Four

'Fritters'

'Fritters!'

'What?' Torr jumps with the sudden interruption of Lilion's voice

'I've called them Fritters!'

'What are you talking about?' Torr pauses in his data cataloguing and, finding she's not in the room asks. 'And where are you?'.

'I'm down in the galley. Todd's mapped out where the worst outbreaks are. They are, as far as he can tell, mutated versions of some kind of space rat, must have jumped aboard on one of their expeditions unnoticed. They seem to have lost their corporeal form and are now more like little clouds of gas.'

'I see you have the communication network up and running.'

'Yep, I have it set to open channel, so we can talk to each other at all times, including Todd.'

'So, these... Fritters... are they a problem?'

'No, the population seems to be stabilising, Todd's trying to analyse their composition, see what gases they contain but we don't think they are dangerous, just creepy.'

'Well, thank you for letting me know, I'm going to get back to my cataloguing if that's alright?'

'Oh, just one other thing. Take a look outside the window.'

'What? Lilithere are no windows!'

'I'll meet you at the viewing deck!'

Torr groans. Sometimes Lilion could be the most infuriating person. He saves the file he is working on and stretches, he could do with a break and a walk would probably do him good anyway.

'Look!'

'At what?'

'The light lines!'

'Lilion, I've seen them before, have you dragged me all the way here..'

'They are slowing down. We are slowing down!'

Torr watches for a moment and realises Lilion is right. The light lines are slowing down, they are starting to drop out of FTL speed.

Destiny draws to a full stop at the edge of the Earth's solar system, her engines disengage and she settles into a stasis, waiting for a new mission from the Ancients. Todd materialises next to Torr and Lilion as they watch the Oort Cloud spin past them, far below the ship. 'Destiny has stopped at the closest point she can to the Earth without causing a catastrophic event with the convergence of two Stargates. We need to get the right eight symbol chevrons from Colonel Telford to dial up the gate on Atlantis.'

'Really? We don't have the information on board?' Torr turns Lilion, 'Guess what, your turn this time!' Lilion groans.

'No, Destiny would have had no reason to visit Atlantis on her journey.' Todd smiles at Lilion's obvious displeasure at the thought of being host to Telford again. 'It would be the last time you have to inhabit his weak human form. Once we have the chevron code we will gain control of Atlantis and you will be able to return to the Pegasus galaxy to crush the Genii uprising!'

'Hey! Hold on a minute! We are not here to take control of anything! I should have known leaving you two to work alone together would be bad news. Whatever she has told you Todd or whatever mad scheme she is plotting, it's just rumours! We are not at war... or about to start a war! This chance we have to explore Atlantis and return to Pegasus is extraordinary... a dream come true as an archaeologist, it is not about some military coup. Maybe letting Telford back into your head is a bad idea...'

'You are not at war with the Genii?' Todd looks piercingly at Lilion. Who simply shrugs her shoulders and refuses to make eye contact with him. 'We are not a war with them... yet.' she mutters under her breath and turns to leave the viewing deck.

'Hey! Where are you going?' Torr calls after her.

'Communication stones! Sooner we get the chevron codes, the quicker we get home.'

Torr pushes the last chevron and the three of them watch as the Stargate dials up the address. Telford had provided the chevron codes for Atlantis once he saw that Destiny had reached Earth's solar system without any need for further negotiation. Now Torr, Todd and Lilion stand in awe as the gate room fills with light and a roaring vortex spills out, almost engulfing them, then pulling back into a stable wormhole, scattering refraction patterns across the room. Torr turns to Lilion and smiles at her through the shielded screen of his spacesuit. 'Ready?'

'Ready.' Lilion squares her shoulders inside the cumbersome suit and grips her blast-gun firmly.

Then the two of them step forward and through the Stargate. For a moment the gate remains open and then the connection is cut and Torr finds himself alone on Destiny with only Fritters for company.

War Council, Genii Training Base, Athos, Pegasus Galaxy

'We are nearer our goal than ever before!'

'The Athosians have allowed themselves to become a leaderless, weak and scattered people over the centuries, making a few of them fight each other is hardly progress!'

'They are loyal to each other, the gene therapy is stable.'

'But it is not the hunger gene of the Ancestral Wraith!'

'The complex permutations required are completely beyond your comprehension! I have isolated the receptors and markers for behavioural control and this is the first step to...'

'Enough! I am sick of your infighting. This is getting us nowhere!' Commander-in-Chief Cowden slams a meaty fist down onto the table, making all the members of the War Council jump.

'If you and the Training Commander cannot agree, I can excuse you both from the Council...' The ugly sneer on CC Cowden's face is enough to strike terror into both Chief Scientist Scera and Training Commander Occut. Cowden continues, 'We are here to plan strategy not pander to your pathetic egos. We may well be able to push your research even further, Scera. Londic brings news of a break away Wraith contingency keen to revive what they believe to be their ancestral heritage. Londic has arranged a meeting to negotiate terms of a treaty between us, I would like you to be there. '

'How do we know we can trust these Wraith?' butts in Occut, angry at being rebuked so publicly.

'We don't. Which is why you are going too, with a team of your trained Athosian fighters, if you have to, use force to convince these Wraith that an alliance with us is in their best interest. You and Scera can finalise details of your expedition with Londic after this meeting. How far is the rendezvous?'

Councillor Londic's oily smile grates on Scera's nerves but she listens politely to him. Negotiators like him were a necessary evil. 'The meeting point is set on a small outpost past the reach of the Allied Planets.'

'In the Outlaw Zone?' Londic turns his smile on Scera and answers her question. 'Yes, my dear, well into the outlaw zone. Don't worry, you'll have Occut on hand to protect you.' His smile becomes a little wider. 'That is if he's not too busy trying to stab you in the back.'

Around the table, laughter breaks out and Scera can feel the heat rise to her face at Londic's put down of them both. She grits her teeth and smiles and takes the public humiliation, after all, very soon she would be alone with both Londic and Occut on a ship in the Outlaw Zone, plenty of time soon enough for revenge.

After the meeting CC Cowden retires to his chambers to review the meeting. He could sense the unrest in Scera, recognising her as a potential future threat. Sending her on this mission with Occut would take her down a peg or two and keep her out if his hair for a while. He runs over the intel about the breakaway Wraith Londic had provided. This could be the turning point they have been searching for. Pushing their research forward. A thought occurs to Cowden and he calls for Londic to join him for supper once the expedition plans have been finalised.

'Your daughter is quite a handful, Commander, I shall have to keep a close eye on her on the trip!' Londic takes a sip of the rich wine from a fine crystal goblet.

Cowden snorts and shovels another forkful of roasted game into his mouth before replying. 'She is not only my daughter but also key to the success of all our plans. You will do well to do more than keep an eye on her. If any misadventure befalls Scera, I shall hold you responsible, Councillor Londic.'

'Of course, I have only the greatest respect for you and your family, Sir. Now, what was it you wanted to discuss tonight?' Londic viciously spears a vegetable holds it up for inspection before precisely carving it in two.

'Tell me more about this Wraith leader. I don't want to be fighting on two sides. Will he accept that he will be under my command or is he planning to steal our work for his own use?'

'Tullar? I think he is an idealist and a fantasist. Believing in some Ancestral honour code, some myth of great Wraith legends! Did I tell you he is trying to recreate a hive ship?'

'A hive ship?'

'It was an Ancestral Wraith ship controlled by a Wraith Queen who could command thousands! Quite formidable I am told!'

Londic and Cowden talk late into the night, Londic embroidering tales of Ancestral Wraith hive ships and of the warriors they would soon be able to engineer to help rebuild the Genii Confederation.

On board Destiny

Todd stands at the viewing deck window watching the Oort cloud below as it spins out, light from the sun dimly picking out swirling dust clouds and meteorites. Here and there, Fritters run through his holograph, punching small holes as they pass through, disrupting the projection. Todd tries kicking one and then laughs as his foot sails straight through the amorphous creature, leaving it untouched. He wonders what Torr and Lilion have found on Atlantis and he thinks back to his previous life and the glorious days of the Wraith and the battles fought and lost and he wonders if any of his old adversaries and latterly, his friends, are in stasis on Atlantis.