Part 2

The sound of screaming wasn't far; the Wraith obviously didn't take them a long way from their original position.
Checking my weapon, I turned the first corner; there were no signs of the Wraith. Same for the second and the third but at the fourth turn the screams were close, deafeningly close.

I pointed the gun straight as I walked into what could only be described as a nest. I saw the first of my troops. His chest was bloody and his face was wrinkled. He looked old.

I knew now that none of the reports were exaggerated, these Wraith could really suck the life out of living beings, age you.

Slowly I walked into the room, slumped in a corner was another of the soldiers assigned to me, he was still alive but again looked older. He also had the signature hole in his chest.

I saw a blur move in front of me, was it one of the shadows the Wraith could project or was it an actual Wraith? Just over my shoulder a shot from a Wraith stunner struck the wall. I turned and fired in the direction of the shot. I heard the Wraith scream. I knew at least one shot had hit its mark. I saw the Wraith collapse to the floor and I grabbed the two survivors and hurriedly lifted them out of the room.

As I left I turned to throw in a grenade to ensure the Wraith was killed but when I looked it was gone. Curiously I walked towards the only other way out; a balcony high in the city.

As I walked out I noticed more dead Wraith and some badly burnt soldiers and a bent pier. I looked over and there were no signs of the Wraith that had fled. I began to suspect that one of the corpses wasn't as dead as I thought.

My suspicions were confirmed as the Wraith closest to me jumped at me. I fired twice and moved out of the way. I saw the beast fall towards the vast deep blue sea and I laughed. I had done it! I had successfully taken on a Wraith on my own!

My radio buzzed, someone was trying to contact me, I lifted the small black object to my head height and spoke into it, "I'm fine, I have dispatched a Wraith but there are two dead teams here on the pier.", "Thank you Major we'll dispatch a cleanup crew as soon as possible" came Shepperd's voice through the Radio. I smiled and collapsed to the floor. They'd just have to kill the rest without me.

38 Days Later

Today was the day the Daedalus was due back, due back to the mystical city we saved from destruction at the hands of twelve hive ships. They had adapted to our transportation technology and ten of them survived our attack plan and made it here. We survived through the use of a Puddle Jumpers cloaking device used with the shield generators to gather a big enough field to cloak the whole city. Since then they left us alone, left us to search for our missing man; Lieutenant Aiden Ford.

Ford had become some kind of superhuman after having a Wraith enzyme released quickly into his system. It had made him faster and stronger but it had made him irrational. He stole a Puddle Jumper and fled Atlantis to acquire more of the enzyme.

We had been searching for him since. However, Major Shepperd and Doctor Weir along with most of the senior staff had gone back to Earth through the gate and hand-picked the new members of the expedition.

I was waiting to look for a particular name, a singular name on a list of thousands, Mark Davies. Would he be there? I hoped so; he was my best friend my whole life and he was at the SGC whilst I was on the Prometheus. He had all the qualifications needed and had clearance already; he had to be on the Daedalus on the way back.

I walked to what we had now designated the mess and got something to eat, the mainland provided all of our main food needs but I found myself craving Ice Cream, there was no Ice Cream anywhere on Atlantis. It made sense, there were no cows on the mainland but it was the one thing I missed, again one thing amongst thousands.

As I grabbed what I assumed was a meat dish the base alarm sounded. The Daedalus had entered the system. Or at least we hoped it was the Daedalus; our sensors picked up the blip, it was late already, they should have contacted us by now. I began to panic, what if it wasn't the Daedalus what if the Wraith found us again. We couldn't hold out and our old tactic wouldn't work!

Quickly I ran to the radio and hit the transmitter, "Unidentified craft please identify yourself!" I shakily requested. There was no reply. I panicked even more, I knew that the city shield could protect us but for how long?

I hit the alarm and everyone ran to their posts. I walked to the nearest Balcony and looked upwards, I saw it enter the atmosphere and flinched, what was it? It was just beyond our view.

Suddenly it swung under the atmosphere and I saw the familiar shape of the Daedalus heading into the east pier.

I ordered a full security team to the pier; I knew something was going on, why didn't they answer? They were in range, I feared the Wraith had got to them and I sped up towards the nearest transporter.

I hit the pier and immediately the door opened onto the amazing view of the Daedalus landing. The teams were already here, ready to face whatever came out of the ship.

The relief was apparent on our faces as we saw three marines leave the ship followed by Shepperd and Weir. They explained that their communications had to be destroyed to get rid of some freaky wraith virus.

I was so happy to see them; the smile couldn't have been cut off my face. They were back and they had brought an army of extra people. From doctors to soldiers you name it they were on the ship. I ran to the door and watched the people come out; it was amazing to behold; the foremost experts from each country coming out of a singular ship, still I waited. No sign of Mark anywhere. I stood for almost an hour before I saw him.

He had taken the job! I was so happy to see him, to talk to him again; I needed to catch up on what was going on at home. Smiling he walked towards me. I will never forget that moment. I no longer felt so alone on Atlantis; I had made no friends since arriving. It wasn't easy, I was a commander of a team, it was my job to be tough and it was their job not to complain about me. But that didn't make them like me. Luckily I now had a friendly face to talk to. I hadn't just talked with someone since the fresh young man on the Daedalus.

TO BE CONTINUED...