Stargate Atlantis: Sleep Before I Do
By: Shadow Chaser
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, AcmeShark Productions, and Scifi Channel. This story is for amusement only and I didn't get any money for it. No copyright infringement is intended.
Category: Action Adventure, Drama, H/C
Pairing: Hints of Shep/Weir, hints of Ronon/Teyla, and hints of Shep/Teyla.
Notes: This chapter was written in chunks of between the last time I posted Chapter 4, which was back in Sept. of 2007 and October of 2009. Between then, I had all but given up on the Atlantis fandom when I absolutely disliked the direction they took with the show (killing Dr. Beckett was a major mark against it and I did not care that he had a clone of sorts waiting in the wings. Getting rid of Dr. Weir was another one…and who thought that bringing in Sam Carter was such a great idea? I love her in SG-1, I hate her in Atlantis).
My interest in this story only revived last week when I saw the premiere of Stargate Universe. I wanted to compare intro sequences in the two spin-offs and decided I liked Atlantis a lot more in terms of intros so far which suckered me into doing a marathon. I had this chapter long planned out before I stopped writing for two years, so all I had to do was add a couple of more pages and a few scenes before posting it for all of you. Enjoy. Hopefully I can finish this story without getting pissed at what the writers did to Stargate Atlantis starting with the latter half of Season 3, 4, and 5.
Story:
Chapter 5 – Discoveries
Getting a connection with the Daedalus took a little longer than usual due to the distance the ship was from Atlantis, but as soon as a secure connection was established, Elizabeth saw the grim worried line face of Colonel Caldwell appear.
"I hope you have good news Doctor," Caldwell looked calm, though his body language told her otherwise.
She shook her head sadly, "I'm afraid not, Colonel. It seems that Colonel Sheppard's team's failed. We've received word from the aliens calling themselves Klisan'thus that they have been captured."
"Klisan'thus?" Caldwell asked, "Well, at least now we have a name to put to their faces."
"I was wondering if Hermiod was available…he may know something of these Klisan'thus," Elizabeth said.
Caldwell nodded before looking to the side and suddenly the communication screen split into two, Hermiod in one half, Caldwell in the other. "What can I do for you Dr. Weir?" the Asgard sounded annoyed, but then again, Elizabeth knew from Caldwell himself that the Asgard was always annoyed.
"I was wondering if your people know anything about a race called the Klisan'thus," she asked.
Normally reading Asgard expressions was like reading a blank slate, but Elizabeth swore she saw the placid expression Hermiod usually had suddenly freeze and his skin tone grew a few shades lighter grey. "Klisan'thus…"
"Yes," she watched the Asgard carefully and it seemed Caldwell did too. She noticed that the whole bridge of the Daedalus and the whole control room in Atlantis had too frozen, all hanging onto the words of the Asgard. It seemed that everyone picked up on the fact that the Asgard knew something about their currently adversary.
There was a murmur of sounds from Hermiod before he looked up and gave a very human-like sigh. "We know of the Klisan'thus…and from what Thor has told the Asgard High Council, the Tau'ri should know of the Klisan'thus too, though you have never met."
"Pardon?" she asked, confused.
"Quite simply," Hermiod moved one of the control crystals up his station, "they are the Furlings."
Akiesios walked the halls with a purpose, making his way towards Taethos' inner sanctum underground in their bunker above the makeshift village that they had used as a cover for this whole operation. The real village had been culled by the Wraith months ago and burnt to the ground. He didn't know the whole story behind the Genii's involvement in this whole plan, but he did hear that the group's leader, a man named Acastus Kolya had told them that his own home planet had been ruthlessly taken over by a dictator who claimed to be benevolent, but instead was bloodthirsty and power-hungry. Kolya also told them that he had allies; foreign humans who had come bearing projectile weapons greater than that of his own men and were hunting him.
Taethos had agreed to help Kolya and his men, but somehow, Akiesios felt that there had to be more to the plan than their leader was letting on. He needed to know, but Taethos was reluctant to tell him.
But with the arrival of these humans…they didn't seem to conquerors that Kolya had made them out to be. In fact, while a bit hostile and wary, which was natural, they seemed almost friendly. However, Taethos and the others told him that they had activated the Wraith'gul…and were intent on using it to destroy everyone. Now, he wasn't too sure if that was true.
These humans knew of the Ancients and the Goa'uld...did they know of the Asurans and other threats that weren't of this galaxy? And how did Colonel Sheppard and his team get onto this planet? They had the Chapp'ai well guarded to prevent anyone from fighting their way in and there had been no reported casualties by the Chapp'ai when Sheppard and his men fought their way in.
He halted in front of the two perpetual guards that always protected the entrance to Taethos' inner sanctum. "Let me pass," he gave each of them an even look before they stepped back, letting him through.
He continued and palmed open the door to the sanctum. Walking in he steeled himself from frowning in displeasure as he saw his leader sitting in plush comforts, two of the women of their group sitting next to him. One had taken to grooming the furs on his hind feet; the other was whispering something in his ear to which Taethos chuckled softly.
"Sir," Akiesios stood at attention, staring straight ahead at the darkly hued red walls of the sanctum.
"Ah, Akiesios…" Taethos waved his salute away before leaning forward, gesturing to the two women to stopped whatever they were doing. The women scooted over from the plush before attending to their own furs, all the while seemingly leering at Akiesios. He steadfastly ignored them and instead, focused on Taethos. "You wanted something?"
"What are the Genii after? These humans that we have captured are no ordinary humans. It is true they are far more advanced than the Genii, but they do not seem to be hunting down Commander Kolya and his men," Akiesios said bluntly.
"I thought you would have figured it out by now," Taethos stared at him with even eyes, "these are the interlopers that have activated the Wraith'gul. Do you wish for them to defile our most sacred object with such petty hands? They killed at least ten of our own brethren!"
"I mean no disrespect," Akiesios bowed his head slightly in apology, "but I seem to think there is more to these humans than we have thought possible. For one thing, how did they get through the Chapp'ai without any detection? Our own men haven't been injured and they claim that no one came through the Chapp'ai. Yet Colonel Sheppard and his team were able to return and kill our brethren."
"Are you questioning my methods? I have already told you time and time again…all will be revealed in due time," Taethos rose up from his seat, stepping forward so that he towered over Akiesios by at least a good head. However, Akiesios did not let the height difference intimidate him and instead, stared at their leader, his eyes narrowed.
"I feel as if we are dealing with a potential enemy that could have grave consequences for us. If it is true that these humans have disposed of Commander Kolya and installed their own puppet leader, then should we not tread carefully? They have the ability to control the strongest of humans in this galaxy, the Genii, and yet we hold them prisoner and taunt their leader."
"I am not taunting Dr. Weir," Taethos sneered at him before stepping back and started to circle around him, "I am merely stating to her that what she has done is in serious violation of our principles."
"It's the Wraith'gul! It only can be activated by the Alin'thus! What you are-" Akiesios stopped mid-word as he realized what had happened and as all the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together.
He had heard of some of the humans within the galaxy that possessed the genetic material of the Alin'thus, thus enabling some of them to protect themselves from the Wraith…but only the strongest of those…the ones closest to being Alin'thus themselves were able to activate such a device. He had seen Dr. McKay and his team of scientists, at least four of them, go down into the bowels of the Wraith'gul…could a majority of the scientists possess the genetic material of the Alin'thus?
"That is why Commander Kolya needed our help. These band of humans are dangerous, don't you see? They don't know what they are getting into," Taethos saw the knowing expression on his face and smiled slightly.
"But torturing them?!" Akiesios could understand Taethos' need to curb the humans' child-like enthusiasm; even he had that moral obligation to make sure that the second-born children of the Alin'thus not come to any harm, especially in this galaxy…the galaxy of mistakes.
"You did not object in the beginning," Taethos replied icily.
"That was before I knew some of them had the genetic material of our long-forgotten allies! We promised them Taethos! Or have you forgotten?!"
"It seems," Taethos stopped his circling and instead, stared at him with narrowed eyes, "that you too have forgotten…or is your connection to the Arch-Council still hindering you from doing what is necessary."
Akiesios' breath hitched slightly before he shook his head, "No. I have sworn my loyalty to you…and you have seen my actions. I just have reservations."
"For now…"
"For now, but they will fade. It is the shock of finding this information out that has brought out such reservations," Akiesios agreed.
"See to it you don't have anymore reservations. We are close to our goal," Taethos growled as he settled back into his plush comforts.
"Sir?"
"We will storm the Genii's home planet. Our hostages ensure us that Dr. Weir will not make a move against us."
"Understood, sir. I take my leave," Akiesios sensed that the conversation was over and saluted before turning around and leaving the sanctum, ignoring the purrs of admiration from the two females. He stalked past the guards and weaved his way around the corridors.
He had almost compromised himself back there and he knew that Taethos would not let him slip once more. There would be others sent to track his whereabouts, which made his job harder. He wanted to check one more thing before making his move and so headed towards the torture chambers where he knew they kept Colonel Sheppard.
There were no guards outside the door to the chamber, but there were most certainly guards and few of the Genii all surrounding the middle of the chamber, where Akiesios saw the battered looking Sheppard hanging from chains bound to his wrist. He knew that it had been hours since they took Sheppard from the medical room to here, but surely he hadn't been hanging from the chains for that long?
A cursory look at Sheppard made Akiesios frown. The Colonel was obviously in much pain and one of his shoulders looked swollen…probably a popped bone which was improperly popped back in. His shallow and wheezing breaths could be heard throughout the room and bruises along with blood covered parts of his face. What manner was this that the Genii torture a man so severely?
And then he noticed that some of the other Klisan'thus were also there…and a sick swooping feeling filled him. Even his own people had joined in…
"What did you promise them? Your men? Just a handful of what, two dozen, going up against a whole fucking planet?" Akiesios finally noticed that the Colonel was talking with the leader of the Genii, a pock-marked, but handsome man that he identified immediately as Acastus Kolya.
"No, no," Kolya shook his head, "you misunderstand me, Colonel. They will help me."
"What the hell are you gonna do then? You've got a measly planet, you got your power. I'm sure you've figured out that we're not exactly supportive allies when it comes to the Genii."
"We will storm Atlantis and your friends like Dr. McKay, will provide me with the codes."
The word Atlantis struck him like a blow just as Kolya also round-housed the Colonel in the head, his body going limp. Atlantis! The city which they had thought had been destroyed by the Wraith almost a year and half ago! It had been rumored that someone had powered up the long-forgotten city and brought it from its deep slumber in Lantea's ocean. They had tried to confirm it, but with a majority of their resources dedicated to fighting the Wraith and Asurans and watching their borders, there hadn't been time.
This meant that Atlantis hadn't been destroyed as reports had said…and it survived. It also meant that these humans, these explorers…they were from Atlantis. They were the ones who had probably powered up the city and made it their base. It would make sense, especially if a few of them had the Alin'thus' genetic material.
But codes? He didn't know what it really meant, but had a sneaky feeling that it probably had something to do with Atlantis' shield on its Chapp'ai.
"Commander," a plan was rapidly forming in Akiesios' head as he stepped forward, pushing his way through the others, "are you finished with this session?"
"Ah…you are?" Kolya stared at him, and he noticed that his men had not-quite pointed their weapons at him.
"The medical doctor in this base, Commander. General Taethos requests that the prisoner be kept healthy at least. From my assessment, he will need treatment before another session can continue," Akiesios said as evenly as possible.
"I see," Kolya stepped back before gesturing with a jerk of his head for two of his men to unstrap the unconscious Colonel from his bonds. They did so without a word and let the man drop to the ground. A soft and involuntary groan escaped from the Colonel's lips and Akiesios' eyes narrowed just slightly.
"Thank you," he walked over and picked up the Colonel before slinging him half over his shoulder much like he would do to a rucksack. The human felt too light for his liking as he headed away from the chamber, ignoring the inquisitive looks from the other Klisan'thus. He made his way through the winding corridors before finally reaching the medical ward. Entering it, he saw a few Klisan'thus milling about. "Leave me," he ordered to them and they hurried out without a word, some bowing to him before the door hissed close behind him.
Making sure that no one was left, Akiesios finally gently lowered the Colonel from his shoulder and shook his head slightly as he stared at the masses of bruises and wounds. He needed the Colonel healthy if he was going to execute his plan and walked over to a seemingly blank wall that was surrounded by beds and monitors. He moved a few of the beds away from the wall before hitting a part of the wall which suddenly opened up to reveal a secret compartment.
Reaching his hand inside the compartment, Akiesios pressed a series of buttons he could feel deep into the wall before the rest of the wall hissed and another hidden compartment slowly opened up, this time much larger…
He stepped back as he watched the wall open outwards, a large golden-encrusted encasement attached to the dummy wall moving out of its hidden compartment. It looked like a coffin of sorts, but much more elaborately decorated. The encasement opened up with a quiet hiss and inside, the soft glow of its healing lights pulsed softly. Satisfied that the coffin-like thing was working properly, Akiesios turned back and picked up Colonel Sheppard gently before placing him inside the coffin-like thing.
The encasement immediately sensed an occupant inside it and started to close, all the while retreating back into the wall. Finally, the wall sealed shut along with the hidden compartment used to bring out the coffin-like thing and Akiesios quickly placed the beds back in place.
No one knew such a thing existed in the medical ward, not even Taethos. It was for his own emergency use if his original plan had failed… It would keep Sheppard hidden for a while, but he also knew it would endanger his own life as many had seen him take the Colonel away from the torture chamber. At this moment he didn't care. All he knew was that if things went as Taethos had planned, then all would go to hell.
Seeing that his current task was done, Akiesios headed out of the medical ward and towards the surface of the planet. If the prisoners were from Atlantis and some had the genetic material of the Alin'thus, then there was a good chance he knew how they had arrived…
Elizabeth rubbed her eyes tiredly as she stared at the faces of the command staff of Stargate Command and the members of SG-1, all crowded around the small video feed they had going. In the forefront was Dr. Daniel Jackson who was scribbling furiously on a notepad, hurriedly trying to translate the Ancient text that she had sent over in a previous data burst transmission about an hour ago.
Even with Zelenka and his team trying to translate the text they found on the Wraith'gul and with Dr. Jackson's help, it was hard work. Behind Dr. Jackson was General O'Neill, still trying to rack his brains for any knowledge of the Furlings he may have acquired during the two times he had his head stuck in the Ancient repository and standing next to him were Vala and Colonel Samantha Carter, both helping Dr. Jackson with the translation. Farther behind them was Teal'c and Colonel Mitchell, both looking a bit out of place, but nonetheless, flipping through a few pages of the translated text, trying to piece together just what the Wraith'gul really meant.
Ever since Hermiod's announcement that the Klisan'thus really were the Furlings, she had immediately contacted Stargate Command for instructions and for knowledge. The Furlings were the last of the Four Great Alliance members that they had never encountered and only now…
What had they done to inadvertently anger the Furlings? Surely it just wasn't curiously poking around the Wraith'gul… The Nox, the Asgard, and even the Ancients were friendly enough by their curiosity, although they took it to like a parent admonishing a child, but the Furlings…
They had captured members of her expedition, and even killed a few of them. What had they done?
"Dr. Weir, we're sending you some more information from what Dr. Jackson and his team were able to translate so far," General Landry's face appeared on the screen and Elizabeth looked to Chuck, the Canadian technician who had been Peter Grodin's replacement for the last two years, who nodded as he confirmed the receipt of the transmission.
"We've received it," she replied, pursing her lips.
"Any word from Colonel Caldwell about the situation down there?" Landry's expression softened slightly.
Elizabeth shook her head, "I'm sorry…"
"We'll contact you in an hour with the next batch of translations," Landry knew that there wasn't more to be said and Elizabeth nodded before the wormhole shut down, leaving only the sounds of monitors and people walking around to fill the silence within the control room.
"This is…not good," Radek murmured to himself, sitting in one of the control stations, staring at the databurst translation that had come through.
Elizabeth walked over to where Radek sat and peered over his shoulder. "What is it?"
"We know that this is a weapon, right? Designed to kill the Lanteans or anything that the Wraith could potentially feed on. Well, according to the recent batch of translations, this is like the Dakara Superweapon," Radek nervously pushed up his glasses on his nose and she felt her breath hitch slightly.
"Exactly like it?" she slowly asked.
"Sort of," the Czech scientist grimaced before tapping a few keys on his laptop, bringing up a schematic of the whole Pegasus Galaxy. "Here's the planet, M3R-154," he pointed to the miniscule planet which was deep within the arms of the galaxy, "if the weapon was to be activated, apparently it would wipe out all life in this quadrant of the galaxy."
"But that doesn't include us," she pointed out.
"Yes, I know," he replied, "but according to the newest translations from what Dr. Jackson and his team along with mine are able to piece together, it looks like the Stargate of M3R-154 is designed to activate all the Stargates within the Pegasus Galaxy…"
"So the weapon's effects spread through the Stargates…but couldn't that reach Earth too?"
Radek blinked, "I hadn't thought about that."
Elizabeth knew that it was probably a minute chance, but since Atlantis was the only connection to Earth, there would be the chance that the weapon's power would spread to Earth. She knew that Earth's Stargate didn't have the capacity of activating multiple gates at once, and Ba'al simultaneous dialing program was under tight lock and key. But that still meant that if the weapon's power did reach Earth, all of its inhabitants would be completely wiped out.
"All right," she pursed her lips briefly before turning to one of the techs sitting at the communications console, "send what we've just received to the Daedalus and see if Hermiod could work out something."
She turned to David, "No contact from the Furlings since their last transmission?"
"No ma'am," David replied.
"Dial the planet. I think its time we told Taethos what we know," Elizabeth steeled herself for the incoming storm that she knew had arrived.
Teyla was worried; even though they were prisoners of these cat-like creatures, no one had been by since the one called Akiesios left them and that was hours ago. She didn't know how many days had passed since they had been prisoners of these aliens, but she knew that it had been a few since they were running low on water and on the food found in their vests.
Ronon had almost completely healed, rapidly recovering due to the white paste-like stuff Akiesios had ordered her to put on the others. The others had no luck trying to put together a workable device to aid their escape and only managed to produce an unusual looking object that Major Lorne had tested on the lock, but to no avail. Ronon had taken to pacing up and down their cell, occasionally rattling the bars for any signs of weakness, but Teyla didn't hold out much hope in finding anything. The Satedan had told them that Colonel Sheppard had arrived with him and she had found herself worrying for any news of him. Akiesios had dodged her initial question, but she hoped that John was still alive.
However, the hope died a little bit inside of her as soon as they heard footsteps echo along the corridor, footsteps that sounded too heavy to be the cat-like creatures' feet. As they all looked up to see who their new visitors were, Teyla felt a slight pit of dread form in her stomach.
"Kolya…" Rodney whispered, standing up slowly before Lorne cut in front of him, pushing the scientist back, shielding him with his body.
Teyla instinctively also did the same, half stepping forward towards Lorne. They all knew how much Kolya hated Rodney, probably almost as much as he hated John.
"Dr. McKay," Kolya smiled congenially at them, "Teyla…and Ronon, good to see you. And you too Major Lorne…it's been a while hasn't it?"
"Yeah… a while," Lorne gave a thin-lipped smile.
"Shouldn't you be dead by now?" Ronon leaned against the bars, a predatory-amused smile on his face. Teyla recognized the look instantly.
"Ronon…don't," she warned him. It wouldn't do them any good if he did anything rash at the moment, not with so many guns pointed at them by Kolya's men.
Ronon stepped back from the bars, the amused smile still on his face, spread his hands out to indicate that he wasn't going to do anything. "Just asking," he commented softly.
Kolya snorted softly before gesturing to one of his men to open their cell door. "Now, if you'll all just stand there quietly. The Klisan'thus requires one of you to be there when we talk to Dr. Weir. Any volunteers? No? Then I choose…her…" Kolya pointed at Lieutenant Kaili Wescott who stood stock straight, fear in her eyes.
"Take me instead; I'm the senior ranking officer. If you want to convince Dr. Weir of anything I'm the one to take," Lorne immediately stepped forward, but froze as one of the Genii pointed his weapon directly at him.
"No, actually Colonel Sheppard is, but I doubt it he's in the mood to be talking at the moment…I doubt that he's in the mood to be moving at all," Kolya gave them a nasty smile which sent shivers down Teyla's spine.
"Sheppard here? He's alive?" Rodney asked, hopeful.
"In the manner of speaking…" one of the Genii snickered, "we broke a few of his bones…gave him a pretty good beating too."
Kolya moved his hand to stop him from talking but the damage had already been done. Anger filled the room as each member of the Atlantis expedition that was in the cell glared at the Genii. Teyla knew that everyone within the cell respected Sheppard and gave him a lot more credit than he realized. He had saved the lives of each one of the members before, whether it was most recently or a long time ago, no one wanted to hear what the Genii soldier had just said.
"Bastards," Ronon growled out as the soldier finished opening the door and two of the armed men stepped in, pointing their weapons at them before another two walked forward and pulled the protesting Lieutenant Wescott out of the cell. The two soldiers followed out before the door was locked once more and Kolya tipped his hat at them.
"Thank you," he gave them a bland smile before walking away, leaving them in silence.
Lorne immediately spun around and kicked the wall angrily, curses falling from his lips. No one made a move to stop him and Teyla only watched sadly as the Major expressed what they all were feeling.
Elizabeth held her head high as she stared at Taethos who was communicating using both a video feed and audio feed that was similar to their MALP telemetry. She could see behind him the wooded area of the planet and a group of Klisan'thus surrounding their leader. There was a subtle movement in the woods before Taethos turned slightly to see who had arrived and her breath caught in her throat as she saw who was dragging Lieutenant Wescott along.
A soft murmur of select swears poured from Radek's mouth and while she barely understood any of them, she found herself agreeing with his words. With Acastus Kolya's presence among the Furlings, it would make sense for the Furlings to listen to the words of the man that had tried to capture Atlantis.
"Dr. Weir," Taethos turned back to face her, "due to the highly sensitive nature of our mission, we would like to request that you do not interfere, or else the lives of your men and women like this Lieutenant, will be forfeit."
"We would like to request that any attempts to contact any of your allies no matter how great or small will result in terrible consequences," Kolya smiled nastily before Elizabeth realized what the man was getting at. Kolya was going to try to storm the Genii homeworld and take it over!
"But," the ex-military commander of the Genii clasped his hands behind his back, "as a gesture of good faith, we will return Lieutenant Wescott to you, alive and unharmed. I suggest you open your gate or else she may not have the chance of surviving the trip."
Elizabeth nodded to Chuck the technician. He immediately lowered the shield on the Atlantis gate and she saw a slight movement as one of the Klisan'thus took Lieutenant Wescott out of the frame of the MALP and seconds later the frightened Lieutenant stumbled through the gate, bewildered and shaking all over. Immediately Chuck raised the shield once more and Beckett was already attending to the shell-shocked soldier, leading her off the embarkation platform and towards a stretcher.
"She arrived safely, thank you," the words of thanks felt forced from her lips before she pursed them and looked at both Kolya and Taethos. Here was the real test, "Taethos, I do not know if your kind remembers the Great Alliance of the Four Races, but we were told that the Klisan'thus also are known as the Furlings."
There was a quiet silence save for the hum of machinery as everyone's gazes were riveted to the Furling leader who had an unreadable expression on his face. However, she did notice that Kolya's expression was narrowed and shrewd, taking in this new information. She briefly wondered if the Pegasus galaxy had heard of the Furlings. Judging from what Ronon had told her before he had left for the attempted rescue mission, there were legends of cat-like people scattered throughout the galaxy, but nothing concrete. Perhaps they had adopted the villagers as part of their community, both humans and cat-like creatures calling themselves Klisan'thus.
"How very interesting you refer to my kind in the Tau'ri native tongue," Taethos replied quietly and Elizabeth felt a jolt of surprise fill her. Taethos said Tau'ri...no one in the Pegasus galaxy had ever referred them as Tau'ri. It was a Milky Way galaxy expression confined to only the Goa'uld and other species the SGC had stumbled upon. Even the Ancients in the Milky Way on more than one occasion had referred to the people of Earth as the Tau'ri. But here...they were the children of the Ancestors, the gate builders and according to the Asurans, the second-children.
"We have our resources," she decided to throw a few tidbits of information his way, "we learned of the Great Alliance between the Ancestors who built the Stargates, the Ancients as we call them, the Furlings, the Nox, and the Asgard."
She knew her words had to be confusing Kolya, but she hoped that perhaps by telling him that there were bigger problems than a petty power struggle for leadership on just a planet that perhaps he would take it as a sign of good faith and release everyone that they had captured. But for Taethos, she could not gauge his reaction. However, she thought she had seen a glint of something in his eyes. Kolya and his men already knew that Atlantis had survived the so-called "self destruct," but she did not want to outright tell him that they were from another galaxy and that they were essentially squatting in Atlantis.
"Alin'thus, Teythan'thus, and Serin'thus," Taethos replied, "you have learned much for such primitive people."
"We also know of the Goa'uld and we've defeated them," she decided on that gamble and was rewarded with a slightly frozen smile on Taethos' face.
"The parasites could never have been defeated, not in a thousand years, not by anyone," the leader of the Furlings hissed angrily and Elizabeth knew there was a definite connection between the Furlings and the Goa'uld. She didn't know what it was, but she knew that the answers would explain perhaps why her men were killed by wounds consistent of staff blasts. However, why the Furlings had somehow left the Milky Way and come to the Pegasus Galaxy puzzled her. And why they were so angry at them for touching the device when the villagers themselves had reassured them that it was very old and unused for such a long time.
She knew that there was a vital piece of information she was missing. Something about all of this that did not quite make sense. For starters, why would the Furlings, such an old and powerful race ally themselves with someone like Kolya only to take over a planet? She thought that the Furlings would have greater respect and understanding of the younger races and would be shepherds, not enforcers, like the Ancients, Nox, and Asgard were. Apparently she was wrong and the last fourth missing race of the Great Alliance was not the benevolent guides they had imagined them for such a long time.
"We had help from the Ancients," which was technically true according to the most recent report she had read from Stargate Command before the Ori made their presence known. Dr. Daniel Jackson had written an account of what had happened to him after he had been abducted by the Replicators and had said that Oma Desala had cast off the restraints and rules she had been shackled with by the other Ancients and had engaged Anubis in an eternal battle. The only real Goa'uld threat left the last she had heard was Ba'al and his clones, but the Tok'ra apparently said that they were starting to help the shattered empires of the Goa'uld and rebuild into a more peaceful and less aggressive and expansionist race of beings.
"It puzzles me," Taethos narrowed his eyes slightly, "that the Alin'thus would be so willing to help."
"That is why we come in peace," Elizabeth replied carefully, knowing her next words were crucial, "we are a race of explorers. The villagers did not know that allowing us to examine the device would anger your people so much."
"Your ignorance is what will be the end of you," Taethos snapped back, baring his feline-teeth slightly, "I have learned much of your group from Commander Kolya here and it is not all pleasant."
"Commander Kolya's view is biased-"
"The aiding and sedition of a planetary overthrow of several governments? The non-disclosure of the Chapp'ai to several civilian governments on planets that wished the secret to be kept? The destruction of property and livelihood? And worst of all, according to the Commander here, we have your expedition and people to thank for the premature reawakening of the Wraith, which has now resulted in millions of dead amongst this galaxy's worlds so far."
Elizabeth kept silent, her lips in a thin line of anger. How many times had she tried to explain to other worlds that accused or discovered that they were the ones who had inadvertently woken the Wraith? How many times had she tried to explain herself to the IOA, to Stargate Command that they needed to be on the lookout in case the Wraith appeared in the Milky Way?
However, to hear criticism from one of the Four Alliance races, it was like a slap in the face. Even the Asgard or the Ancients that they had met had never criticized them, or at least she had not heard anything from Hermiod. All of them had accepted it with the graciousness and assumption that it was after all, human nature to be curious. And both races had learned that curiosity sometimes produced the most unfortunate consequence. The only thing left to do was to try to mitigate and clean up the mess that they had unleashed.
She had a feeling that the Furlings held a different set of values, much like the Nox's belief of non interference.
Taethos's teeth had been bared and his rough voice rising with anger before he finally took a deep breath, "Your men will be returned to you, unharmed, at the conclusion of our operation. Perhaps you would take this time to reflect on the error of your ways and the horror you have unleashed. Taethos out."
The connection broke and a few seconds later the wormhole disconnected, leaving Elizabeth fuming and angry. She felt like she had run the gauntlet through a series of negotiations and had come out on the sour end of a deal. However, she definitely knew that there was something missing in all of this, something that she knew Taethos was hiding about the Furlings and its relation to the weapon. Something about the Furlings and the past history of the Four Alliances and Goa'uld.
It also did not help matters that the person she had thought was a simple head of a village seemed much more to the Furlings than he was letting on. Taethos was hiding something about himself and about the cat-like soldiers surrounding him.
"Ma'am," one of the technicians, Erin suddenly spoke up and she turned slightly, "we have an incoming video transmission from the Daedalus."
"Video?" as far as Elizabeth knew, the Daedalus was still holding its position above the planet and thus video transmissions weren't even capable of transmitting from that far out.
"Err, yes ma'am," the technician looked slightly confused, but handed her the headset and she took it and walked over to the screen they had set up as a video relay.
Touching the headset she spoke into it, "This is Weir."
The screen fizzled for a second before a slightly warped, but clear image appeared and she nearly gasped at seeing another Furling's face, behind her the bridge of the Daedalus.
"Hello, Dr. Weir," the Furling spoke, his growling voice much more cultured than Taethos', "I am called Akiesios and I bring you a proposal."