Chapter 8: A visit with the queen.

Pins and needles greeted John as he slowly awoke and it took him a while to realise that the wraith had stunned him – yet again. At least he hadn't been fed on this time, but he didn't know what was worse – being fed on, or a visit with the queen. Right now, he'd probably prefer to be unconscious because at least if he were unconscious, he wouldn't feel her poking around in his mind. Although if he were conscious at least he would be able to try and shut her out – as painful as it was.

Finally, he decided that it was time to open his eyes and when he did it was no surprise that he was in a wraith holding cell with Gerry and one other wraith – who he decided to name Tom – outside his cell.

Standing to his feet – the best he could with pins and needles, he walked over to the cell door and with a hint of sarcasm in his voice he spoke to the guards," hey Gerry I don't think much of these accommodations, can I please see the manager?"

There was no reply, so he spoke again, "Hey Gerry, I need to speak to your manager right now?"

He knew that he should probably keep his mouth shut, but when he was in stressful situations, being sarcastic helped to calm him and right now he was terrified of what was to come. Even though he had faced wraith queens before he was still scared of them.

"You will remain quiet human, until my queen is ready to see you," Gerry snarled at him before continuing, "If I had my way, I would have fed on you already, but my queen's orders are that we should bring anyone who has been fed on before to her."

"Oh goody, what fun, "he muttered under his breath knowing that an interview with the queen would not be pleasant at all.

Tom turned to face him and put his hand through the bars and grabbed him by the neck, "you will be quiet human because I have been known to disobey my queen's orders before and I have lived to tell the tale."

Rather than let go when Tom had finished talking to him, he tightened his hand and instantly John felt his oxygen supply being cut off. The more he struggled the harder it became to breathe and before too long he saw black dots dancing in front of his eyes and just when he thought he was going to suffocate he felt himself flying through the air and when he stopped the back of his head connected with the wall and immediately everything went black. The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was the feeling of sliding down the wall as the ground came up to meet him.

oOo

Taking one last look at Todd, Teyla turned and followed the others towards Arastica. Although she wanted to be with John right now, she knew that the mission was of the utmost importance, and she needed to see it completed whatever the cost. She knew that John would probably be okay because he had faced wraith queens before and managed to shut them out, but she knew that it was never a pleasant experience for him. This time they had Todd to help, so maybe that would make all the difference – she sure hoped so.

She walked on in silence following behind Torren, Rodney and Dave who seemed to be talking about theoretical constructs and all she could do, was try and shut them out. Carson was walking alongside her and Ronon was behind her but given how slow the three people in front of her were walking it seemed as if they would never get to Arastica.

A soft voice interrupted her thoughts, "are you feeling alright Luv?"

"I just hope that John is alright. He has had a rough time since we have been back in the Pegasus galaxy, and I hope that when this mission is over, we can have some downtime and have our bonding ceremony."

"He has plenty to live for Luv, so he will do everything he can to survive and I'm sure that Todd will help out in whatever way he can."

"Thank you for your encouragement, Carson and I know that John will do anything he can to fight the wraith, it is just that I wish he didn't end up in the infirmary quite so often."

"Aye lass, I know."

They fell into silence as they approached Arastica, and she wasn't surprised to see that the city was as run down as she was in the future. Perhaps things didn't deteriorate much in the span of fifty years.

Torren turned to face them, "are we ready to go? Last time we entered on foot Arastica was happy for us to do so, I only hope that nothing has changed."

She held her breath as Torren placed his hand over the door sensor and much to her relief it slid open without any problems. Now all they had to do was get to the control room and try to create an anomaly to go back in time to Sheppard's planet and prevent the Wraith ship which was currently a burnt-out wreck, from crashing on the planet in the first place. It should be a simple mission, but she knew that nothing was ever that simple for them.

oOo

The next time John became aware he was being dragged through the burnt-out remains of the hive ship and he didn't feel well. Obviously, by the jackhammer that was rearranging his skull, he had hit his head hard. His vision was blurry, and he felt nauseous as well, so he chuckled to himself when he thought of hurling on the queen's feet. A grunt to the side of him caught his attention and it didn't take him long to realise that Gerry wasn't happy with him laughing – not that he was laughing, he actually felt more like screaming and crying given the situation that he found himself in. Life had been tough since he'd arrived back in the Pegasus galaxy and although technically it had only been a little over a week and most of it had been spent in the infirmary it had actually been close to three given the time he'd spent in the future.

A minute later he was unceremoniously dumped on the floor of the queen's chamber and when he lifted his head, he shuddered at the thought of her trying to get information out of him – not that he had any useful information to give her.

"Ah Colonel Sheppard I suspected that I would come across you sooner rather than later, but what I don't understand is why one of my new and improved wraith drones has already fed on you? At the moment most of them are hibernating, at least those who haven't woken up and fed on each other."

Rather than bother to answer her, he just glared at her, not wanting to show her how terrified he really was.

"Never mind I will get the information I need."

He shuddered as she ran her long cold fingers down his cheek, and he instantly heard her voice in his head.

Trying to close his mind he thought about flying, math problems, mindless military exercises and finally he tried to think of some of his favourite songs. It didn't seem to be working though because he could feel her delving deeper into his mind and it was beginning to hurt.

Finally, she broke through and although he tried to put a wall around his memories, it was too late.

Walking through the wild grasses, he kept his eye out for trouble, knowing that if anything could happen it probably would. After walking for about five minutes, he noticed a dark shape in the distance and whatever it was it definitely didn't belong on this planet.

Pulling out his gun he walked along in silence – on high alert. As he got closer to the black object he noticed smoke, it was at that point he began to suspect that it may be a crashed Wraith dart. He had no idea why it would have crashed this far out, and a sudden sense of foreboding came over him.

At this point, he managed to push back and block the memory. The last thing he wanted to do was to let her know what had happened, or worse still let her know that Todd was helping them. She took her hand away from his face and he fell to the ground breathing heavily and wincing at the excruciating pain that was shooting through his skull.

"You are strong John Sheppard, just like many of my sisters will tell me in future times and yes, I do realise that my hive was sent back in time ten thousand years. The only question I have is, were you involved in it somehow.

She started to run her cold slimy fingers down the side of his face again, "I wish to know more. Tell me what happened in the future, John Sheppard?"

Again, he tried to distract her from poking around in his mind but given the pounding in his head, he knew that it was going to be difficult and before long he gave up the fight.

A sound behind him caught his attention, so he quickly turned around and he saw nothing. He turned back around and right in front of him was the biggest Wraith that he had ever seen. Before he'd had a chance to shoot him the Wraith had his hand around his neck and was throwing him through the air. Landing heavily, he managed to get his gun up and start to shoot, while trying to get up at the same time. He must have zoned out for a minute or two because the next thing he knew was the Wraith had slammed its feeding hand into his chest and was starting to feed. He felt the wraith enzyme flooding his system and for an instant, it felt good, then he felt the wraith tearing his life away from him while shredding his nerve endings apart. Feeling weaker, by the minute his life flashed before his eyes and all he could think was that he would never see Teyla or Torren again. Eventually, the agony that he was experiencing became too much for him and he screamed. Just when he thought he was going to die he heard a gunshot ring out and the wraith fell on top of him – killed, by a bullet to the head.

Now he was old, weak and had a huge dead wraith lying on top of him and it was making it difficult for him to breathe, so what the hell was he supposed to do now?

Struggling he managed to shut her out with the last of his strength and it wasn't long before he felt himself falling to the hard ground. He was on the verge of unconsciousness when she hissed at Tom and Gerry.

"Take him back to his cell I wish to interrogate him more later and then I will feed on his defiance, just as I did his ancestor ten thousand years ago."

And at that point, he gave way to the darkness that was encroaching upon him.

oOo

Rodney was in awe as he followed Dave and Torren through the city of Arastica. It was obvious by the flickering lights that a virus was in her systems, but the only question was, had the wraith in this time period had a chance to infect her systems.

He had discussed many things with Torren and Dave over the last few days and he had very quickly come to realise that there was an extra hive ship in this period as well as ten thousand years ago. It all made a lot of sense to him now and he was willing to accept that these two men were smarter than he was, but then if he'd had a chance to study Arastica's database he was sure that he would be as smart as them – if not smarter.

When they entered the control room the first thing, he noticed was the stargate standing lost and lonely in the middle of the gate room floor. For some reason, the lights in this section of the city weren't flickering and he could see everything. And although it was a smaller version of Atlantis it was every bit as magnificent.

Suddenly he felt a little dizzy and felt the need to sit down. He looked around the control room until he found a chair and was relieved to be able to sit.

"Perhaps you should eat this," Carson suggested interrupting his thoughts and handing him a power bar.

"Thanks, Carson, I was beginning to feel a bit hungry."

"I know you were because you were looking a bit pale and starting to tremble," Carson replied with a smile.

Teyla came and sat beside him, "I think that you should get some rest, Dr McKay. I am sure that Torren and Dave can handle things for a while."

He knew that she was right because Torren and Dave were way ahead of him in their ability to create an anomaly – although he would like to sit and see how it's done.

"Maybe I'll have a rest, but I would like to see what Torren and Dave are doing."

"Don't worry Dr McKay, Dave and I are going to take a rest and have something to eat as well," Torren explained coming to sit on the other side of him.

Nodding his head, he looked around the room and for the first time he noticed that Ronon wasn't there, "where's Ronon gone?"

"He has gone to see if he can help Todd." Teyla supplied.

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath knowing that Ronon could well end up getting captured or fed on.

When no one replied, he closed his eyes feeling exhausted. For the last few days, he had spent hours in his lab with Torren and Dave and gotten very little sleep. He suspected that Dave and Torren hadn't either. Although he was worried about John and what was to come, he couldn't keep his eyes open much longer, so rather than fight it he simply let sleep come.

oOo

After Ronon had left the others on Arastica, he started to run towards the hive ship. He never really trusted Todd and he knew that the big wraith could betray them in an instant, so he knew that Sheppard probably needed his help.

Sheppard was the closest thing he'd had to a brother in a long time, and he'd do anything for his commanding officer and friend. He was also very aware that Sheppard and Teyla had just admitted their feelings for one another and if anything happened to Sheppard, he knew that Teyla and Torren – baby Torren – would be devastated.

When he approached the hive a few minutes later, he wasn't surprised to find that Todd was skulking around outside talking to another wraith. Hiding behind a rock he took out his field binoculars and watched to try and work out what was going on. The first chance he got he was going to confront Todd. He only hoped he could do it without becoming a meal for one of the hungry-looking drones.

What happened next took him by surprise as Todd slammed his feeding hand into the wraith's chest and started to feed – obviously Todd hadn't had a feed for a while. If he need proof that Todd was on their side, he'd just got it. Looking around he needed to check to see that there was no other wraith around before he approached Todd. When he was sure that Todd was alone, he jogged over to join him.

"Hey Todd, what's going on?"

"Ah, Ronon. I'm glad that you're here. John Sheppard has been taken to visit the queen, so I may need your help to get him out."

That was the last thing he needed to hear. If John was being interrogated by my queen he would definitely need their help, "so what's your plan, Todd?"

"You will enter the hive as my prisoner and when I approach the queen's chamber, you will wait outside. I may have to eliminate the queen to get John Sheppard out"

"There's no may about it, "Ronon growled, "you will need to eliminate her."

Todd nodded at him, "make sure you have that gun ready," Todd said before walking off towards the hive.

Ronon quickly followed the wraith towards the burnt-out hive. The ground around the hive was littered with wraith drones that had obviously been fed on, but that was nothing new, if a hive was stranded on a planet and had no way of escaping the wraith would start feeding on each other.

A minute later he was following Todd through the dark, chard corridors of the wraith ship. The ship had been burnt out ten thousand years ago, but he could have sworn that he still smelt smoke.

As they approached the queen's chamber, he was relieved that they hadn't come across any wraith along the way. For the moment things seemed quiet in the chamber, so he nodded at Todd to let him know that he would wait outside.

All he could do now was wait and trust that Todd would do what needed to be done and when he saw Sheppard again, his friend would be okay.

oOo

When John awoke again, he was being dragged through the corridors of the wraith ship again and he suspected that he was heading in the direction of the queen's chamber, something that filled him with dread. This time he managed to find his feet – even though his head was still pounding, and his vision was still blurry – and walk by himself.

They arrived in the queen's chamber and Tom and Gerry let go and left him standing there in front of the queen. She was an imposing sight taller than Tom and Gerry, who were both at least half a foot taller than him. Her hair was raven black and a stark contrast to her almost transparent grey skin. She had cold dark eyes and thin lips, which she was using to sneer at him.

"John Sheppard it is good to see you again. I have some more questions that I want answers to. This time I would like to know what happened in the future and why my hive ship was pushed through the anomaly."

"I have no idea what you're talking about – your majesty," he said with defiance in his voice.

Suddenly her long slimy fingers and sharp figure nails were running down his cheek and he heard her voice in his head, "Kneel."

There was no way he was going to grovel at her feet, so he used every bit of strength that he could muster to remain standing. The pain in his head was excruciating and he felt blood flowing from his nose. Relief swept over him when she eased the pressure, but it didn't take long before she was poking around in his brain again and this time, he didn't have the strength to stay on his feet, so he caved and fell to his knees.

"You will tell me what I need to know," she hissed in his ear.

Although he was on his knees, he still managed to defy her, "I don't think so," he said through gritted teeth the pressure in his head intensifying.

She dug a little deeper and all that he could focus on was the ever-increasing pressure on his brain eventually he lost his battle, and she was able to drag what she needed out of him.

In his mind, he was connected with Arastica and he pictured the drones that were heading towards Sheppard's planet in the future and for some reason the anomaly wasn't affecting them. The Hive ship was still in orbit around the planet but was slowly getting sucked towards the anomaly, so if he could hold the darts off the hive ship still might end up getting sucked into the anomaly – well he could always hope.

As the darts came closer, they started to fire on the city, so he concentrated on releasing the drones, fire on the wraith darts, he thought before releasing the drones and then he thought, Fire on that Wraith Ship. Relief swept over him when drone after drone hit their targets, but his satisfaction was short-lived when the hive kept firing at the city. The shield seemed to be holding for now, but he knew that it wouldn't last for long, so he focused his mind and told the drones to keep firing on the Hive while still firing on the darts.

For an instant, the queen's hold over him slipped and he was able to gain some control, "I don't think that this is information that you need to know."

"I beg to differ, if I can find a way to use the anomaly to my advantage, I can communicate with my hive not only in this time but in the past and then I will become the greatest Queen in the galaxy."

John snorted, "I think you've got the wrong man. I have no idea how the anomaly works and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you about it – you freak."

"No mind, I'm sure that there is something that I can learn from you."

Before he had a chance to blink her fingers were running down his cheek again and the pressure in his head intensified and he could feel the blood beginning to drip from his nose again.

His concentration was beginning to wane, so he hoped that he wouldn't have to reload the drones in the middle of the attack because he didn't think that he could handle three things at once.

He continued to fire as the Hive and drones continued to fire on the city. The Hive seemed to be getting closer to the anomaly, so at some point, it wouldn't be a problem and there would only be a few rogue darts left for him to deal with. Digging deeper within himself, he just kept firing and he hoped that he had the strength to complete his mission.

He had no idea how long he'd kept firing, but eventually, the darts had been dealt with and the hive was getting closer to the anomaly, so he knew that he only had to keep firing for a little longer and then hopefully the Hive would disappear into the anomaly.

Feeling absolutely exhausted he continued firing and a few minutes later the Hive was sucked into the anomaly. The darts rogue darts had been destroyed and his job was done.

He gasped as the pressure in his head was released and he instantly fell to the ground. He could feel the blood flowing freely from his nose, but what was worse was he felt blood coming from his ears as well. His head was pounding from where Tom had thrown him into the wall earlier and right now all he wanted to do was pass out, but he knew he couldn't until the queen was finished with him.

"Now I know what happened and although I have got some answers from you today, I feel that there is still more that I can learn from you."

"I look forward to that, "he muttered more to himself that the queen.

He felt her hot breath as she leant down and whispered in his ear, "I will now feed on your defiance."

Closing his eyes, he waited for the inevitable to come and if he hadn't been so exhausted, he would have screamed as her feeding hand connected with his chest. He could feel his life being drained away and the intense pain that accompanied it. He had no idea how much she planned to take from him, but suddenly the feeling stopped, and the queen fell forward narrowly missing him, dead with a bullet hole through her head.

Relief swept over him and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Todd coming towards him with his feeding hand outstretched.

TBC…

Sorry about the cliffhanger.

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