Chapter Seventeen

Ten Thousand Years Later

Year Two of the Expedition, 1636 hours(Atlantis Base Time)

The ten thousand year old warship that had formally been called the Nona by its Lantian crew creaked loudly as Kurt walked down a corridor with his P-90 at the ready. His boots clunked loudly as they thudded down on the hard frost covered deck plates. Behind him Lieutenant Yansons heavy footsteps echoed followed by the lighter steps of Lee and Swenson. The corridors bright white lights flickered on and off above them as they continued walking down the hallway.

"Okay, we've been in here for atleast half an hour. Those Wraith are gonna get here soon, we need to find what we came here to get or leave now and bunker down until Doctor Weir tries to contact us," said Swensons voice quietly to the team. Even though her voice was hushed it still echoed down the corridor.

"Well, we don't know if those Wraith brought in any more reinforcements since we attacked them. If they did, theres no way in hell were gonna be able to bunker down," replied Kurt to the team.

Lees voice cut the air, it was loud and echoed loudly. "Then we have to find those ZPMs. Its the only way to get out of here."

Kurt turned and looked back the faces of his team, Yanson stood tall and was still watching down the corridor with cat like eyes that darted back and forth. Yansons blue uniform had a long line of blood that had streamed down it from Lees leg when he had carried him. Lee had a smear of blood on his chin and cheek from the his wound that had been just healed, his face looked tired and the man looked like he could use a rest. Swenson was busy using her scanner, it beeped several times and she looked up at him. Her eyes had a fear full look in them. "I've got ten life signs moving in this direction, they might already be in the ship. I think they're Wraith, this could be bad."

Kurt digested this information and thought about fighting the Wraith in these tight confines. It would be dangerous and might get one of his team killed. He had already thought he was going to lose Lee, he didn't want to have to think like that again. If they hadn't found the ancient sick bay, he might not have made it. That thought made Kurt frown at how close Lees life had come to ending. To many people had already died in this war, so many had died in the seige, and it isn't going to stop anytime soon. He could only do his best to stop as much of it as he could. "Alright, do you know where the cargo hold is?"

Swenson looked up and to the side thoughtfully then gazed back down at him with smile on her small face, "its about a hundred feet more to the aft of the ship."

"Lee, you go with her. Yanson and me will go and try to lure some of those Wraith away. Only get as many as it will take to power the gate, I don't want to stick around. Once we get back, we'll come back with more men and firepower and get the ZPMs," ordered Kurt looking back down the corridor behind him.

Kurt held his breath as he peered out down the large tattered corridor of the ship, metal was scattered and hanging from the ceiling in several different locations, it was hanging from large wires and conduits that had formally been in the floor. He looked down the corridor and nothing moved, not even the large chunks of metal swayed in the deathly quiet hallway. Kurt leaned up against the wall, he looked at it and it looked as if it had been white once. Its white shade had been dulled by ten thousand years of wind, rain, snow, and sunlight. He looked over to the left a little and saw a giant scorch mark that ran up the wall to a hole in the ceiling.

These guys fought one hell of a battle, he thought to himself. Kurt shook the thoughts running through his head out and looked over to Yanson. He signalled for Yanson to cover him while he moves forward, the large man gave him a silent nod of understanding. Kurt breathed in a large breath and quickly but quietly ran down the hallway to a pile of debris that offered enough cover to hide behind. He motioned for Yanson to move up then he aimed his P-90 down the dark debris filled hallway. He checked his flashlight and made sure it was firmly off, it wouldn't help to have it turn on when they were trying to hide from any Wraith they meet.

Yanson past by him and continued to run quietly down the corridor, he stopped in a doorway and looked back down at Kurt. He nodded and Kurt slowly began to run down the hallway, he caught up and passed by the Lieutenant. Kurt layed down behind a large chunk of a bulkhead and scanned the hallway ahead of them. He turned back to Yanson and motioned for him to move up.

"We've been searching for hours, these humans aren't here," came an echo down the quiet dark corridor.

Kurt turned and waved him back, Yanson stopped midstride and dived behind a chunk of metal. It was barely large enough to cover the large mans broad shoulders but he hid behind it anyways. Kurt frowned and focused on preparing himself for another gunfight. He readied his gun and aimed it down the deathly quiet hallway. As he waited he truely began to feel how tired he was, his body ached from the constant running. His wrists were starting to ache from handling the recoil of his weapon, it shook incredibly despite the technology in it.

The adrenaline surged through his veins as he saw four large creatures walking down the dimly lit corridor. The two Wraith leading the group were warriors in their usual grey armor. They clutched their stunners tightly and Kurt was sure they were searching carefully for any signs of his team. The two Wraith in the back were officers and their coats had a slight shine to them. The one in the back right looked over at the other one in the back, "we can't afford to not search here. We need to find them no matter what. They might know another way to their homeworld and if there is any chance of us catching the survivors from Atlantis, then we cannot give up looking until we've found every last one."