A loud, piercing alarm repeated constantly echoed eerily through the ship as Heart ran through the dark halls, panting as she randomly chose passageways that appeared in front of her. She knew her chances of finding the dart bay were slim, but still she hoped. Pausing as the sound of measured footsteps came from in front of her, the girl sank back against a warm, organic wall as four wraith drones jogged through the crossway in front of her, none seeming to notice her short, slender form in the shadows.
Standing barely over five feet and with no weapons, Heart knew she was no match for any wraith, let alone four. Her clothing, a worn dress consisting of a dark leather bodice and black satin skirt and sleeves, would offer no protection from the stun weapons that would be used to recapture her. She had pale greenish skin that was smooth and few of tattoos. Her red hair, reaching just below her chin, swayed as she glanced around, making sure she was alone before stepping away from the wall.
She breathed a small sigh, which was caught in her throat as weapons fire suddenly erupted in the direction the wraith had taken. The loud, staccato bursts filled her with fear-obviously belonging to whomever had set off the alarms that gave enough distraction to allow her escape attempt, and probably not friendly to her. Heart took off again, turning down the hall away from the noise. She had to skid to a stop just around the next corner, however, as another group of wraith appeared; this time, the four drones were led by a wraith she knew too well. He leered down at her, as though he was in no way surprised that she had escaped her cell.
*Going somewhere?* He sneered, reaching a clawed hand for her. She dodged his hand with a snarl and turned to run down another corridor, away from both the wraith and the weapons fire. The sound of pursuit made her push her body to move faster. *I want her alive!* She heard the lead wraith yell to his companions as she ducked down another hall, a stun blast hitting the wall just behind her.
Lungs burning, Heart groaned as she rounded another corner only to find a dead end. Pressing her back against the wall, she turned and glowered at her pursuers as they slowly walked towards her. As her hope of escape faded with each closing step, the weapons fire she'd heard earlier erupted again, this time directly behind her would-be captors. She hissed and lifted a hand to her right shoulder as a burning pain tore through her flesh.
She watched in stunned amazement as the five wraith in front of her twisted and fell to the ground. She looked back up to see who had killed them, and her eyes filled with dread. Keeping one hand on her aching shoulder, she pressed her back into the living wall as if she could disappear into it. In front of her stood four humans, weapons pointed at the dead wraith between them.
The tallest of the four glanced up at her, and in an instant his weapon was raised and ready to fire. She couldn't help the small cry of fear that fell from her lips as she raised both hands in front of her and crouched defensively.
"Wait!" Yelled a male voice-another of the humans holding his hand out to stop the first, though she didn't dare take her eyes off the weapon to see him clearly.
"She's a wraith!" The owner of the weapon snarled, and she shook at the venom in his voice.
"But they were chasing her! And she's just a child!" This voice belonged to a female. A shudder went through the ship, sending Heart slamming into the wall behind her with a hiss as the pain in her shoulder intensified from the impact. The humans, minus the one whose weapon was aimed at her, glanced around.
"Shouldn't we be getting back to the jumper? The Daedalus is gonna blow this hive up at any minute!" The fourth human, another male, gestured back the way they came, his voice nervous.
"McKay's right, we don't have time to figure this out now-we need to leave," the owner of the first voice stated impatiently. He sighed as he looked over the slight form in front of them. "Ronon, stun her and we'll get answers back in Atlantis," he finally said, and the man glaring at her tensed before lowering his weapon. She had barely a moment to register what had been said before he raised the weapon again, sending a bolt of red into her chest. She cried out and felt her legs buckle as a burning numbness spread through her body from the point of impact. The last thing Heart registered was the cautious approach of booted feet as her eyes slid shut.