and cloak it now!"
"What? How do you know?"
"No time!"
Once M'Rhinna knew that Teyla was safe in a cloaked Jumper, she broke the connection and began to work on tracing the signal back to the neural interface of the Hive ship to reveal its position, in doing so, she made an important discovery.
"He isn't even on the Hive." She said aloud and they looked at her. "He's using it as a relay station; the signal is coming from thousands of light years away."
"The Noctin is quite correct." Michael said. "I am not aboard the Hive targeting the central tower."
"Just like a Wraith…a coward." M'Rhinna said.
"Just like a Noctin…getting into others affairs." He said and she growled again. "How civilized."
"So, why send a Hive to do your dirty work?" Ronon asked.
"As always, the Satedan fails to see the simple answer." Michael said.
"If we manage to destroy the Hive it'll save the city, but he won't be killed because he's not on it." M'Rhinna said. "So he'll be free to send another Hive."
"Son of a bitch." Ronon said.
"Exactly." She said.
"Tell me something, Colonel Sheppard. You would kill me on sight, but you allow a bigger monster to charm its way into the city. How is that possible?"
"She asked politely." John said and M'Rhinna gave Michael a sassy smile.
"Ronon." She thought, connecting to his mind. He looked at her, but didn't say a word.
"Yeah?"
"I need your help with something. I haven't done it in a while and might need some support."
"Whatever you need." He thought and she grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his.
"Interesting, the beast bedding down with the animal." Michael said but they ignored the dig. M'Rhinna closed her eyes and concentrated.
Static electricity began to rise in the control room, hair started to stand up on end and mini arcs of electricity passed between people. The equipment began to malfunction, the video feed breaking up into static. A small blue ball of energy began to grow in the control room, the lights in the room flickering and some even went out altogether, casting them into a light gloom. It grew to the size of a bowling ball as tinted sweat began to bead on her forehead. Opening her eyes she reached out and touched it, tapping it lightly with a fingertip. It shot out of the room; moving through a pane of glass and making it bow outwards.
"The Hive ship just showed up on our scanners." Chuck said. "And now it's gone. The video feed has gone dead as well."
"That's because it was destroyed." M'Rhinna said languidly.
"What was that thing?" Sam asked.
"Collective telekinetic energy used as a weapon. I didn't just move something; I gathered the energy in one spot and used that to destroy the Hive. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to lay down for a bit." Without a word, Ronon helped her as she staggered and stumbled from the control room, obviously exhausted. "You can contact Teyla now and tell her it's safe." She called behind her as she left.