Before they could wrap their minds around the loss of Melony's First Prime – and everything else that had happened – yet another gurney entered the infirmary, this time with Kale on it. He was, of course, naked, but he'd been covered with a blanket. Which was either to keep him warm – in case of shock – or just because it was easier for the medics to deal with him if he were covered. Not everyone was all that used to him being naked, after all.

"Kale?"

The Light One was scratched up in a few places – mainly his shoulder and elbow – and there was a nasty cut on his forehead, which was covered with a bloody bandage.

"I'm fine," he assured them with a slight smile, trying to look a little less battered.

Sam looked at the medic, who smiled, and nodded.

"He's just a little beat up. Bumps and bruises and a couple of cuts. He'll be fine in a day or two. Unless he doesn't heal like we do…"

"I'll heal fine," Kale said, not at all offended at being discussed like he was different from them. He was, after all.

Weir arrived in the infirmary only a few moments later, breathless. She frowned when she saw Kale, realized immediately that he wasn't badly injured and turned to the others, knowing there were other – more important things – to find out.

"How are they?"

Sam shook her head.

"We're not sure about General O'Neill and Colonel Mitchell. He's in surgery right now, and for some reason Doctor Beckett has ordered Melony to be isolated from the rest of us."

"And Tao?"

Sam hesitated, and Daniel spoke up.

"He didn't make it."

"What?"

"He crashed into one of the towers… and didn't survive."

Weir paled. She hadn't had as much of a chance to get know the Jaffa as Daniel and Sam had – they'd known him for years, although not all that well – but she had already learned enough about him to know that his death was a dreadful loss.

"Does Colonel Mitchell know?"

Sheppard shook his head.

"I'm sure she doesn't. She wasn't very responsive when I brought her in…"

"Is she injured?"

"Her dart's fine."

"Then-"

"We don't know. Beckett didn't say anything – but he warned us to stay away from her. And he was serious."

She nodded, and took a deep breath.

"Grodin and Rodney are looking through the data that we received from the Ancient's listening posts in the path of the explosion. They should have something for us by now." She looked at Sam. "There's a small room next to the infirmary. We'll use that as a briefing room so that we can still be close enough to have any updates when they come, but will also be out of the way of the medics. If you feel up to it?"

Sam just nodded, glancing towards the door of the room that Jack had vanished into – and might never return from. Not alive, anyways. She felt a pang that almost floored her, and Daniel's hand on her back was the only thing that steadied her.

"That's fine…"

She had to know what had happened. She'd be the one to report to Jack, after all. When he was better.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"The first listening post was positioned on the other side of the system from Talonopolis. Judging by the time that we saw the last two darts enter the sky above Atlantis and the time that we lost the signal from the listening post, we could calculate the force and speed of the explosion from the planet…"

Rodney fell silent, watching those who were gathered around the table. All of them looked tired, and worried, and scared. And none of them seemed to understand what had just happened. Or they were all so numb that it hadn't sunk in, yet.

Weir looked at him.

"And…?"

"The explosion was bigger than I thought. The mere fact that we lost connection so quickly indicates that the force of the blast reached the listening post in mere moments – I had expected it to take several minutes."

"And the Wraith?" Daniel asked.

"They're gone."

"You're sure?" Weir asked.

"Oh, yeah."

"What if some of them managed to figure out what was going on and tried to escape?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney rolled his eyes.

"They couldn't have. There's no place they could have gone. The darts were too close to the explosion to even attempt to get to the gate – if any of them had even managed to have time to think about it. The hive ships are far too large for them to go through the gate – again, if they could have even reached it by the time they realized what was happening and attempted to escape. Chances are, none of them had a clue what was happening, and they're all ashes, now. If even that."

"But we'll test it, anyways," Grodin said, interrupting. "Just to make sure."

"Test it how?" Sheppard asked.

"We still have the darts. Most of them, any ways. Once we reanimate the Jaffa, we're going to use the telemetry on the darts to see if they get any hits from any hive ships. If there are any out there, they're going to be looking for their own survivors, and that means they're going to be using their technology to try and find them."

"What about the Jaffa?" Weir asked, giving a slight sigh of relief. While Rodney was arrogant and cocky and annoying, he was also a genius, and she had no reason to doubt what he was telling her – even though it simply sounded too good to be true. Their plan had worked like clockwork. But the cost had been more than she'd wanted them to pay.

"They're fine," Rodney said. "As far as we can tell, anyways. We-"

"The data card on the Wraith dart piloted by Tao has been found and recovered." The voice drew everyone's attention to the door, and Teal'c walked in, looking as solid and imposing as a concrete wall. Beside him was Teyla, who didn't look anywhere near as calm.

"Is it intact?" Sam asked.

"It appears to be fine. The Light Ones pulled it from the wreckage before it was damaged."

"Thank God," Weir said, softly, closing her eyes. They'd lost too much already.

"We will want to reanimate them as soon as possible," Teal'c said, looking at Rodney.

"Yes, of course."

McKay wasn't going to argue with the Jaffa. He might have told Grodin that they were fine where they were for a couple of days, but when Teal'c said it… well… it was going to be done before he went to bed.

"I'll take care of it right now."

Teal'c nodded, and looked at Sam.

"O'Neill?"

She swallowed hard.

"He's in surgery. Colonel Mitchell's in an isolation room."

"Injured?"

"We don't know, Teal'c. Doctor Beckett won't let any of us see her to find out."