CHAPTER 144

EPISODE….INFECTION

It was a nice day outside, which was usual and unusual on the ocean for the Atlantis team. The water was relatively calm, the skies a bit cloudy and the sun shining brightly through where it could. Nature for the most part, was peaceful. Inside the city however, it was not. A couple days ago however, a Wraith Hive ship was seen heading for their planet and still in hyperdrive on the same course.

"How long until they get here?" Ronan asked.

"A couple of minutes at most." Rodney said worried.

"Are we prepared to cloak the city?" Woolsey asked.

"Yes, the modifications are in place as I did, but I would prefer we raised the shields." Rodney said.

"Rodney…" Teyla began.

"Look, the cloak offers us no protection whatsoever and the X-wing isn't here yet since we called over an hour ago." Rodney stated with apprehension.

"How could the Wraith know we are here or that we'd activate our shield?" Woolsey asked. "They would have to know our exact position on the planet."

"We've been tracking them for days! Since this Wraith vessel is headed straight for us, I'm pretty sure they got some inside information!" Rodney stated.

"There is no sense in raising the shields until we know or sure. We don't need to be giving them a easy target to shoot at." Woolsey said.

"Sir, we are reading another ship coming out of hyperdrive on the other side of the planet." Chuck said.

"I see it." Rodney said looking at the screen that showed the Wraith vessel as well.

"I.F.C. shows it is the X-wing." Chuck said with relief everyone else felt and showed.

"Sure took their time." Rodney stated with a extreme sigh of relief.

"It is possible they noticed the Wraith vessel and decided to come just before they arrived in order to not alert the Wraith before hand." Teyla said.

"Oh. That makes sense." Rodney said, realizing her point.

"Colonel Sheppard, fire the drones on my order only if it comes down to it. I doubt we'll need to, but be ready anyway." Woolsey said into his earpiece.

"Copy that sir." Sheppard said back from the Ancient chair at the bottom of the tower.

"Engage the cloak Doctor McKay. Chuck, hail the X-wing." Woolsey ordered.

"You're on sir." Chuck said.

"Cloak is engaged." Rodney stated.

"X-wing, are you there?" Woolsey asked.

"Yeah, we are here." Carter said. "Sorry for the delay, we'll explain later. We see the Wraith ship and that you have cloaked. We're going to climb up and stop above the north pole where we should be able to hide our signature as we power down. If they start to do anything, we'll open fire."

"I assume you'll be jamming their communications if they start looking for us, or see you and begin transmitting to the others?" Woolsey asked.

"Way ahead of you Richard." Ford said. "We'll call back in a few minutes. Hopefully with good news or real good news."

"What is the difference?" Rodney asked, hoping they heard him, but Chuck said they disconnected already.

The Wraith cruiser dropped out of hyperspace and stopped then went into orbit of the planet. No one did anything other than talk and make assumptions for a few moments as they saw the ship sitting there.

"That's strange. Atlantis, the Wraith ship suddenly stopped in high orbit." Ford said. "We read no life signs and the ship running at minimal power."

"We're getting a transmission from the ship." Rodney said.

"Can you two look at it for us in case it is a virus or some attack program?" Woolsey asked.

"Yeah, give us a moment." Carter said. "You won't see anything, but we'll leave the communication channel open so you can hear what is said."

After hearing nothing but keys being pushed and what sounded like footsteps over the com, Carter spoke again.

"We've brought up the file but we had to use the same encryption system the Daedalus class ships use. Whoever is sending this message to Atlantis, knows us and who to send it to." Carter said.

"I'm thinking Todd again." Ford said. "He's the only one that knows us and some of our ships abilities and programming."

"It would make sense. The ship isn't firing at us, scanning us or doing anything but sitting there. Todd is about the only Wraith we know that deals with us and hasn't given up our position." Rodney said.

"What does the message say?" Woolsey asked.

"Most of the file is seriously corrupted. And even with our technology, it is a lot more damaged than we can fully recover." Carter said as they heard her still typing. "We only got bits and pieces, and Todd saying something about Doctor Keller's research plus the word disease. However, the last thing he says clearly before the message quits is, help us. Sounds sincere."

"What on Earth could that mean?" Woolsey wondered with worry.

"Who knows. But a Wraith asking for help the way he did and it sounding like a plea, it must be something serious." Ford said. "What do you want to do Richard?"

"I can't say I wouldn't rather have you blow the ship up where it is. Ronan suggest we do that and I agree. However, if he came to us, knowing we could easily shoot him down the moment he left hyperspace, and probably knew you'd even be here, it must be something important. I'd rather not uncloak the city if it can be helped. Can you transport Sheppard and his team to your ship and go over to check things out?" Woolsey asked.

"Sure. Have them get ready and then call us when they are. Have them also be near the Stargate so we can get a better reading of where they are too." Ford said.

"How are we going to get on the ship then? Transporters are near useless when it comes to Wraith ships." Carter said.

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting that. Have them come up in a Jumper and meet up with us. We'll do what scans we can, come up with a plan and then go over. K-9 will be able to watch the ship while we are gone." Ford said.

"Why not just go over in the T.A.R.D.I.S.?" Rodney asked.

"Because, it would be easier to call it to us if an emergency came up. Besides, if the ship starts attacking the X-wing, better to have the T.A.R.D.I.S. use her shields for the moment in case it is a surprise attack." Ford stated.

"Makes sense." Rodney said.

"They'll be along shortly General. Make sure you bring them back safe." Woolsey said.

"Will do." Carter said signing off before turning to him. "You know, they are going to ask questions and laugh when they see us."

"Who cares. Personally, I like the way I look. And you look great too. Rather hot actually." Ford said as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, thanks to this stunt, even Sally wants to do something similar." Carter muttered as she only smiled slightly at his look.

"Better than premature sex or doing drugs or drinking." Ford said.

"Well, putting it that way, yeah." Carter said sarcastically. "But she is to young for any of that."

"You're mother was worried about the ear piercing thing, but got over it." Ford said.

"Only because I talked mom into it. Or I should say told her the reasons why we should do it now instead of later." Carter said before looking in a mirror and shaking her head. "I still can't believe I let you talk me into doing this."

"I'm probably going to get smacked or something for this, but it makes you look younger, like a teenager, and a lot more sexier." Ford said as he put his head on her shoulder while also looking in the mirror with her.

"Hmm. Well, let's go." Carter said walking away.

"Wait, I'm not in trouble?" Ford asked confused.

"No, you're right. I do look like a teenager, sort of. Or some mystic anime character." Carter said as he followed along with a smile.

About ten minutes later, the Jumper came flying up and landed inside the left bottom hanger bay. Once the hanger closed, the back door of the Jumper slowly dropped as the two walked over. Ronan was the first out and only raised an eyebrow at what he saw.

"Nice hair." Ronan said flatly.

"Thanks, I like it myself." Ford said running his hand through it.

"I'm not fond of mine. The color that is." Carter muttered as she crossed her arms while rubbing her nose.

Teyla walked out and did a double take as she tilted her head with a confused look and a raised eyebrow as well. She opened her mouth but couldn't come up with how to ask what she saw, which was not the hair being down past her elbows, but the interesting color choice. Rodney was next and while shocked, smiled in a way Ford didn't like, but understood.

"Nice look Sam. Kinda hot." Rodney said.

"You want me to tell Jennifer you said that?" Carter said with her eyes narrowed.

"No. Never mind." Rodney said.

"What's going on, whoa! Not what I ever expected to see." Sheppard said with a chuckle. "What was it? Wild party where you did something crazy and regretted it the next morning? Cos-play perhaps to spruce up the night life? Too much to drink one night which ended in crazy ideas? All the above?"

"I hadn't thought of it that way. No to all questions though." Ford said as Sam was shaking her head tiredly. "I got Sam to go with me to a large anime convention about a week back. For me, it was a blast. I must have spent over a hundred thousand."

"So you were cos-playing." Sheppard said with a chuckle "Anyone we know?"

"No. We didn't dress up." Carter stated. "Ford saw a costume store where you could dress up and found one for Sally who really likes a character she once stated she wishes she could go trick or treating in. The teller managed to convince Ford to buy some hair dye, not telling him he bought the semi-permanent brand. Only because he begged was why I dyed mine, only to realize it was going to take a lot of showers to get rid of it."

"I don't see any blonde hair Sam." Teyla said.

"That's because K-9 said I'd have to wash my hair at least fifty times, maybe more, maybe less to get rid of it." Carter muttered. "I like long showers or bath's, but not that long."

"Personally, I think the pink look is hot. Especially with her hair this long. And I always wanted to see what I looked like with shiny blue hair. I'd keep it this color, but Sam thinks it is weird." Ford said running his hand through his.

His hair was down between his shoulder blades now and while not styled or anything really, it just stayed behind his head to almost a pointed look while the rest in front parted like usually and was down near his jaw.

"Well, it is, different. Certainly a eye catcher. Let's get on with this and talk more later. I'm betting there is more to this story since you've both been like this for a week." Sheppard said with a smile that showed he was holding back laughter.

"Oh yeah, there is a story. Sally wants to see what yellow hair would be like." Carter said as they left for the bridge.

"Yellow?" Teyla asked.

"It's her favorite color." Carter said. "Her favorite cartoon character is yellow, so she wants the same."

"And what does Avon want to do?" Rodney asked.

"You actually remember his name?" Ford asked.

"Hard not to with a name that different." Sheppard said.

"I thought it was after the beauty company, which is one reason I liked the name, but Avon ended up being named after a character in some old Sci-fi Ford likes called Blake7." Carter said. "And he likes his red hair."

"You two always have interesting stories every time we see you." Sheppard said with a chuckle. "So, what can you tell us so far?"

"Um, the story or something else?" Ford asked.

"About the Wraith vessel." Sheppard stated like they should have gotten it when he asked.

"Very interesting readings actually. There is no life signs for one." Carter said.

"That is interesting. We usually pick up the bodies of the people they have in their vending machines as well." Rodney said. "That must mean they feed on all of them."

"Unfortunately, that seems to be a possibility. We've tried hailing them, no response. Power levels seem to be minimal, weapons, sensors and several other key systems are not online from what we can see." Carter said. "We plan on moving the X-wing very close to see if they do anything. If not, then it is your call Colonel."

"How close are we talking?" Sheppard asked as they entered the bridge. "And how do you run this ship with so few people?"

"Automation for the most part." Ford said as he took the flight controls. "Unless more people are needed, we enjoy the freedom of being alone. Just us and the family. SG-1 sometimes too."

"K-9 can run the entire ship and fight against several vessels at once." Carter said as she did more scans as the X-wing moved to be beside the Wraith ship and close enough to see the ripples in the hull.

"As for why so close, Teyla can sense Wraith." Ford said.

"Any closer and we can just jump from this ship to theirs." Sheppard muttered. "Teyla…"

"I do not sense any Wraith at all." Teyla said.

"Still no readings of life." Carter said.

"They could all be hibernating." Rodney said. "We can't pick them up when they do that."

"But the entire ship? And with us this close, they aren't doing anything?" Sheppard asked.

"Could all have been preprogrammed to do all this." Rodney said.

"We could have blown them out of the sky by now." Ronan said. "Maybe this is a trap."

"Be a rather elaborate one." Sheppard said.

"The message did say something about a disease. Could be the drug Jennifer gave them to use went south and caused a lot of problems." Ford said. "Their hibernation chambers are a lot like cryogenic tubes, or stasis pods. If everyone was effected…"

"They could be in hibernation until we came to their aid and helped with whatever side effects have taken place since we made the drug and would know best what to do." Carter said.

"This is all good speculation, but we won't know anything until we go over there." Sheppard said. "Since we are so close, getting over by Jumper will be very easy. Your dog can keep watch and make sure nothing happens to Atlantis and makes sure that Wraith ship doesn't try to run off with us in it."

"He can take out the engines easily. And if the ship jumps, he can follow it to wherever it goes easily as well." Ford said.

"Let's see the message." Rodney said as it was brought up. "Huh, pretty bad transmission. We'd have to go over and see the full one there."

"Patch me into Atlantis please." Sheppard said as Ford hit the button. "Atlantis, this is Colonel Sheppard."

"We read you. What's going on?" Woolsey asked.

"Nothing so far. We moved this ship closer to see what they might do only to still find the Wraith ship not even budge or blink. Teyla senses no Wraith, but they could all be hibernating according to Rodney. However, we pick up no life signs at all and minimal power levels. We won't know anything further until we go over and check things out." Sheppard said.

"Is that a good idea? This could be a trap." Woolsey said.

"We thought of that. If it is, it is a really stupid one. We could have destroyed them already. And if we get captured, Atlantis could just blow the ship up or be taken out by this one. The message did say disease, Doctor Keller's drug research, and help me. Todd sounded sincere too, but it could be to just get us to drop our guard. I think it is worth going over though. K-9 will be keeping watch on us from the X-wing." Sheppard said.

"Very well. Be careful and try to send hourly reports since you can tell K-9 what's going on and he can relay everything to us." Woolsey said.

"No problem. Hopefully we'll know something soon. Sheppard out." Sheppard said as he pushed the button to cut communications himself.

"Let's get going then." Carter said. "I just need to grab my vest, a weapon and do something with my hair."

"I'll get my Heavy Arms and coat." Ford said.

"We'll meet you at the Jumper." Sheppard said as they left.

Landing inside was no trouble since the hanger door even opened for them. There was no Wraith visible or inside waiting. No power readings changed and the life signs detectors didn't pick up anything and K-9 was still able to reach them by radio with no troubles either. They slowly moved through the ship, heading for the bridge while keeping on their guard constantly.

"Still nothing on this thing." Sheppard said looking at his life signs detector yet again.

"Why do I find empty Wraith ships creepier than ones filled with Wraith?" Rodney muttered.

"Probably because you expect something or someone to suddenly pop out when you aren't excepting it." Ford muttered as he held his energy pistols nervously. "I have to admit, the quietness is eerie."

"The bridge is right around here, right?" Carter asked, her hair braided into a single braid and out of her face.

"Yep. Just through this doorway." Ronan said going in first. "Place is clear."

"McKay…." Sheppard said pointing.

"Yeah, already on it." Rodney said pulling the tablet off his back. "Just keep watch so nothing jumps on me."

"Somehow, I don't think that will be hard." Ford said.

The group spread out as Rodney hooked his tablet up as Sam stood by watching. Rodney handed over the tablet to her as he was able to access the ships systems without trouble or hacking. Sam looked over other systems via the tablet in search of other information.

"Is that saying they are still in stasis?" Carter asked as the screen came up in front of Rodney.

"Yeah." Rodney said. "Explains why we didn't read life signs."

"Where?" Ronan asked.

"Large chambers at the aft section of the ship." Rodney said. "Strange they didn't set a alarm clock to buzz when they got here."

"Could be system error." Ford said.

"That message was rather damaged." Carter said.

"But they usually leave at least someone or a few crew awake to monitor things and to awake the others. This says they are all in hibernation and there is no wake up call." Rodney said.

"Sounds good to me." Ronan said.

"Does it not seem strange that Todd would leave himself and his crew at our mercy?" Teyla asked.

"Even though we are technically enemies, John hasn't went back on his word." Ford said. "Nor have I."

"Todd may have came here honestly looking for help." Carter said. "Any other Wraith ships would have been shot down already."

"Since we've had so many dealings with him, he figures we'd see what's going on and probably help." Sheppard said. "Figures he'd appeal to our compassion."

"He is our only contact and Wraith that we can deal with, with a low chance of getting screwed. Plus, our inside information on other Wraith if we give him something in return." Ford said. "See if you can find the original message in case it wasn't damaged Rodney, or Sam."

"Already looking." Rodney muttered.

They all went on edge and alert as the lights flickered and they heard the power fail.

"What was that?" Sheppard asked.

"According to this, there is several power fluctuations going on throughout the ship." Carter said. "Communications are damaged, which would explain why we only got part of the message."

"Here it is. Todd's preprogrammed message that was sent, and apparently undamaged." Rodney said bringing it up on the large wall.

"Hold your fire, we mean you no harm. Please allow me to explain our presence here. If you are seeing this message, my ship has arrived safely to Atlantis. I am coming to you because my crew and I, are stricken with a disease. A complication to the gene therapy developed by Doctor Keller. I acquired some of the formulation while my crew and I were on that advanced vessel of yours. Um, the X something." Todd said unsure.

"He must have accessed Jennifer's files before that, um…" Ford said.

"Attero device." Carter said.

"I admit, I wanted to see if it would actually work. And it did. The initial results were nothing short of astounding. See for yourself." Todd said holding up his hand to show there was no mouth on it anymore. "I was so impressed that I decided to treat my entire crew. It was only then that we started noticing problems. The first group got sick and died. Before long, the others began to get sick as well. Our natural healing ability was unable to counteract the disease. I come here as a last resort. I realize we have had our differences, and that you may be reluctant to help us, but remember this, any hope of distributing this drug in the future dies with us. The choice is yours."

"That's…fascinating. He was obviously suffering from the disease, but probably fighting it with everything he had to come to us for help before he also went into stasis." Ford said.

"Should we help?" Teyla asked.

"I say we let them die and blow the ship up." Ronan said.

"I say we go back to the Jumper, go back to the X-wing, go back into orbit of the planet and beam down to Atlantis. Talk to Mr. Woolsey and see what he wants to do. And I mean all of us." Sheppard said.

No one complained and the two didn't want to do anything that might cause trouble since they didn't really want to get into any arguments. K-9 was still keeping watch from the X-wing while it stayed in orbit and beamed them down where the city had uncloaked. Ronan and Teyla stood in the doorway while Rodney went somewhere else in the city as the others entered Woolsey's office. Woolsey did a double take and blinked a few times after seeing them.

"I must admit, this is very different and something I never expected to see, especially of you Sam." Woolsey said. "I did hear the General speak of doing a stunt like this once while still in charge of the SGC. Considering you both have retired and not still fully under the restrictions of regulations, I can't say I am surprised to see this."

"Trust me, it wasn't suppose to be more than a few hours sort of thing. He didn't read the label fully." Carter muttered as she crossed her arms and sat down in one of the comfy chairs.

"You also read the label and missed it." Ford said as he sat down in the other one as she grunted lightly. "Personally, I like it. For both of us."

"So, what have you learned Colonel?" Woolsey said getting a detailed report from Sheppard and then the others. "I see. What do you think we should do?"

"I'm with Ronan. Sure, we have gotten out of the scraps we've been in with Todd, but we should cut our losses and blow the ship up." Sheppard said.

"His hand was clear correct?" Woolsey asked.

"Yes." Sheppard said.

"Then for all intents and purposes, the treatment did work. I think we should check this out further and have Doctor Keller go back to see what she can learn. This could very well end the war with the Wraith if we can make this drug work correctly and are able to distribute it more effectively by some other means than injections." Woolsey said. "The I.O.A. is strongly interested in this gene therapy and it is one of the few things they all agree on."

"That's a first for me." Ford muttered. "But I agree."

"It would end the war a lot quicker and save more lives in the end." Carter said. "Considering the many planet's we've visited, not only by Stargate but also by the T.A.R.D.I.S., if we could find a way to distribute the drug in the air, we could effectively get it out there in the galaxy and to most of the planets within less than a week."

"All Doctor Keller will need to do is revive a few of the Wraith, Todd more than likely to see we want to help, let her examine them closely in hopes she can find out what is going wrong and fix it. If we learn nothing and can't fix it, we can destroy the ship if necessary." Woolsey said. "Hopefully, she will find a way to turn this into an effective treatment, or a weapon we can spread to the rest of the Wraith quickly."

"Either way, it would end the war or at least slow it down to where we will win eventually sooner than the current state." Ford said.

"Exactly. Colonel, take Major Lorne's team as well and another unit of marines." Woolsey said.

"You're thinking this might be a trap still?" Sheppard asked.

"Considering our previous dealings with Todd, having extra precautions in place before hand is better than being caught off guard once again." Woolsey said.

"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Sheppard said. "Good idea. I'll go round them up."

They got back to the ship the same way before, Sam and Rodney were on the bridge working with the ships systems while the others were off in different sections of the ship. Ford was on the bridge with them, other than keeping watch, but also to help.

Lorne was with Sheppard in one corridor telling Sheppard he had the men spread out and reporting in every hour when the lights dimmed yet again and they heard more power drop off.

"Rodney…" Sheppard said as he touched his earpiece.

"Yeah, yeah. I know already. There is a lot of power fluctuations going on still and the ships systems are acting up too." Rodney said.

"Well, get it fixed." Sheppard ordered.

"I'm trying." Rodney grumbled while accessing another console.

"Ford, does this look like I think it looks?" Carter asked as she turned the tablet to him.

"Maybe. The ship does have a self repair system. Could be whatever is causing these problems is what is making the self repair system not function properly." Ford said. "If not for many things, in some ways, the ship is repairing itself sort of like the T.A.R.D.I.S. does."

"It is?" Rodney asked looking up from his work with surprise.

"In a very broad term sort of way." Ford said.

"I'm not sure since Jennifer is still working on the problem with the gene therapy, but considering these ships are organic, I'm thinking the ship is also sick." Carter said.

"That would make sense. The Wraith hibernate by basically hooking themselves into the ship." Rodney said. "The disease would transfer into the ship as well then."

"But we don't know what the symptoms of this disease, or side effect actually are." Ford said. "Once we hear from Jennifer what she's learned, we'll know for sure."

"I'd be willing to bet this ship is being affected just like the Wraith are." Carter said. "It could be only a few hours or a couple days more until the ship basically has a heart attack and dies. Considering this small program I created to give us an idea of what this ship would be like if it told us what it would be like for a internal body diagram, it all adds up to the body being extremely sick and trying to fight off a illness it is eventually going to loose."

"Sheppard…" Rodney said as he activated his com.

"Hang on a minute….." Sheppard responded back.

One man of the other marine units was walking around and keeping watch when he heard a strange noise that sounded like rippling and sucking. Coming around a corner, he saw a wall slowly falling apart like acid was burning through it.

"Major Lorne, this is Lieutenant Williams." Williams said grabbing his radio on his vest.

"Go ahead." Lorne said.

"Sir, you said to report anything unusual." Williams said.

"Yeah, what have you got?" Lorne asked.

"Well, I was standing watch as ordered and hear a weird noise. I went to investigate and now I am watching a wall melt." Williams said.

"I'm sorry? What did you say?" Lorne asked confused as Sheppard gave him the same look.

"The wall is melting sir. Wait, it just stopped. One moment…." Williams said.

Walking up to the opening in the wall, he was unable to act as some strange looking and fierce creature that was once Wraith screamed at him and then pulled him through the door. Sheppard and Lorne tried to contact him when they got static, but he was almost dead and unable to respond as he was dragged away still twitching.

"Sheppard…." Rodney began over his com.

"Hang on a minute…" Sheppard said back as he and Lorne went to investigate.

"I wonder what's up?" Rodney muttered.

"Probably having to dictate orders." Ford muttered.

"What if it is something serious?" Rodney asked worried.

"I think we would have said something." Carter said. "Here, take this and go show it to Jennifer. We can handle things up here."

"Why not either of you?" Rodney asked.

"She's not dating me and considering she's doing her job alone, she might welcome someone she likes better than if one of us go in and talk to her." Ford said.

"But….oh." Rodney said after a brief moment of thinking.

"Now you're getting the picture Romeo." Ford said while patting him on the arm.

Jennifer was still setting up things on a few tables when Rodney came into the room, only giving the guard outside a small wave before entering.

"Hey, how's it going?" Rodney asked hearing her groan. "Oh, that good huh?"

"I don't know. I guess I could be considered as making progress. I did find out what is killing them." Keller said.

"You did?" Rodney asked sitting down in a chair by her as she sat at a table.

"Yes. The treatment did work as it was intended to. It took away there feeding hand, reactivated their digestive system as it was suppose to in the simulations, but it also created a virulent cancer like disease that weakened their immune systems and killed them." Keller said.

"Is there anything you can do to fix it?" Rodney asked.

"Maybe, I'm not sure yet." Keller said depressed.

"What's wrong?" Rodney asked concerned.

"I keep thinking I am in way over my head." Keller said.

"What are you talking about?" Rodney asked confused.

"I look at you, Colonel Sheppard, Sam and Ford, and all of you are so used to making decisions that affect thousands of lives and millions of people. I'm not used to having the fate of the galaxy hang in the balance." Keller said unsure.

"Ah, you'll get use to it. It just takes awhile. Plus having a massive ego." Rodney said pointing at himself as she smiled. "I don't know much about Wraith physiology, but I do know you. If anyone can figure out this, you can."

"You don't know how much that makes me feel better." Keller said as he rubbed her shoulders. "Did you come down here to just give me friendly advice or for something else?"

"Both actually. Sam noticed something interesting while I have been trying to stabilize the ships power fluctuations. Since this is more your department, we figured you'd be the better expert." Rodney said showing her the tablet which she found disturbing and fascinating.

The two were looking for the Lieutenants last position when one of the other men called out. Running over, they found a man looking down at the ground where a P-90 was lying with the light still on.

"Hasn't been fired." Sheppard said.

"Should I call for more personal to help have him tracked down?" Lorne asked.

"No, I got a better idea. Rodney…" Sheppard said as he grabbed his radio.

"Yes?" Rodney said looking up from the laptop he and Keller were looking at.

"Are the ships schematics downloaded into the life signs detectors?" Sheppard asked.

"Yeah, I told you I did that before we got here." Rodney said.

"Great, we are going to need them." Sheppard said.

Bringing out the devices, the teams divided into groups of two and searched the ship. Lorne and Sheppard didn't get any life signs other than their own people and calling Teyla, she said her and Ronan didn't find anything either.

"This isn't right. There is suppose to be a corridor here, but we have a dead end." Lorne said looking at a wall.

"Let me see that." Sheppard said looking at it before handing it back. "Rodney, this schematic you gave us is wrong. We just walked into a wall where the corridor is suppose to be open."

"That's impossible." Rodney said as he moved to another console on the bridge where he was now. "I took the schematic directly from the ships database."

"I think I know what is wrong." Carter said. "Look at this."

"Oh. This is not good." Rodney said looking at the tablet.

"We can't get back to the Jumper." Ford said. "But with the ships integrity failing, we might be able to beam out if we get near a weak section of the wall nearest to space."

"Sheppard…" Rodney said over the line worried.

"Hang on McKay. Go ahead Teyla." Sheppard said.

"We have found Lieutenant Williams. I'm afraid he is dead." Teyla said as she and Ronan looked at what was left of the body that more or less looked eaten and skinned alive.

"What happened?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know. But he was attacked." Ronan said.

"By who?" Sheppard asked.

"Not sure. But it looks like he was eaten." Ronan said.

"You mean fed on him." Sheppard said correcting him.

"No, I mean it like I said. Eaten, like an animal, with sharp teeth." Ronan stated.

"Good thing I'm not there seeing it. Sounds disgusting just hearing it." Ford said over the line. "Remind me to compensate his family if I can't go back and save him first."

"Does K-9 detect any other life signs besides ours?" Sheppard asked.

"One moment." Carter said.

"Sheppard, this ship is just like the Wraith. They are sick and dying, and because the ship is also organic, it is sick and dying as well. Albeit slower than the Wraith themselves. And before you ask, I can't give you a time line of when it may happen. Could be days to a few hours." Rodney said.

"It explains why a few of the men out there have reported running into dead ends." Ford said. "The ship is sealing damaged sections off because they aren't habitable anymore. There is several places, some large, that are exposed to space."

"Thanks for the update. All personnel are to report back to the bridge on the double. Be on the watch out for something that isn't one of us." Sheppard said.

"K-9 is picking up a life sign reading that isn't one of us. And it is somewhere near your position." Carter said.

"I see it." Lorne said looking at the life signs detector. "It's a single reading."

"We'll check it out." Sheppard said. "The rest of you fall back."

"Sheppard, because of the damage, we can't get back the Jumper." Rodney said.

"Can you make the ship make a path for us Rodney?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know. Maybe…" Rodney said.

"Then get on it. You three are the bright ones. Figure something out." Sheppard ordered.

A short trip lead them to a closed door that Lorne said was where the reading was. Entering, the circled the room finding a few branching corridors and consoles in the walkways.

"This is another dead end." Sheppard said as he glanced around.

"This doesn't make any sense. The signal is right on top of us." Lorne said.

Seeing information going down a wall, Sheppard walked up slowly with his gun ready. He didn't fire in time as something came out and knocked his gun aside while grabbing his throat. Barely keeping the hideous creature from eating his hands, arms and face, Lorne fired knocking the creature off him. Both fired several more times until the creature stopped moving.

"Is everyone okay?" Teyla asked as she and Ronan entered.

"Yeah, just barely." Sheppard said as he got his P-90 off the floor.

"What the hell is that? Not any Wraith I've seen." Lorne said.

"It's a soldier without their mask." Sheppard said as he knelt down by it.

"I didn't think they ever took those things off." Lorne said.

"No feeding hand remember?" Sheppard said showing the normal hand as he turned it for them to see. "How else is he going to feed?"

Everyone was on the bridge or just outside it as they gathered to stay safe and figure out what to do.

"Great, instead of Wraith wanting to drain our life, we have ones that want to eat us alive instead." Rodney muttered.

"This is my fault. I took away their only practical feeding mechanism they ever knew." Keller said.

"It is disturbing, but they were never man's best friend before. Hell, they were barely friends with each other." Sheppard said. "How are they getting out?"

"Must be all the power fluctuations." Rodney stated.

"So?" Ronan asked.

"No power means the pods would shut off. If you think about it, if most of the crew was in those and only a few stayed out monitoring things, and the ship was attacked killing those Wraith and damaging the ship, a safety protocol would activate…" Ford said.

"Releasing the other Wraith to come out and take over. With all those pods loosing power, it is only a matter of time before all of them are released. Seeing how animalistic they have turned, it wouldn't be a surprise if they feed off each other. We know they do it to each other for other means." Carter said.

"One of which is torture or failure." Ford said.

"Can we find out which pods are compromised and which aren't?" Teyla asked.

"Maybe, the ships systems are barely keeping up with a lot of things as it is." Rodney said.

"I say we get the hell out of here before we can't. Can we get to the Jumpers?" Sheppard asked.

"I think so. I rerouted a few things which should have made a path. Don't know how long it will hold out. These two have a better idea though." Rodney said pointing at them.

"Wait, I haven't went through all the relevant data and the I.O.A….." Keller began.

"It isn't worth our lives. And they can sue me for all I care. What's your idea?" Sheppard asked.

"We all get close to the wall at the side of the ship closest to space but not compromised. With all the damage from this disease, we should be able to get beamed out since the integrity of the electromagnetic field the ships generates is fluctuating and failing." Carter said.

"Are you sure it will work?" Sheppard asked.

"May not be able to get us all at one time. But certainly not one at a time." Ford said.

"Where is the path to the Jumpers you made?" Sheppard asked. "And where is the place we would go to get beamed out?"

"They are both very close to each other. A couple minutes to say five at the most." Rodney said as he pulled up the schematic on the tablet.

"Grab the Lieutenant, we're all leaving for the Jumpers. If that fails, we go to the other spot." Sheppard said as two men picked up the body bag. "Have K-9…."

"Already ready to go." Ford said.

They went through a few corridors and didn't encounter any opposition nor heard anything or picked up anything either on the detectors. Rodney opened a door leading to a hallway that lead to the hanger bay only to stop as they noticed the hallway was gone.

"Holy crap." Rodney muttered.

"Where the hell did this come from?" Sheppard asked aloud.

"Looks like the ship is deteriorating much faster than we thought." Carter said. "This hole is huge."

"Considering the size is bigger than a few footballs fields, I do not think the top and bottom of the ship is going to last much longer. K-9…." Ford said.

"Reading you clearly Master." K-9 said.

"Can you tell us how bad this ship is concerning our location?" Ford asked.

"And if we can get to the Jumpers at all?" Sheppard asked.

"Negative. There is no way to get to the Jumpers Colonel. You will have to turn back and get to the designated spot for beam out. Estimated time till the ship breaks in half considering current deterioration status, two hours or less." K-9 reported.

"Let's double back people." Sheppard said.

Halfway to the location, K-9 had them stop.

"What's up K-9?" Carter asked.

"Escape plan has been compromised Mistress. A hull breach in that section has caused a lockdown to the affected area." K-9 said.

"So, we go to another spot." Sheppard said.

"Currently searching for alternate extraction sight. Advise returning to bridge where sensors say it is currently the safest spot." K-9 reported.

"Double time people. Rodney, I want you to see about shutting off this field so we can get out of this death trap." Sheppard said.

Just over ten minutes later, and the three doing what they could to find a better area to beam out, shut down the field or at least dim it enough to get a good signal, plus keeping the ship from dying instantly with them in it, they hadn't really gotten anywhere.

"Okay, we've done all we are going to be able to do, and even though we can do more given enough time, I'd rather we had extra help since time is a factor we don't really have." Rodney said as he moved away from a console.

"You want to get Todd in here?" Ford asked.

"Yeah." Rodney said.

"Is that even a good idea? The last one ate one of our people." Ronan said.

"If I am reading this correctly, Todd is in a functioning stasis unit that hasn't had any troubles due to this infection." Rodney said. "And he is still accessible to get to and get out."

"Might as well." Sheppard said. "General, you and Ronan with me. The rest of you stay here and keep watch."

The group moved down a few corridors and managed to avoid getting near or finding any of the changed Wraith. Once inside the room, they found Todd behind a organic wall that was transparent enough to identify him specifically.

"Open it up General." Sheppard said as he and Ronan pointed their weapons.

Vines in the wall on the transparent part retracted followed by the glass like part dropping down as more vines moved away from Todd. He opened his eyes and after seeing the group and tilting his head slightly after seeing Ford, only grunted.

"Sheppard, I did not expect you to come. However, I am not surprised at seeing you." Todd said.

"You, we got some trust with, anyone else, we would have blown the ship up already." Ford said.

"How are you feeling Todd? Any urgent need to eat us?" Sheppard asked.

"No." Todd said.

"You're ship is really sick. And I don't mean, well…" Ford began.

"I understand your meaning." Todd said as he stepped out disturbed. "The disease has plagued the ship then. I did not expect or account for this possibility. Have you figured out how to counteract this disease?"

"Not yet. We woke you up to get that help." Sheppard said.

Todd grunted displeasingly as he walked ahead of them towards the bridge. Sheppard had the others lower their weapons and keep watch as Todd began checking the ships systems.

"This disease is running through the ship and has caused significant damage." Todd said as he moved to another control system.

"How did the ship even get sick?" Lorne asked.

"After going over that schematic Sam gave me based on what the ship would be like as a life form, which in many ways technically is since it is organic, I was able to trace back the, disease as it is, back to several of the pods that were keeping the Wraith in stasis." Keller said. "For the Wraith, they literally hook themselves to the ship where a organic exchange happens to keep the Wraith alive."

"Those Wraith passed the sickness into the ship." Todd stated.

"Currently, we have no way of getting off this vessel." Sheppard said as he also shook his head slightly at two particular people who started to speak. "And the bay with the darts and our Jumper is completely cut off. Can we land the ship?"
"That's difficult even under the best circumstances. I do not believe that would be possible with the damage we have incurred thus far." Todd said as he turned to a console. "Our best course of action is to cure this disease."

"I've barely even seen most of the data I have, and that's not even all of it that I've found. It could taken longer than we have left to even find a cure, if that is even possible. This thing is acting so erratically, it might be mutating every few minutes, or there could even be several mutant strains in the ship." Keller said.

"At the current level of the ships derogation, I estimate less than four days until the ship becomes uninhabitable." Todd stated.

"Then you geniuses better get to work." Sheppard stated. "I don't want to die here."

"I left most of my stuff back in that lab I set up." Keller said. "Hell, it was all of it practically."

Sheppard ran his hand through his hair and then across his face as he thought.

"Any suggestions?" Sheppard asked.

"Why not call the T.A.R.D.I.S. here and we all go home?" Ronan asked.

"I am not the only Wraith that was changed successfully. Nor will I leave them here to die as we escape." Todd stated.

"Fine, we leave you here." Ronan said as Todd growled and started towards him.

"Enough! We don't need to cause a fight between each other." Sheppard stated as he got between them. "Ronan, I, Keller, the General and Major Lorne will go get the things from the lab. The rest of you watch everyone here and for any of them out there. Sam, Rodney, you two help Todd. And find another way off this thing if possible."

"Any my people?" Todd asked while stepping forward near Sheppard.

"Okay, you stall the ships deterioration, Sam, Rodney, you two see if you can find out which Wraith are safe and which have gone homicidal. Once we get back, we can figure out things from there." Sheppard said. "Does that work for you?"

"It will take that long to isolate the good changed Wraith from the bad ones." Carter said.

"Very well." Todd said turning back to a station.

About ten minutes had passed when they came back, all well and holding several crates or other objects. The rest of Lorne's team along with the other marines took it from them as they took off to get the rest. As they were coming back, and had reported ahead that they were returning, they came under attack. The group on the bridge all heard what started as sporadic gun fire followed by endless sounds of it along with a few explosions, one of which made the bridge shudder enough to be felt.

"I really hope that was from an explosion." Rodney said as they watched the door.

"Ford must have ran out of ammo in the rifle…" Carter began as they all ducked. Part of the doorway into the bridge but near the ceiling burst out as something entered the room, hit something hard on the ceiling and ended up going through one of the consoles near Rodney and Sam, who quickly got down, then rolled on the floor a few seconds after it exited.

"You can get off me McKay." Carter said, thankful she was on her stomach since Rodney's hands were on her upper back.

"Sorry, I was…" Rodney said.

"Just get up." Carter said.

The group ran in, carrying less than before and turned around firing a few rounds from their P-90's as a couple changed Wraith followed them.

"I found one of your bullets." Carter said holding it up.

"That's a first." Ford said as it took it.

"McKay, did you open any pods?" Sheppard asked.

"No. We did manage to isolate the different ones though, or I should say found out which are which." Rodney said.

"Find out which ones have opened. We had what had to be twenty attack us out there." Sheppard said as he checked his gun.

"Anyone hurt?" Carter asked.

"Lorne got his arm scratched, nothing serious yet. I got knocked into the wall, so my back hurts. Keller is limping because she fell on some of the crates we were carrying, landing on one at a bad angle." Sheppard said.

"Going to be a big bruise, but at least I didn't break it." Keller muttered with a grimace.

"One of those damned things bit off some of my hair." Ronan muttered.

"It was one dreadlock, and it is hardly noticeable." Sheppard stated.

"My gun didn't run out of ammo, it broke under the impact of a punch. The blood is mine from where one of them tried to rip my face off, or scratch it off actually." Ford said as he got a few looks.

"We can't go back for anything else." Sheppard said.

"We at least got the relevant data on the first trip." Keller said as she was rubbing her left thigh. "I lost some samples and equipment, but nothing hard to replace."

"Almost all of the pods have opened." Rodney said slowly with fear.

"I think…" Teyla began as she looked at the door.

Everyone with a weapon turned and opened fire as the room was rushed. Within a few seconds, the doorway had several dead bodies as Todd walked over and gave them a look.

"Fortunately, none of them were Wraith that survived the treatment." Todd said before turning around to them as he held up a tablet. "I have found a possible way to treat this disease however."

"Great, we can cure it, hopefully land this thing, get off and let you go." Sheppard said.

"It will not be that simple." Todd said.

"Why am I not surprised? Who else saw that coming? It was to good to be true." Rodney said.

"What is it we need to do to fix this?" Ford asked.

"Doctor Keller's research of this treatment was based on the use of the Iratus bug, as you call them." Todd said. "A long time ago, the Wraith used them in dire need to save themselves, as a last resort, when a Wraith was very ill and was unable to heal themselves either by feeding or help from a ship. The treatment involved allowing a Iratus bug to feed on them, specifically a Queen. If successful, it would restore a Wraith to full health. However, success of this treatment was very low, which is why it was abandoned."

"Those are dangerous, and rather hard to find to begin with." Sheppard said.

"Three days journey from here is a planet where they can be found." Todd said.

"Wait, are you wanting to take this ship there, in this condition? We're lucky at all that it hasn't vented us in space with all the holes in it already. And you want to take it into hyperdrive, for three days?" Sheppard asked appalled at the idea.

"The damage is extensive, but I can manage to get it there." Todd said confidently.

"I don't…." Sheppard began.

"It is stupid, mostly because I doubt the ship would even be able to exit hyperspace after entering." Ford said.

"More than likely, the ship will blow up during the trip, if it can even make it a day." Carter said. "Sure, our people aren't on the best of terms, and you have practically no crew to fly this thing, but are you really wanting to do that?"

"I am." Todd stated.

"Like I was saying, I don't think so and say no." Sheppard said. "We're not all going to die just so he can try to save himself on a ship doomed to begin with."

"You're people are the ones that brought this blight upon us to begin with Sheppard. You owe me…" Todd stated with venom in his voice.

"Considering you tried to steal one of our ships and stunned half the crew, I think that makes us even." Sheppard stated.

"Okay, this pissing match is getting tiresome quickly." Carter said as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"I'm getting headache from it." Ford muttered. "Let him go Sheppard. There is obviously nothing we can do here…"

"No. I am not dying…" Sheppard began.

"Ronan, please hit him." Ford said waving a hand as Sheppard.

"Why?" Ronan asked confused. "I'm with him. I don't want to die here."

"Please tell me you know what we are thinking Rodney." Carter said turning to him.

"We leave in the T.A.R.D.I.S. and let Todd leave on his own." Rodney stated.

"Thank you. Someone is paying attention." Ford said as he reached into his shirt. "Todd, best of luck. Seriously, I hope you get there and are able to save yourself and what you can of your crew that is left."

"What if he turns on us the moment we leave?" Sheppard asked.

"The weapons are offline along with several other systems Sheppard." Rodney stated.

The ship shudder slightly making them grab onto anything nearby to keep standing as power fluctuated with a groaning noise farther down the hallway out of the bridge.

"What the hell was that?" Sheppard asked.

"Oh boy. We have a serious problem here." Rodney said in a panicky voice as he was looking at a console.

"The damage has gotten farther and much worse than I realized." Todd said from another console.

"Can someone tell me what the hell is happening?" Sheppard asked as he walked up waving a hand in front of the console and tablet Rodney and the two Carters were looking at.

"That large hole that is blocking the way to the hanger bay has gotten a lot bigger." Ford said.

"At the current rate of derogation, it could be less than a hour until the ship breaks in half." Carter said.

"What?" Sheppard, Lorne and several of the other marines asked.

"There is a giant weak point running across the ship Sheppard." Rodney said. Rodney brought up a exterior picture of the ship that showed a glowing line running across it sideways at a small angle near the middle of the ship.

"Any sort of decompression will cause the ship to instantly break down this line. Whether the ship explodes or not I can't say, but I'd rather we not be here when it breaks." Rodney said.

"Then we need to get out of here. General…" Sheppard began.

"Colonel?" Lorne said.

"Yes Major?" Sheppard asked as he turned to see Lorne pointing at Teyla.

"Ah crap." Sheppard said.

"Many of them are coming." Teyla said as she raised her gun with the others.

"Wait!" Todd yelled as he stepped forward. "They are survivors like me."

Several Wraith came into view with stunners, quickly pointing them at the group as near a dozen of them entered the room.

"How about you guys lower those, so we can all try to get out of here." Sheppard said.

"They are here to help." Todd said while giving a look at Sheppard and his gun.

The two groups lowered their weapons as more Wraith came in, and seeing what was going on, lowered theirs as well.

"How many more are there?" Todd asked.

"We are the only ones left. All the others have changed." one of the Wraith said.

"21 out of whatever the normal ships compliment is, is terrible odds." Ford muttered.

"It was originally over fifty." Todd stated. "The ones that did not survive the change killed them while the others were put into the stasis chambers."

"Danger Master, Mistress!" K-9 said.

"Yes K-9?" the two asked.

"We are so dead." Rodney said as the ship shuddered violently and knocked them all to the ground.

"Let me guess, the ship broke." Sheppard said.

"It more than just broke." Rodney cried out as he frantically worked the controls. "We've lost orbital stability and are plummeting to the planet! I can barely get the doors to close so we aren't sucked out with the rest of the ship left that is depressurizing!"

"General, we need out of here, now!" Sheppard yelled.

Several attempts later.

"Dammit! This is the lamest way to call for help!" Ford yelled with a growl as he failed yet again to get the whistle right.

"K-9, is the ship damaged enough you can get a transporter lock?" Carter asked as the ship shook hard again knocking everyone to the ground as different things bounced around the room.

"Affirmative Mistress. However, I will have to beam everyone out of the room together…" K-9 said.

"Just do it then! And try to get all this stuff we brought…" Ford yelled.

The room was engulfed in a bright light as they were transported away. They all ended up in one of the hanger bays, hearing a explosion outside the hull moments later.

"With u..." Ford was saying when one of the fold out tables caught him in the forehead, knocking him out instantly.

Sheppard barely managed to move to avoid a laptop that broke apart on impact. Some samples in test tubes shattered on the floor, a couple of them on the Wraith themselves as a few others just got hit or grazed by the other stuff that had been flying around.

"K-9?" Carter said as she touched the earpiece she had.

"The Wraith vessel exploded while entering the atmosphere Mistress. The other section blew up as well several seconds before the other half entered the atmosphere during decompression." K-9 said.

"Thanks for the save K-9. Take us to Atlantis please." Carter said.

"What will happen with us?" Todd asked.

"Does this planet with that Ir…um, whatever bug have a Stargate?" Carter asked as Sheppard was about to say something.

"Yes." Todd said.

"We'll have Atlantis dial it, and once we land, you'll be beamed to the gate and can go through." Carter said. "Hopefully, your idea will work for you."

They landed, beamed them over as said and let them go to the planet, which thankfully was a planet no one on Atlantis had been to, and was scheduled later to be checked out in a couple of weeks. Ford didn't wake up till several hours later, not even remembering being hit in the head at all. Filling out a report yet again, and hearing from Woolsey that he wasn't thrilled with having let the Wraith, especially that many go, with the knowledge of the location of Atlantis, he did agree that Sheppard had a point that Todd would remember what they did, not to mention the fact they all technically kept their word about letting them go to the said planet. What mostly convinced Woolsey to let them go was the fact of learning the survival rate of a Wraith making it through having one of those bugs feed on them was really low. In many ways, if they were lucky, those 21 Wraith wouldn't survive at all and become food for the bugs.