Sheppard swung the pickaxe hard, trying to dislodge the mineral from the rock, but it wouldn't break apart. To his right, Naam attempted to frantically put more of the mineral into his satchel, but it kept crumbling in his hands. Sheppard looked into his own satchel, but it was empty.

On his right, a protectorate guard walked down the line of prisoners, sauntering with self-assuredness and malice. He demanded to inspect everyone's satchel. He carried his gun with bayonet at the ready, as if waiting to strike with it. The guards in the mine weren't supposed to have guns, but this one did.

As he approached Naam, the guard noticed that his bag was empty.

"You lazy rat!" he yelled. He drove the gun's bayonet into Naam.

Sheppard sat bolt upright in his bed, panting heavily. Throwing the covers off himself. He felt pretty weak from his experience. Even after only ten days gone, he'd become malnourished and dehydrated. His body had consumed a lot of itself just to keep him running, and he didn't have a lot to spare in the first place.

Sheppard opted to go for an easy walk outside. Just enough to keep the fresh air in his lungs without getting too tired. As he walked his circuit, his legs began to shake from the effort. Damn this weakness.

Spotting the bench on the end of the West pier, Sheppard sat down to rest. As the sun rose, the buildings behind him blocked most of the sunlight, leaving him in a shadow that began to chill him as he cooled down from the exercise.

The process of removing the hallucination device from his head went quickly. He had been out of the infirmary and in his own bed since the previous evening.

His thoughts turned to Naam, as they had been doing a lot recently. Every time he lost someone on a mission, it hit him pretty hard. He had an instinct to protect, and that meant whenever he couldn't, the loss stayed with him.

He suspected that this would be different though. Naam wasn't under his command, hell, he wasn't even an adult. He was just a kid. That kid was a lot like himself. He had an instinct to serve, evidenced by the way that Naam had swiped extra food for the other prisoners.

This morning was not going to be very pleasant no matter what he did. With an upcoming interview from Woolsey and Caldwell looming, he felt the worst was yet to come.

This was where he had to explain why the wraith now had the address to the alpha site, and likely had the first symbol for Atlantis.

He slinked away from there, reaching the conference room about twenty minutes before the meeting was due to start. Sitting there in the silence did nothing to calm him, and in fact kept him on edge until Caldwell entered the room followed by Woolsey.

"Glad to see you well Sheppard." Caldwell said.

"Good to be well, sir," Sheppard said.

They sat down, making themselves comfortable opposite him on the other side of the table.

Woolsey started. "We're here to discuss how the address for the alpha site ended up in the hands of the wraith. Now you haven't had time to write a formal report, but what you've told us so far is quite disturbing."

"Disturbing," Sheppard nodded. Disturbing didn't cover it. It was more like terrifying, nauseating, and cruel.

"You indicated that the device implanted in your brain was responsible for hallucinations?" Caldwell asked.

"It was. It made me see people and places that were familiar. I came to believe that Atlantis was under attack. When I saw the alpha site address being dialed in the hallucination, that's when I knew that the wraith had also seen it."

"So," Woolsey started. "Whatever you saw, the wraith saw too?"

"Correct," Sheppard said. "I think they could manipulate what I saw to some extent, and they could observe it."

Caldwell shifted forward. "Now, you also said that they had the first symbol for Atlantis's address?"

"I tried to stop the visions," Sheppard said. "I couldn't always control what I saw, or else I wouldn't have let them have it."

"How many symbols do they have?" Caldwell pressed.

Caldwell's pressing the issue made Sheppard feel like he was being targeted, but he knew that the Colonel had a job to do. With a large sigh, he conceded. "They have the first symbol."

"I see," Caldwell said with a nod. "That's still too many possibilities for random dialing to find us."

"Thankfully," Woolsey said. "Well, aside from likely needing to change the location of the alpha site, we can still rest easy that our location in space is safe. The question now becomes about what we're going to do about the hive ships under construction."

"Well, I say let's bring the fight to them," Sheppard said. "We know this wraith faction has half a dozen hives just sitting on the ground. Let's recover the human slaves, then nuke the ships from orbit. With any luck, the queen and her lieutenant are still there, and they'll be killed in the battle."

"I've been discussing that with General O'Neill," Caldwell explained. "There is strategic merit to a strike on the planet where you were found, but to minimize risk to the Daedalus, we have to hit them all at once using missiles. That means every ship on the ground at the same time."

"Can we do that?" Sheppard asked.

"We can," Caldwell said. "We do have the missile systems to do that. But getting the human slaves out safely will be a problem. That planet is already radioactive because of its sun. Adding more to the mix is a bad idea if you're actually trying to save anyone. The beam weapon wouldn't charge fast enough to take out all the ground targets and the operational hive ship before it reached us."

Woolsey chimed in. "We basically have an 'either or' situation. We can either strike the grounded hive ships, or keep the operational hive ship away long enough to free the human slaves, but we can't do both."

"What about the Asgard transporters?" Sheppard suggested.

"We can grab a few hundred at a time," Caldwell said. "We could get them in about five minutes with the transporters. The problem is that our life support will be stretched past its limit, meaning we can't do it."

Sheppard bit his lip. "If only we had a bigger ship," he muttered.

Wait…

With a jolt, Sheppard spoke up. "Some of those hive ships looked pretty close to finished."

"We know," Woolsey explained. "The sensor readings from the jumper that rescued you showed that one of them is nearly complete, and probably flight worthy."

Grinning wildly, Sheppard elaborated. "What if we brought the human slaves aboard a hive ship?"

Caldwell and Woolsey shared an incredulous glance toward each other.

"Are you insane?" Woolsey asked. "How are you going to steal a hive ship?"

"If it's flight worthy, then we just walk everyone onto the ship and fly it away."

"Isn't it guarded?" Caldwell asked.

"Probably," Sheppard said. "But the Protectorate will be doing most of the guarding. I doubt there will be any more than a dozen wraith and human servants aboard or outside the ship. We can take them out no-problem."

"There's still the question of who will fly it." Caldwell pointed out.

"My team will take care of getting it off the ground," Sheppard said.

"I'll need to get General O'Neill's approval for a mission like that." Caldwell said. "But it sounds like we have a unique opportunity to prevent new hive ships from joining the fleet, and to free humans who are being enslaved."

"I still think there's the matter of the Protectorate to discuss," Woolsey opined. "As you know, our role in the Pegasus galaxy has come into question. We can't act autonomously anymore."

Caldwell gave Woolsey a side eye. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean that the Protectorate may have some political influence that makes military action against them —complicated."

"They're making people work in a slave labor camp for the Wraith!" Sheppard said, making sure to level his tone of voice. "There's nothing complicated about that."

Woolsey glanced at him through his glasses. "I know that."

"We can't risk contacting any of our allies," Caldwell said. "If we do, they may warn the Protectorate about the attack, and then the wraith will know."

Sheppard leaned in. "I doubt any coalition in this galaxy is going to take kindly to them working with the wraith. They would be ostracized if anyone found out."

Woolsey nodded. "So if they complain to anyone about us, we show them the evidence we have about their operation."

"Exactly," Sheppard said. "I bet you they don't want anyone knowing that they're running that camp."

Woolsey gazed upward as he thought. "So we just attack them, and if they complain, hold the evidence over their heads."

"Exactly," Sheppard said.

"Okay," Woolsey said tritely. He seemed satisfied that this would be a workable solution. "What about you? I don't want to pry too much into private medical matters, but are you up to leading a mission?"

Sheppard took an honest assessment of his physical state. He definitely felt weaker than he left, but any mission they launched wouldn't leave for a few days at least, meaning that he would have time to get his strength back. "I'll be ready," Sheppard said. "I have the knowledge we'll need to get everyone out of there."

"That's very brave of you Colonel," Woolsey said. "But you'll have to convince Keller that you're ready before we can do anything."

Sheppard leaned back abruptly. "If Keller had her way, she'd never let me go on another mission."

"It's not a suggestion," Woolsey said. "You were in enemy hands for ten days. You lost twenty pounds, and came back with broken ribs, bruises, and wraith feeding scars — all sustained while working in what is effectively a concentration camp. And that's after having a hallucination generator implanted and then removed from your brain."

Woolsey leaned in to glare at him. "You need to get medical approval before you go off on a mission."

Getting the doctor to sign off on a mission was going to be the real challenge here. He could probably convince Woolsey that he was ready, but Keller would have a more discerning eye.

(0)

Sheppard didn't feel in the mood for very much food at this point. It was still hard to eat more than a half portion at any given meal. He stayed away from heavy meals, opting for basic meats and vegetables. Nothing too hard to digest.

The mess hall was busy, and Sheppard felt self conscious about how skinny he looked now. He had to put in a lot of effort to build muscle under good circumstances, and a long term fast like he was just on wasn't good for him. Shaving and cutting his hair helped him feel a bit more normal, but he still couldn't quite wash off the feeling that he left something of himself back at the mine.

Someone set down their tray across from him, and he greeted McKay as he sat down at the table. "Hey," he said with a measure of levity.

"Are you feeling sick?" McKay said.

Sheppard rolled his eyes faintly. McKay and tactfulness didn't go together, but Sheppard appreciated that he tried. "I'm doing good Rodney."

McKay looked to Sheppard's tray, noting that he only had some fruit. That was in comparison to Rodney's tray, which he had stacked with a leaning tower of pizza slices.

"My stomach isn't feeling too well," Sheppard said.

"Right," McKay said. "Well, you've got to get your strength up, so…" He donated one of his pizza slices to his tray.

"Thanks," Sheppard said, trying to sound genuinely grateful. He wasn't sure he could eat that without getting sick. "So how's the mission planning coming along?"

"It's going good," McKay said. Right now, I'm just going over the sensor logs with a fine tooth comb to see if there's anything we missed."

Taking a grape from his tray, Sheppard proceeded to bite it, one small piece at a time.

Teyla snuck up behind Rodney, taking the seat beside him. Her meal leaned more conservative, chowder instead of pizza.

"Hello John," Teyla said brightly.

Sheppard smiled and nodded, but the smile quickly faded. He really didn't feel like talking.

"So, are we going?" Sheppard asked.

"Going where?" McKay said, bewildered.

"To the open pit mine planet with all the slaves!" Sheppard said with annoyance.

It was Teyla who intervened. "No mission has been approved as of yet. We are still waiting for General O'Neill and Colonel Caldwell to form a plan and for the IOA to give their approval."

"Don't they think I should be involved?" Sheppard asked. "What? I'm gone for ten days and all of a sudden, I don't matter anymore?"

"No one said that," McKay said. "Look, as soon as they get their end squared away, they'll talk to you about your end of the mission. It's just taking some time because there's a lot of moving parts — or nuclear missiles in this case. Literally, they're having to ship a dozen of them from Earth through the gate. It takes awhile."

Sheppard sighed heavily through his nose. He knew that they didn't deserve his outburst, but his mind was on edge lately.

"I was wondering John," Teyla said. "Why don't you join me for some exercises after lunch?"

"No thank you," Sheppard said. "I have to catch up on some rest."

"The activity is good for you," Teyla insisted. "I really think you should try."

Looking her directly in the eyes, he grinned. He neither felt like smiling, nor exercising, but if he wanted to convince everyone that he was back to normal, he had to do this. "If you insist."

They finished up their lunches — more accurately, only Teyla and Sheppard did. Rodney went back for desert as they left.

"What exercises did you have in mind?" Sheppard wondered as they walked away from the busy mess hall.

"Just stretching," Teyla said. "It will help you improve your strength. As impatient as you are to start the mission, it is more important that you make yourself ready for it, both physically and mentally."

He saw the wisdom to what she said, but Sheppard in his gut felt that he really just needed to lay down and nap.

It wasn't too long before Sheppard found himself in the gym, stretching his legs, back, arms, and muscles he didn't even know he had. Teyla instructed him on breathing exercises that were meant to help him heal.

He didn't put much stock into healing through breathing, but he was open to trying it as long as it was harmless. Teyla had very good strength and flexibility, but he did not. He struggled with even the most basic movements. His muscles were weakened and sore from all the abuse, and he really felt it now.

During the exercises, his mind kept wandering back to his time in the mine. His mind played the thoughts on a feedback loop, sending them in spirals that fed into a minor panic attack right as he was in the middle of a stretch.

He searched around the gym for an attacker, but he knew it existed only in his mind. His mood weighed down with a sense of impending doom.

Only someone like himself could have a panic attack in the middle of an exercise meant to calm the nerves.

"I have to go," Sheppard said abruptly, standing up and running out of there. He glanced back at Teyla who expressed a mixture of surprise and sympathy.

He found his way back to his room and flopped hard onto the bed. Sheppard didn't know what to do to stop this from happening.

(0)

Walking through the lower levels of the city had become a favorite pastime of hers, especially on hot days. She loved the dark blue light that permeated the environment from the submarine windows in these sections. It felt serene and calming to see the abyss outside, just like being in space.

Aceso strolled along, secretly hoping that the Lanteans had designed some living quarters into these sections of the city, so far, there were only laboratories and utility spaces.

Aceso wandered into side hallways and checked through the open doors, just looking. Some areas of the city had been rendered off limits because they hadn't been explored yet. These particular rooms had been assessed for danger already, so she felt fairly safe being here.

Aceso heard movement, and she peered around the corner to see none other than Doctor Keller on a jog through this section.

Aceso felt a bit of nervousness about seeing Keller. She wasn't totally comfortable with wraith, and despite Keller's pretending, didn't seem to like her. Even McKay couldn't convince her otherwise.

Aceso stood still in the dark hallway as Keller jogged by, hoping to avoid scaring her.

What a mistake.

Keller noticed her standing there immediately, and screamed, jumped backward a little and covered her mouth with her hands.

Aceso just shook her head in defeat. There was no helping it.

"Aceso!" Keller yelled. 'I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you.'

"I should apologize," Aceso said "I should know not to startle you."

Keller laughed nervously, "It's okay."

Smiling timidly out of embarrassment, Aceso stepped out of the shadows.

"Why are you sneaking around in the dark?" Keller asked.

Aceso didn't have a ready answer. She came down to the lower levels to escape the heat, but staying in the darkest hallways of the city just felt natural. "I can't explain it," Aceso said. "I simply like to be here."

Keller nodded. "Well, I should just accept that I guess. After all, you are a wraith." She immediately grew concerned, her expression forming into regret. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Like what?" Aceso asked. Keller worried needlessly about semantics. "I am a wraith. I prefer different things." She gathered that Keller might have been afraid that her remark was derogatory, but she only sensed honesty from Keller.

Keller smiled nervously. "That's true," she said, fidgeting for a moment with the music player strapped to her arm. "Hey, so — would you like to walk with me?"

The offer surprised her. She came down here for solitude, but the opportunity to make friends seldom presented itself. "Yes," she blurted out, not quite prepared.

"Good," Keller said, how about we finish this circuit?"

"That would be fine."

(0)

His desk had been re-arranged by Caldwell — again. The last time he'd filled in for Atlantis's military command position, Caldwell had re-organized the desk, re-assigned security personnel, and had a name plate mounted outside the office door — with 'Caldwell,' written on it. It confounded Sheppard how Caldwell had found the time to make a customized name plate.

Sitting at the desk, Sheppard sighed. He let the warming rays of the afternoon sun strike his face through the slat windows, and took out a radio transceiver from his drawer. Dialing his team's frequency, he made an announcement. "McKay, Teyla, Ronon. I need to see you guys in my office."

After a second, McKay came on line. "I'll be right there."

"Understood," Teyla said.

Ronon didn't respond, but Sheppard had a suspicion that he'd be the first one there.

Like clock work, Ronon arrived, followed by Teyla, and then McKay in a distant third.

"What's this about?" McKay asked when he walked in.

"The mission is on," Sheppard said. It's our job to liberate the work camp, so we'll need to devise a strategy."

"We'll need help," Ronon said.

Sheppard nodded. "I'll bring in Lorne and Stackhouse for helping to move people in the right direction. We'll also bring in some of the marines to help."

"It is a long way to the stargate from the mine," Teyla said. "How are we going to keep people safe over such a long distance?"

"We're not," Sheppard said. "We're going to commandeer a hive ship and land it near enough to the camp so that people can walk aboard.

Teyla became a little green all of a sudden. "I cannot control a hive ship with the necessary precision to do that."

With his elbows rested on the desk, Sheppard felt a wave of apprehension.

"Well, we can work on that in a minute. I need to know how to get people from the ground up into the interior of a hive ship."

"That won't be very easy," McKay said. "The biggest entrances lead into the dart bay through a series of tunnels on the sides, but you'd have to bury the ship partially to ensure that one of them is accessible on foot.

Sheppard knew that he'd need Aceso to pilot the hive that precisely. He wasn't looking forward to bringing her in for this though. "Well, aside from that, we will likely use the jumper's drone weapons to take out the guard posts. Several of our teams will work on organizing the few thousand people who are in the caves and bringing them on to the hive ship."

"Sounds good," Ronon interjected.

Looking at his desk, Sheppard fidgeted with a pen. "I need someone skilled in piloting wraith ships." As he spoke, he shrugged his shoulders. "I need get Aceso on board for this."

Teyla nodded. "Then, why do you not call her here now?"

With a timid scowl, Sheppard put his head a little lower. "You all saw what happened. What do I even say after that?"

Teyla came forward. "I think the best thing you could do is let her know that things are back to normal."

"She seemed pretty upset," McKay said. "I mean, she put in a lot of effort to save your life, and then you — you know."

Teyla interceded. "She is not angry, but it did shake her confidence in herself."

"That had to feel bad," Sheppard admitted. "I didn't even know it was her. That device made me hallucinate that it was Ice."

There were blank stares all around as Sheppard remembered that he had never explained the names he had made up for the wraith in question. "I named the enemy queen 'Ice,' and the scientist who implanted the device I named 'Clint because he was wearing…" He decided that they wouldn't be interested in the specifics. "Anyway, let me figure out how to apologize."

"I can arrange a meeting," Teyla said.

Sheppard didn't know how to apologize very well. He much preferred to just let bygones be bygones. That wouldn't work in this case. He'd hurt a friend, albeit unintentionally.

"All right, I'll talk to you guys later," he said, standing up.

Sheppard's impromptu meeting disbanded, and he followed Teyla to the residential section of the city where Aceso's quarters were located.

Sheppard hadn't actually been here to visit, but he figured that this was as good a time as any. Before they even reached the doors, they slid open. No one greeted them at the door, but she must have known they were coming and opened it for them.

"Hello?" Sheppard said, walking in. Dark shadows cast across the room from the drapes, and the cold air chilled him. The humidity must have been set higher too, because it felt like the inside of a hive ship. One thing was different though, instead of smelling organic and earthy, it smelled like Aceso was cooking something.

"Aceso," Teyla called out.

"I am here Teyla!" Aceso greeted, walking out of the kitchen area. "I was only just making stew."

Sheppard's eyes locked with hers, and she paused briefly as her smile faded, but then it returned. "I'm trying to make it at least. I can't get ingredients from Irinak as easily as I once could."

"We will have to go shopping sometime," Teyla returned. "I struggle to bring ingredients here as well, so I understand the feeling."

She looked to Sheppard brightly, her snake-like eyes and alien face showing a degree of warmth he never thought possible from a wraith.

"Please stay for dinner, both of you," she said invitingly.

"I couldn't impose," Sheppard said nervously.

Teyla cut him off. "We would love to stay. Honestly, I am sorry that I haven't visited more often." Teyla leaned in to whisper. "She made this for you." Her tone left an implied 'idiot' at the end.

"Uh, well, sure." Sheppard said. He took a seat at her table.

Aceso disappeared for a couple of minutes in the kitchen, and then returned. "It's cooling down now," she declared.

Sitting down across from Sheppard and Teyla, Aceso gave them both an inquisitive look. "There is something you want to discuss with me."

Teyla elbowed Sheppard and nudged him with a glance. "There is," Sheppard said. "It's about what happened in the infirmary…" He inhaled and paused, looking down at the tabletop where his elbows rested.

Returning his gaze to her, he continued. "I hurt you, and I'm sorry about that. I promise that I didn't mean to do it."

Aceso averted her eyes. "I understand. For my part, I'm sorry about the pain I caused you."

"No," Sheppard said. "You saved my life. I mean, yeah it hurt, but I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"I sensed a lot of confusion from you," Aceso admitted.

"In the mental state I was in, I thought you were Queen Ice."

Both Teyla and Aceso seemed intrigued. "That is an interesting name you've chosen for her." Teyla said.

"It's because of the eyes," Sheppard said. "They're a weird color."

Looking at Aceso's yellow-green eyes, he felt the need to clarify what that meant. "Weird for a wraith," he elaborated. "Look, I just want you to know, that you did the right thing, despite how I reacted. I appreciate the amount of care you've shown for all of us."

"I consider you all as my clan," Aceso said. "Among my people, that bond is like family. I would do anything within my power to help my clan."

"I understand that," Sheppard said. "I feel the same way about my team, and — I would do anything to help any one of you."

There was a moment where no one said anything. Teyla seemed pleased with how this meeting went by the smile on her face. Her aptitude toward being a leader and a mediator helped with these things.

Standing quite suddenly, Aceso brought them all a bowl of soup from the kitchen. The soup smelled delicious and looked quite appetizing.

Aceso placed the bowls on the table. Taking a spoon, Sheppard dug into it, savoring the delicious meat and vegetable soup.

"This is really good, Sheppard complimented with full mouth. "You've got to be the best cook out of all wraith."

Aceso's countenance lifted at his remark. "Thank you," she laughed.

It felt strange, sharing a meal with her. Ever since he'd gotten back, he felt apprehensive around her. Maybe it was just because she was a wraith, or because he'd had nightmares involving her. Whatever it was, he couldn't quite get comfortable.