Talonopolis

"Do we put it in the lava base now, or wait for all three?"

Let's wait – just in case it blows up while we're gone

"You think that's a possibility?"

Why not? Who knows what they have on their ships protecting them from falling into the wrong hands?

And her and Talon would definitely fall into the category of wrong hands.

"Fair enough."

Mitchell checked out the 3-D representation on the heads-up screen and looked for a good place to land the dart. Someplace close to the lava flows – which should help shield the darts from being detected by any outside sensors – but close enough that it wouldn't be too far back to the Stargate for them to go get the next one.

In the ravine that led to her primary entrance into the lava base, they'd found several overhangs further down, and that ended up being the best place she and Talon could come up with. So she flew the dart along the ravine, and brought it in for a hard – but not completely uncontrolled – landing.

Nice

Yeah, she could hear the sarcasm in his 'voice'.

"Hey, any landing you can walk away from is a good one."

Who told you that?

"Hush."

She turned the power off and the harness unlocked from around her, allowing her to get out of the chair – although it had done a great job of keeping her from braining herself on the dash when she'd crashed.

I thought you called that a landing…

She ignored that, and turned towards the back of the ship, looking for something that would open the 'hatch'. What she found was a panel that looked identical to the one on the outside, and she palmed it, watching in fascination as the metal once more seemed to melt away, leaving an opening for her to hop out of.

We need to find out how that works, Talon said, just as impressed.

"Definitely."

She took her bearings, stretching her legs just a little after being cooped up in the small cockpit, and then headed for the easiest part of the ravine wall. There weren't a lot of hand and footholds, but she was a fair climber and in great shape, so it didn't take her too long to get up to the main level of the lava flows once more. Settling her weapons in place and looking up at the sun – deciding they had plenty of time – she headed for the gate at a quick jog.

One down, and two to go.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Atlantis

It was a large group that was gathered in the conference room. All three of the Light Ones – Daniel had taken a seat right beside Kale, still curious about finding out more about his people although he knew that there were more important matters to be considered – were there, as well as Teyla, who had been introduced to the newcomers and had sized O'Neill up as an obvious leader, although her main interest seemed to be in Teal'c just at the moment. Weir suspected it was because Teal'c held a symbiote – like Melony did – and so he was giving off a stronger life force than the others in the room. Although she did wonder what the Light Ones looked like to someone like Teyla, and made a mental note to ask some time when there was less on the table.

McKay had joined the group, of course, making a beeline for the seat next to Colonel Carter – right up until Teal'c had scowled at him and taken the seat before he could – and McKay hadn't argued. He was well aware that the Jaffa wasn't all that fond of him – and really, hadn't had a lot of time or reason to improve relations between the two.

Jack sat on the other side of Sam, flanking her and scowling at McKay as well – although he had his own reasons for not wanting Rodney next to Sam – and Carson Beckett was called to join them, and he sat down across from O'Neill and between Sheppard and Ford, giving the General a look that Jack didn't understand, but didn't have the time to wonder about.

All of the newcomers had been silent while Weir explained to them the very first hours of their journey through the gate to Atlantis – the Light Ones were listening with interest as well, because they'd never heard this story of their allies in its entirety, either. But when Sheppard took over, telling of going through the gate with Sumner and the other away team looking for a safe place to relocate should the worst happen with the shielding around Atlantis and the subsequent attack of the Wraith on Teyla's people, Jack couldn't help himself.

"Wraith?"

Sheppard nodded, as did Teyla and Ford. Those three had been there and had seen them.

"They're-"

"The Wraith do not exist," Teal'c said, his deep voice filled with scorn.

"Tell that to my people," Teyla said, looking over at the Jaffa. "They have been a terror to my people for generations, feeding off-"

"Feeding?" Jack interrupted.

"The Wraith are a race of beings that survive on the life force of others," Teyla explained.

"They literally suck the life right out of you," Carson said. "Years at a time. And they regenerate like nothing I've ever seen."

"They're practically immortal," McKay said.

"Immortal?"

"No they're not," Sheppard disagreed. "They live a long time, sure – but they die. I've killed enough of them to know they're not immortal."

"They-"

"Stop." Jack interrupted, holding his hand up because it looked like McKay and Sheppard were about to get into some heated debate, and Jack didn't have time for that. "Finish the story, Major."

That was an order, and Sheppard nodded. He went on to tell about the end of the attack and how several of the Athosians and the Marines – including Colonel Sumner – had been captured by the Wraith, taken through the Stargate, and how Ford had memorized the address before they'd escaped completely.

Jack frowned at that, but he didn't interrupt as Sheppard had expected him to, instead listening as the Major explained how they'd discovered the Jumpers and had gone on a rescue mission, only to end up being too late to save Sumner – although the others had more or less come out intact.

For the first time Jack stopped him. He had Sheppard go back over the story of Sumner's death, his face pale and his expression unreadable. Only the fact that his hands were clenched tightly on the table in front of him showed the anger he was feeling as he heard how the Wraith had tortured his friend to try to get the location of Earth – and how Sumner had told them to go to hell. And had paid for that defiance.

John told the General the truth; that he, and not the Wraith had been the one to actually kill Sumner, but Jack's expression never changed.

"I don't understand," Daniel said into the silence that followed that particular statement. "I mean… I understand that the Wraith are deadly and a serious threat to everyone in this galaxy – and our own, eventually – but where's Colonel Mitchell?"

"She's gone looking for them, Doctor Jackson," Weir said, softly.