Title: Show No Fear
Author:
Feral Geek
Rating: Pg-13
Summary: Chapter 26, if you're here
and don't know the story, go back to chapter one and start reading.
Disclaimer: Amie no own Stargate or Wraith, they own Amie
A/N: REVIEW! I swear If I don't get at least five reviews (I don't care if they just say 'whoo!' just friggin review) I WILL STOP WRITING THIS
-- and if you think I'm joking I swear to god TRY ME.
ONWARDS
---
A single human in their prime
could sustain a fully grown Wraith for varying lengths of time.
The
younger the Wraith, the more often they would have to feed.
As it
was, Cavan could go for about a month without feeding before the
eternal hunger would start to tear at him fully.
However his
healing and time spent in hibernation had sapped much of his
strength, thus he would need to feed more often.
This was why he eventually had to drag himself from the bed in the middle of the night while Adrienne slept, carefully picking his way through the darkened room as he dressed, and making for the exit.
The
doors slid open as he waved a hand over the panel.
It still
disturbed him; some of the cities sensors, such as door panels did
not require the Ancient gene to operate, this would leave the
Lanteans open to any.
Of course he did not take into account the
gene locks, a special command that could only be undone by another
gene carrier, and even then they could be hard to override.
And
there were passwords, and the fact that certain rooms could be barred
to certain people.
And of course the fact that, like a Hive Ship,
the city was sentient and could bar or allow access to any it
chose.
As he slunk down the corridor he passed a few security
patrols, they said nothing to one another, simply exchanged a few
suspicious glances before moving along.
Cavan was too deep in his
mind to pay the Lanteans any mind, contemplating the cities
weaknesses.
Perhaps he would bring his concerns to the Lantean
Queen once he returned to Atlantis.
The gateroom was rather
empty, a few technicians manning the controls in case of an emergency
return or departure.
A few of them glanced over at him, watching
in an uneasy silence as he made his way to the leading technician for
this shift, conversing with the rather confused looking man for a few
minutes.
To the Lanteans it appeared as though he was going to
gate to an unoccupied planet, pointless.
In truth he would be
'gate hopping', a strategy he and Dalkar had devised one late
night during tracking.
As adolescents, they would be paired
off and let loose; one was the hunter, the other the 'prey'.
During
one of these sessions, Cavan had been the mock prey, and Dalkar the
hunter.
Passing the Stargate, he had a rather sudden
inspiration.
It was not an original idea; Runners had been
using it ever since the first of their kind had been chosen, simply
one the Wraith had not thought to use so swiftly.
Just as his
companion had come into view, about to proclaim victory, Cavan had
dialed out and made his exit, landing on the other planet and dialing
to another rapidly.
Thus, gate hopping.
Using this strategy, it
had taken the pair almost two weeks to run into one another, and to
be perfectly honest, it had been Cavan dragging Dalkar back through
the gate.
Once home, they had faced furious instructors and
parents, but it did not matter, it was a good way to attack or raid
the enemy, they would be gone before the enemy Hive knew what
happened, and it was virtually impossible to track them.
With
this in mind, he watched impassively as the technician dialed out to
the uninhabited world and stepped through the gate.
He waited for
the connection to close a few seconds later before gating to another
planet.
He went through about seven planets before dialing into
the proper one.
It was under the control of an enemy Hive, one his Hive often raided during these times.
However
he would not be taking one of their humans.
He would be taking one
of their fighters.
True, they were meant to feed off of
humans, but it was possible to feed from another Wraith if you were
stronger or had the element of surprise.
And with their nearly
immortal lives, the amount of power drawn would last far longer than
the amount drawn from a human.
However the amount of power was
also proportional to how recently the Wraith had fed, and their
age.
During the battle before his wounding, he had drained three
of the enemy Wraith; the life he took from them was all that
sustained him during his time in hibernation.
Cavan took the
guards at the gate by surprise, stunning one and draining the
other.
As the body of the first guard dropped, he could hear the
distant whine of Darts, and he swiftly drained the second guard
before disappearing through the gate and starting the process of gate
hopping again.
Much
later, he would end on the planet Laren, the very planet where he had
met Adrienne.
Skirting the village, he made his way into the
forest.
He would rest here.
--
The
next morning Adrienne woke to an empty bed.
For a few long
minutes, she stared at the slight depression that Cavan had occupied
during the night.
She had been growing used to waking up next to
someone, and now it was a bit disconcerting to wake up alone.
Still,
this was something she would have to grow used to; Cavan could not
permanently reside on Atlantis, he had his duties to the Hive.
But
she would not have to like it.
Carefully the woman bundled up
all of the nagging feelings within herself and set about her day,
dressing quickly and making her way down to the infirmary.
The
first person she encountered there was of course, Carson, who looked
at her, then past her as though expecting someone else.
When he
looked back at her, she shrugged indifferently, simply choosing to
say, "He wasn't there this morning."
The older man gave her
a rather skeptical look which caused her shoulder sagged slightly.
It
was always rather difficult to pull things around him; Carson was
very good at reading other people.
"Should I try to find him?"
these words came out rather hesitantly, and the response was a slight
shake of the head. "You dunno where he is, or what he is doing
right now," Carson spoke gently, "Besides, he obviously loves
you, if he can...he'll be back, don't you worry."
She smiled faintly, and got to work after that.
--
Malka
would find her son standing beside the gate, waiting somewhat
impatiently for the connection to finish so he could send his
identification code through.
It had not taken her long to locate
the truant Wraith, despite the fact that he was doing his best to
avoid a council meeting.
As a commander, he was now required to
attend such meetings should his direction in tactical matters be
required.
"Exactly where are you headed, my son?" she asked
with a rather deadly edge to her voice. It was a bit of a rhetorical
question since she already knew exactly where he was headed,
Atlantis.
Apparently he knew this, since he simply stared at
her.
He kept his eyes trained on his mother as she stalked around him, careful to turn with her and keep from exposing his back to her.
Not only did it present a weakness, but to turn one's back on a fellow Wraith, especially one of higher rank, was considered highly disrespectful.
As
she walked, she studied him, nothing out of the ordinary, he was
dressed in a more informal uniform, the standard black leather
closely fitted to his body and worked with a durable metal armor in
places.
This she looked over, instead focusing on the small glint
of metal that wrapped around his hand.
"I see you still carry
that Lantean's charm around" she said easily, the light tone
betrayed by a rather cold facial expression, and the slight shift in
her posture.
Here he made the mistake of playing into her
hands, and then mocking her.
"Indeed, I was just planning on
returning it...however I have had second thoughts...it would be
considered impolite to return such a gift."
The moment the words
left his lips he wanted to take them back, now was not the time to be
truculent, she was far angry at the moment.
Malka's eyes widened a fraction, and Dalkar managed a single, small step toward the gate before she struck, sharp black claws raking across his face, causing black blood to run in rivulets down his face.
In Wraith, the skin of the face is often the slowest to heal; it is thinner in places than it is in other parts of the body, so the gashes knit together a bit more slowly and left welts that would fade in an hour's time.
She spoke again as Dalkar snorted blood out of his nose and shook it from his eyes, "Watch yourself, I am not so forgiving with you as I am with your companion. You are my child, I brought you into this life, and I can take you from it."
With that, Malka made her way back to the Hive, her guard falling into place a few paces behind, and Dalkar stepped through the gate and into Atlantis.
Many were surprised by the marks across his face and the blood that still dripped from a few of the welts, but they said nothing, allowing him to stalk off, escorted by a security team.
---
A/N: Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Lend me your reviews...
I'm thinking about writing another story, perhaps Malka's story, would any of you want to read it?
