"Ok, so these two hives are probably going to be in as much competition with each other as they are allies on this trip," Colonel Sheppard said, gesturing to the holographic star map he was using to brief everyone on the attack on the two hive ships who were attempting to travel to Earth and the Milky Way Galaxy. "Most of their numbers are going to be in hibernation, save for their queens and those males and drones necessary to collect enough Humans to eat on the journey. There are only a few ways for them to travel to reach Earth without entering another hive's territory and they don't want to waste the time and resources that would take. Thanks to that restriction, there are even fewer worlds that they can cull on their way out of this galaxy."
Sheppard waved over at the group of scientists hanging out on one side of the war room. "Thanks to McKay and his people, we were able to pinpoint which worlds will be under attack and the most likely time for it to happen with the data that Eve brought us." Eve was what he had named Michael's queen. Personally he felt sorry for the girl. Being forced to take on the duties of an adult long before you were ready for them was something that should never happen to a child of any race.
"The Daedalus and the Orion will be making themselves very visible and knocking on the hives front doors when they show up to cull these two worlds. While the hives are busy dealing with the threat in front of them, two sets of puddlejumpers will be making their way into the hives for a sneak attack. Teyla, Ronon, one of you will be with each group. You are going in as the personal guard for the scientist with the nuke. Talk with Radek and find out the best places to put them. It'll be your jobs to make sure that they get in there, plant the nukes and get out, hopefully in one piece. Make sure that you can attach and set off the nukes by yourself if the worst happens." The look Sheppard shot them had them nodding in understanding. ART1 usually had something go wrong and they'd gotten into the habit of planning for the worst.
"Lorne, you're in charge of the puddlejumper groups. Take as many ATA pilots as you can to get the mission done. You get first pick. Honestly, the idea of sending you into a hive with only one pilot makes me nervous so make sure that you have at least two pilots for each jumper." Lorne nodded in understanding as well. The first mission against a hive ship had really made no tactical sense as it had been led by Sheppard who at the time had been Atlantis' only pilot. That most of them had made it out alive had been a matter of luck, especially as Sheppard had gone against the hive's queen alone.
Sheppard ignored the startled look that he received from Caldwell. "Conner, Murphy, the two of you will be manning the Orion's equivalent to rail guns. If you can think of anything that might improve anything, run it by Radek. McKay will be too busy. He's in charge of the engineers on the Orion and I'll be the pilot. Radek, do remember who it is you're talking to when the twins grab you with a new idea." The soft laughter that ran around the room made the joke more than worth it.
"As for the rest of you, the duty posts will be posted as soon as Lorne has made his decisions. Remember, everyone in Atlantis is to check the duty roster. Just because you aren't military does not mean that you are exempt from going. There are plenty of posts on the Orion for civilians," Sheppard finished, nodding in the direction of the Pegasus natives in the crowd. There was more than one blood thirsty grin at the Colonel's announcement. He would have no shortage of volunteers from that direction. "Dismissed," he concluded.
John acknowledged Caldwell's subtle request for a talk by leading him out onto the balcony for the briefing room. It was easy for them to get away because of the commotion made by the men and women all talking and trying to leave, those that weren't trying to convince Lorne that they would be perfect for a jumper team. "I had thought that I was going to have to talk you out of leading the jumper teams yourself," Caldwell told him.
John sighed. "Oh I want to. The trouble with that is that the Orion has to have a pilot with a high ATA gene percentage like most of the serious equipment around here, and those two are the ones that come closest to my percentage." He pointed back into the room where Conner had Murphy in a headlock and was demanding that his twin acknowledge him as the older brother.
Caldwell visibly winced at the idea of either brother being the pilot for the largest, most powerful, and fully operational warship he'd ever seen. "Let's see what we can do about avoiding that," he agreed. "How did you get the Orion operational so quickly? The last I heard she wasn't ready for battle yet."
John smirked. "A matter of necessity, not a lot of sleep on McKay and Radek's part, and believe it or not the curiosity of one very smart little boy. Jacob McManus found the drone manufacturing facility here on Atlantis. He told his mom that he was playing a game with the city lady."
"Atlantis' AI?" Caldwell asked. Every McManus had the ATA gene and at a high enough percentage that they almost were Ancients, at least as far as any Ancient machinery was concerned. It made sense that even the McManus children were able to talk to the elusive Atlantis AI. The expedition's computer programmers still hadn't been able to positively locate it, although every ATA positive in the city assured them that it was there.
John nodded. "Once the geeks had figured out that the facility was mostly operational, and McKay approved, we went looking for other places around Atlantis that might be related. We still haven't found Rodney's ZPM maker or the crystal grower, but we did find a collection of spare parts for the Orion and her sister ships. Once Atlantis figured out what we were looking for, she was very helpful in leading us right to it." The Colonel was proud of his city to say the least, and it showed.
"What else did Eve tell you? I know that the information about these two ships wasn't the only thing you talked about," Caldwell asked. He was hoping that there was information that Sheppard could only give to a senior officer. There had to be something, some sort of minute piece of information that could eventually turn the tide of this war.
John smirked. "She gave Carson an Ancient Medical doohickey that her mother took from an Ancient hospital as a trophy during the war. It seems that those sorts of trophies are traded between queens as alliance gifts. Something taken directly from the Ancients as a war trophy, rather than say something that has been salvaged from a dead outpost like we've been trying to do, has the highest value. Eve was making her choice of allies very, very clear, and it wasn't Elizabeth who was given the prize."
Caldwell nodded. "So it is Doctor Beckett that they are allied with, and the rest of us are just part of his package. I've seen something like that before. You I like, but the rest of these guys I'm not too sure about."
"Pretty much," John agreed. "Right now Carson is beside himself between wondering just what it is that's sitting on his desk, what he's gotten himself into by accepting it, and how badly are his services going to be needed after this."
Caldwell nodded. "There's no way to avoid that. We're going to take casualties." The knowledge that not all of those casualties were going to be service men and women hung silent in the air between them. Civilian casualties were not something that any decent commander deemed acceptable. On the other hand, these people had been fighting the Wraith for far longer than most civilizations had existed on Earth. They had no right to tell the Pegasus natives that they could not stand with those from the SGC to strike back against their ancient foe.
Sheppard nodded somberly as well. For him it was both a lot simpler, and a lot harder than Caldwell could ever understand. These weren't just his allies. These were his people. From the youngest child to the oldest elder, from the newest recruit to those who had been there when he'd first sat down in that damned chair in Antarctica, they were all his – his responsibility, his only real family. He had never truly felt at home until he had set foot in Atlantis and heard her quiet song drift just out of his range of hearing.
"I have a question," Caldwell announced after a short silence. "Just out of sheer curiosity, and feel free to tell me to take a giant leap off of the central spire, but is there any way that you could be related to the McManus clan? I figure Beckett and General O'Neill probably are, somewhere far back simply because their ancestry comes from that part of the world, but how about you?" There had to be something about the fact that all of the highest ATA percentages came from the British Isles – O'Neill and the McManus' from Ireland and Beckett from Scotland.
Sheppard looked slightly ill. It wasn't the first time someone had made that observation, after all most of the ATAs had some Irish, Scottish, etc. in their background and honestly he had even joked about it before with the twins, but the truth was still something that he wasn't very comfortable with. How did you tell someone that although your parents did not have such ties, there was a good chance that you did? On the other hand, Caldwell had done a lot for Atlantis lately and hadn't asked for anything in return. "I don't know. There's a chance that I am related, but let's just say that you wouldn't be able to find it on any paperwork," he quietly admitted.
Caldwell grimaced. That wasn't something that he had been expecting to hear. Even in this day and age, being the child of an infidelity was still considered to be something shameful, although personally Caldwell thought that it was the parents who deserved the scorn rather than the child. Unfortunately from what he'd heard about Sheppard's relationship with his father, he wasn't in the majority there. "That's too bad. There are a couple of geneticists who have been given a grant to track down as many ATA positives as they can going through the families of those who have already been identified."
"Shit," Sheppard cursed without any heat. "At least I'm not going to be on the same planet when that hits the fan."
"You won't even be in the same galaxy," Caldwell pointed out, attempting to make up for sticking his foot in his mouth.
"He'll find some way to let me know all about it, but at least it won't be in person," Sheppard told him. "Hell, it's not my fault that he can't have kids or that Mom decided to do something about that. All I know is that she picked up a guy in a bar overseas for me and slept with his brother for mine. She wasn't planning on anyone finding out either. The only reason I found out was that she apologized in a letter that she left for me in her will."
"Well if there is ever a place to find a McManus," Caldwell joked, ignoring the far too personal information.
Sheppard nodded. That was true enough. "Well, I've got at least an hour before Lorne gets those recommendations to me. Want to try a shot of the twin's latest batch?"
"Be glad to," Caldwell said.