She was aware for several days, wrapped up in her cocoon as she quickly developed over the course of 3 weeks, before she received the summons to arise. The small Wraith queen pushed her hands forward, tearing a hole in the cocoon casing that covered her prone form. A seam formed and she pushed her hands up through it into the cold air. Using the strength born into her species, she pried the halves apart, and had them recoil partway when she released pressure. She lifted her head up slightly into the misty air and began to pull her nude body away from the umbilical cords attached to her back.
With enough pressure they disconnected and retracted into the pod that had grown her as she sat up, blinking fluid from her eyes as she drew her first breath of air.
Before her she saw a fully developed queen…but more than that she felt her considerable presence inside her head. Instructions were quick to follow, and two attendant Wraith assisted her as she climbed out of the pod and dressed in clothing tailored to her smaller size. The red haired queen soon disappeared, her task done, and the attendants escorted the newly 'born' queen to another chamber within the gatherer Hive ship. There she fed…on an assortment of vegetables. Her hands had yet to develop the organelles required to drain sustenance from living beings, but that would come in time. Until then she would rely on her vestigial digestionary apparatus, which would eventually grow dormant as her body developed.
After she fed she mentally connected with her attendants and issued her first orders. She felt them submit to her will, small as it was, and they escorted her to her ship. With an escort of soldiers joining them in the hangar bay, they left the massive hive ship and jumped into hyperspace. They enemy had yet to reactivate their new Attero device, destructive as it was…but the Wraith had since devised a probe to test hyperspace availability, and one had been launched and transitioned cleanly a few moments ago, verifying the safety of transit.
The small Wraith 'scout' ship carried the new queen for three days until they arrived at a planet with a Hive ship in orbit. It was currently culling humans from the surface for the second time in 3 years. They couldn't take too many more without hurting future productivity numbers…yet they had to have food now, and forward thinking was, more often than not these days, sacrificed in the panic of the moment.
That was about to change. This Hive ship was newly constructed, and under the current direction of a distant queen. The caretakers onboard were, as usual, exceeding their culling mandate. Tight control needed to be maintained or the broods would follow their genetic dispositions to their self destruction. They were tools, designed to be utilized by the queens. They could not function on their own. So many gatherer queens had been lost in recent years, that control over their fleets had become tenuous, and many valuable resources had been lost. The Wraith attendants had moderate intelligence and originality, which proved useful at times, but they had no sense of balance…and the other soldiers under their command were little more than drones, who would follow the attendants' will without question. Without queen control, the vast majority of Wraith would eventually destroy themselves through varying levels of stupidity.
The Wraith aboard this Hive ship had been reassigned from other Hives. Normally a new queen would develop and then grow her own attendants and soldiers…no others variants were possible for gatherer queens to produce. But in these difficult times, normal procedure had to be abandoned, and this new queen had the added responsibility of bending these Wraith to her limited will. Being not of her own brooding that would be difficult, but not impossible. They were bred to follow. Asserting control with her limited telepathic ability would be the challenge.
The small scout ship entered the cavernous hangar bay onboard the new Hive ship and landed smoothly. The queen could sense the minds of those Wraith nearest her, but she couldn't feel most of them onboard the Hive. Frustrating…
She emerged from the ship between two lines of soldiers…and was greeted by over 100 of the Hive's own soldiers and attendants on the hangar deck.
Reaching out to their minds she asserted herself, familiarizing them with her mental avatar within the Hive mind as well as making sure each of them bent to her will. All those within range did, and she silently walked through those assembled, who parted for her as she moved, and walked into her new Hive, issuing orders to stop the culling on the planet below and to recall all 'darts.' They would remain in orbit for a few days, call three of the newly constructed cruisers to their escort, then depart on the new mission that the gatherer queen that spawned her had given her.
They had a new herd to cull…
Jack O'Neill, after being picked up by an Air Force car, was driven to the nearest military base, put on a C-130 enroute to the East Coast, then hitched a ride on two more military flights before he was finally whisked away in another car and arrived at the Pentagon. Colonel Karlson met him at the entrance and quickly escorted him inside before any of the protesters had a chance to gather.
Ever since the President's full disclosure a small, but outraged portion of the population had been making considerable noise and news wherever they could. Their reasons were all different, from religious fundamentalism to conspiracy theorists to anti-war activists. There were protests outside government buildings on a daily basis…and they were growing, as more and more people finally came to the conclusion that this wasn't some massive hoax.
Jack and Karlson made it inside without drawing too much attention. "Quite the mob you've got," Jack commented.
"It's to be expected," the Colonel acknowledged as he led the way through a maze of corridors. "We kind of dumped it on them all at once."
"Long overdue if you ask me."
Karlson shrugged. "Moot point now. We've got bigger concerns to deal with. I assume your memories have remained intact?"
Jack frowned. "Yes…why?"
"A few speculated that they might not hold. Just wondering. General Carter wants you on the first available transport and on Springfield ASAP. There's one leaving in 3 hours headed for Reach, you can gate in from there."
"Wait a second," Jack said, putting a hand in front of Karlson to stop him. "Springfield and Reach?" he said, raising his eyebrows sarcastically.
"Our two most secure and industrialized planets…you've got a lot to catch up on, I'm afraid."
"No, I get that…but the names?"
Karlson frowned. "What about them?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Nothing…what is this transport I'm taking?"
"Something our engineers came up with," the Colonel said as they continued walking. "Basically a big, empty shell with engines to haul cargo from planet to planet."
"So you're sending me UPS?"
Karlson cracked a smile. "A little more upscale than that. This transport is configured for personnel. It's taking 250 recruits out to the training center on Reach."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Volunteer recruits? That was fast."
Karlson nodded. "We had over 500 sign up within the first two hours. As it is, most are going to have to wait their turn while we arrange transportation."
"Why can't they just go through the stargate?"
The Colonel cringed slightly. "Because we no longer possess the stargate, the I.O.A. does and we're not on good terms right now."
"You LOST the stargate? How the hell did that happen?"
"Long story," he said as they reached a nondescript door which Karlson opened with a keycard. "After you."
Jack walked into the dimly lit room and found it was mostly empty, save for one control station with a very bored Lieutenant sitting behind a control panel. "Sooo now what?"
Karlson glanced at the Lieutenant. "Moon base."
Jack frowned. "What moon ba…" he said, disappearing in a flash of white light.
After spending a lovely few hours with a hoard of obnoxious teenage and college students, Jack was spared the horror of having to sit next to them on the transport and was instead allowed onto the crew deck, with access to the bridge. Most of the military personnel flying the transport had idolized General O'Neill, and even though they'd been informed that this was in fact his clone, they still felt it necessary to give him special treatment.
Unfortunately the trip out to Reach would take the transport 13 days at maximum speed, and Jack was stuck playing cards and running laps around the hold the entire time…while keeping well clear of the kindergarteners. By the time the transport arrived and landed at Reach, Jack was on the edge of insanity. He hadn't been this bored since…well, his entire life, and most of the other guy's too.
When he was escorted off the landing tarmac and into a small Hummer variant, he slid into the back seat not caring where he was being taken, just glad as hell to get off that ship. He sarcastically waved goodbye to the throng of recruits beginning to spill out the exit ramp and leaned back in his adequately padded seat and took in a deep breath of fresh, alien air.
The Hummer roared to life and took him along a paved road into the center of 'town.' This part of Reach was sprawling with one and two story buildings, with more being added at a steady rate. In the center of it all was a large plaza covered with black asphalt surrounding a solitary, upright ring at the center.
"Thank god," Jack said as they drove towards the stargate.
"Not much of one for ship travel, sir?" the soldier sitting in shotgun asked.
"Nope," Jack answered. He hadn't set foot through a gate in years.
The Hummer pulled up short of the gate and the soldier stepped out with O'Neill. They walked over to the DHD and the soldier saluted sharply. "Pleasure to meet you in person, sir."
"Thank you, Corporal. But you do realize I'm just the mini me?"
"All the same to us, sir."
"Really?" Jack said, studying him closely. "I assume you know the address to Springfield?"
"Yes, sir…" the Corporal said, snapping into action. He dialed the address quickly, then hit the activation button.
Jack watched the kawoosh form, feeling a sense of homesickness deep in his gut. "Need a GDO?"
"Normally, yes. But not from Reach. The iris at stargate command automatically lowers for us."
"Thank you, Corporal."
"Anytime, sir."
Jack blew out a short breath and walked into the event horizon…hoping that the iris really was down on the other side.