Chapter 19 – The Plan
They were sitting around the conference table, John, Rodney, Ronon, Doctor Weir and Colonel Caldwell, and they were all turning in the direction of the door, where Claire was walking in; her chains were jingling with every step she took. Doctor Beckett stood beside her encouragingly. The Wraith stopped not far from the table, and she lifted her head up proudly and contemptuously.
"Please, would you tell your plan to my friends as well?" Doctor Beckett asked her timidly.
Claire made a loathsome grimace, but then she composed her features and obeyed.
"First, I considered the circumstance that the super-hive is only destructible from the inside." The Wraith started to explain. "From the outside the hive is too strong for you weak humans and for your poor technology..."
"Go on without attributes," Weir interrupted because she saw the rage growing on Ronon's face, and she was afraid that the whole discussion might end up in pointless arguing if Claire did not moderate her words.
The Wraith snorted disdainfully, and then she went on with her train of thought. "Your only chance to harm the hive is to get inside. The second fact is that you'll need to find a way to get aboard the super-hive which seems almost impossible; their jamming codes block any kind of transportation. You cannot encounter the tarmac of their Darts either, since there is a protecting system there to filter any human life form."
"So we can't get aboard, and that's all," Ronon grunted. "Was it your wonderful plan?"
Claire turned slowly in his direction. "A Runner," she hissed, looking him up and down with a malicious smile. Ronon was about to jump from his chair, but Sheppard held him back. Doctor Beckett put his right hand gently on Claire's arm, signing her to stop provoking his friends.
"So back to my plan," she said coldly, "which is truly wonderful if we take the fact into consideration that you all were unable to do a single thing against that hive..."
"Stop bragging you bloody monster," Ronon roared. "You were not this self-confident in the desert when you were begging us to save your wretched life!"
Claire bit her dark, pouting lower lip.
"Don't pay attention to him," Carson whispered into her ear, "Please, just go on with your plan."
Claire nodded reluctantly, but she stayed silent for a minute. "There is a way to get aboard the super-hive," she said finally. "You need to transport a human aboard the hive with my folk's consent. If they switch off their jamming codes at the same time you are sending the human bait there, you can use the opportunity to transport a scientist aboard as well to a place where he can break into the system of the hive unnoticed. I'll help you create a virus program which will activate the self-destructive function of the hive if you attach it to their system, and it will explode their ship in an hour."
She finished talking. Her expression remained unreadable; it would have been impossible to tell what she was thinking of or what she felt, if she had any kind of feelings at all.
"Rodney?" Doctor Weir turned to the scientist beside her. "What's your opinion?"
"Uhmm... It sounded... okay," McKay admitted. "Though her plan is a bit too simple to be easily carried out..."
"My plan is not simple," the Wraith snapped. "It's the only way to destruct that hive."
Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. "Okay. Rodney, please, escort our captive to the lab, and you should create the virus with the other scientists as soon as possible. Claire, are you ready to start helping with it?" she inquired thoughtfully.
"I am," the Wraith answered calmly.
"Alright, you two should go then," Weir ordered. "In the meantime, we'll work out the other details of the plan."
As McKay and Claire left, Doctor Beckett asked worryingly. "Will we send someone as a sacrifice there? I mean as bait to help the technician get aboard..."
"I think we should simply draw which citizen of Atlantis should be sent there for lunch to the Wraith Queen," Ronon suggested sarcastically.
"No, no, I'd never order anything like that," Weir protested. "It would be very suspicious to the Wraiths as well, if we simply sent a human to die there."
"What else can we do?" John asked.
"I'll send them a message, and I'll ask them to let me get transported aboard their hive for negotiation," Elizabeth said with confidence.
"They don't have any reasons to accept it. They have a huge advantage compared to our pathetically dilapidated shield, they would never sit down with you to negotiate," John shook his head.
"Yes, they will, if I offer them the coordinates of the Earth."
Everybody stared at her, shocked at her statement.
"Naturally, it would be a lie," she added, "But the Wraiths want to know so desperately where the Earth is that I'm sure they will accept it and they will let me in, even if they have doubts about my offer."
"If they found out about your lie, they would kill you," John said apprehensively.
"Maybe. Or maybe I'll find a way to escape from the hive before they realize my untruth," she said without much conviction, but she tried to disguise it, she forced a cheering smile on her face. "Let's talk about the other part of the plan, about the scientist to be transported aboard. Do you think Rodney would accept the role?"
"He won't be glad," Sheppard murmured, "But I think I can persuade him. He is the best, and nobody else can be entrusted with such an important task."
"He needs a few soldiers to join him and protect him," Elizabeth added reflectively.
"We'll go with him," John made a gesture in the direction of Ronon and himself. "We'd be there to protect him, if the Wraiths detected his presence and tried to stop him."
"It might end up as a suicidal mission," Doctor Beckett mumbled in the background, "If you can't escape from the hive before it explodes..."
"It's worth trying." John got up from his chair, and so did Ronon. "We'll talk to Rodney about it," Sheppard promised, and he headed for the door. "I think he'll understand."
They left, and Doctor Beckett wanted to follow them too, but Elizabeth went to him.
"Carson, you know Claire... What have you seen on her face?" she asked the doctor, whispering. "Did she tell us the truth? Is her plan really worth trying?"
Doctor Beckett took her hand and gave it a heartening pat. "I believe her," he said. "I can't tell you for sure what she had on her mind, but I do believe in her. She merits our trust, I know."
"I hope you are right about her," Weir beckoned. "Now go, and stay beside her. Take care that she feels alright here and she won't turn against us in the last minute."
The doctor rushed out of the conference room ardently, he seemed happy that he could spend time with his protégé. Colonel Caldwell, who remained silent during the discussion of the plan, now stepped next to Weir. "I need to talk to you," he told her.
"If you want to convince me that it's a foolish thing to follow a Wraith's advice, you'd better save your breath," she answered sullenly.
"I want to join you and go with you to the Wraiths aboard the super-hive to negotiate with them."
"What?" she came to a halt, astonished.
"I see that you are unable to deal with the sly mendacity of the Wraiths, it would not be the first time that you are deluded with their machinations..."
Doctor Weir's lips slightly trembled with the anger rising in her, but she did not show it, she gave her response quietly. "I don't need a guardian who keeps an eye on me, I won't mess up anything."
"Yes, you need. I don't want you to make another foolish decision. I will interfere, if you are about to trust those monsters..."
"I will be there only as bait to help Rodney, Ronon and John to get aboard the hive. You can feel reassured; I won't need to make any decisions. The whole negotiation will be just a cover-up."
"I know. However, you may need a soldier to stand by. I'm gonna join you, and you can't do anything to stop me."
"No, you won't come!" Her voice was as determined as his. "I'll go alone. If anything fares ill, it's better if it's only me there to face the Wraiths' revenge, I don't want anyone else to risk..."
He interrupted dryly, "If anything fares ill, it's all the same if I'm with you aboard the super-hive or aboard the Daedalus or here in Atlantis, the Wraiths will kill me as they will everybody else."
"No. Aboard the Daedalus you'll have the chance to escape from the fury of the Wraiths, so I'm ordering you to go to your ship right now and to prepare everything for the departure. Speaking for myself, this discussion is over. Please, go!"
Caldwell did not obey; he remained there, facing her with the solidity of the immovable resolution in his eyes. "I'll go with you," he said sharply. "It's not a question or an offer, it's my final decision, and I want you to be observant of it."
"No, you won't come with me. It would be useless to risk your life..."
"I will."
"I said: No!"
"Hey, what's going on here?" They heard from the entrance of the office, and as they turned in the direction of the voice, they could see Sheppard coming back into the room. "Is there no question you two are able to discuss without jarring?"
"John!" Elizabeth beckoned her left hand to stop the soldier at the door. "It's a private discussion. Will you, please, wait outside?"
"We don't have the time, sorry," Sheppard walked in. "I just wanted to suggest that you should take one or two soldiers with you on your trip to the heart of the super-hive, you might need their help. When we are ready with setting up the self-destructive virus, we'll need to disappear from the hive as soon as possible, before they become aware of it. If you have armed men by your side, we'll have more chance to leave in time before they puzzle out our plan."
Caldwell threw a triumphant glance at Weir. "So I'll join you," he concluded.
"Would you? That's cool," John snapped his fingers. "I thought it would not be easy to find someone who voluntarily joins us, but it's really nice that you..."
"John, I told you to wait outside," Elizabeth hissed at Sheppard, but she had to see that it was too late. "The colonel supposedly misunderstood what you said, and he thought that you meant officers, but you didn't, so he won't come with me, I'll take a cadet," she added.
"No, no, Colonel Caldwell is perfect for the role. He already knows the entire plan, we don't need to spend valuable minutes teaching him the details," John stated. "I think you should accept his offer."
"Oh, I can explain the plan in two minutes to any of our cadets. Why should we risk an officer's life?" Weir kept on protesting against the idea.
"You have to go to the Control Room now and to send the message to the Wraiths about the request for negotiation," Caldwell retorted. "You really don't have the time to explain plans."
"Yes, I do! Your job is to prepare the flight of the Daedalus, you should mind your own business, and not interfere in my tasks."
"This is my task as well because I'll join you...
"No, you won't!"
John shook his head, and he decided to leave. As he arrived at the lab, he found Rodney despairingly wringing his hands.
"Why me?" The scientist asked loud, enraged. "Why does it always have to be me? Why can't it be anybody else?"
"Rodney, it's not inevitably a suicidal mission," John told him, trying to give him some comfort with his remark.
"Hah, how the hell can you believe that I will buy it?" McKay snorted. "Setting up a self-destructive virus in the middle of a hive full of hungry Wraiths is inevitably a suicidal mission!"
"Well, it's true that we will take some risk, but don't give up hope this soon, we've already been in worse situations and we've pulled through..."
"Worse situations? Just name one!"
Sheppard cleared his throat. "Erm, I can't recall any right now, but naturally we have had much worse than this... I suppose you are just a bit too pessimistic about our chances."
"Of course I am. It's a long shot."
"I don't see why you are dramatizing our case. Ronon and I will be there to help you..."
Rodney turned away from him, "Please, stop trying to fool me. We're unquestionably gonna die aboard that hive to save the city!"