"This is pointless," Jennifer snapped several weeks later from the lab table over which she was hunched, a pair of tweezers in between her fingers as she moved a sample from one tray to the next. "We can't eliminate the Iratus bug proteins without interfering with the Wraith regenerative abilities. Somehow I don't think your kind would approve of that."
Todd made a noise in his throat indicative of acknowledgement, but spoke no words aloud.
"If you really want to see this succeed, we need to not only reactivate those proteins, but increase their potency. It's the only way to retain the regenerative properties of your own DNA while simultaneously ensuring the ability to sustain yourselves with physical elements."
"The Iratus bug does not possess the ability to survive on tangible nourishment," Todd declared, sounding bored and uninterested as he swiped across the screen of the console before which he stood. "Like the Wraith, it requires the immaterial human energy."
"Not just human energy," Jennifer corrected quickly, and the Wraith looked at her. This time, there was a mild curiosity present in his yellow eyes, and he tilted his head.
"Elaborate."
"In certain human religions, it is believed that the spirits of animals can be used as a means of appeasing the gods and preventing them from inflicting misfortune upon the people who worship them."
"That is absurd. The Wraith would never accept a beast as substitution for a human."
Jennifer ignored him.
"In my travels with the Atlantis expedition, we came across one race that followed a similar practice of tying a small goat outside of an Iratus hive as a means of deterring the insects from leaving the cavern. The Iratus bugs had no reason to leave the cave and seek human hosts so long as there was a live animal at their doorstep instead."
Todd's eyes narrowed and he turned, straightening, and placed his hands behind back. It had become a sort of indicator to Jennifer that he was listening closely to her words, but as she was finished speaking for the moment, she rolled away from the desk slightly and folded her own hands in her lap. The Wraith's eyes followed the movement for a moment and then scanned slowly back up her body to connect their gazes. Jennifer felt heat rise in her face and she quickly dropped her eyes to the lab table, waiting for him to speak.
"Did the Atlanteans perform tests to confirm that the Iratus were actually sustaining themselves on this...goat...as you called it?"
The woman brushed a lock of her honey-blonde hair behind one ear and tried to conceal the small giggle left by Todd's uncertainty of the meaning of the term 'goat.' Instead, she gave him a faint smile and answered his question.
"We did. And it was confirmed. The Iratus were clearly able to use animals' energy in the humans' stead. At least, the ones on that particular planet were."
"Why did these humans not simply destroy the hive rather than helping it to survive?"
"They were aware of the similarities between the Iratus bugs and the Wraith. Perhaps they were afraid to destroy the hive for fear of repercussions from your kind." Jennifer stood now, and moved to the small laptop on the other side of the room. "Where did you get this?" She gestured to the computer and then crossed her arms and faced him.
Caught off guard by the sudden change in subject, Todd appeared flustered.
"I procured it during my first visit to Atlantis." His frown was deep and exaggerated.
"You mean you stole it." It was not a question.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. It was slated for destruction."
"Did it ever occur to you to wonder why it might have been slated for destruction?" the woman asked, her tone sharp as she tipped one hip out and raised her eyebrows.
"I did not have time to wonder. I saw an opportunity, and I seized it."
"The hard drive in this machine contains much of Michael's flawed research into his own Iratus-based gene therapy. I presume your second in command has been using this as his introduction into the serum during your absence? Please tell me he hasn't utilized any of its teachings in the samples you showed to me earlier today." The brown eyed woman studied Todd, awaiting an explanation.
"He has not."
"That's good for you. Michael's methods ensured the removal of the feeding hand, and the enzyme that makes natural digestion possible in the Wraith body."
"Natural?" the Wraith commander roared suddenly, narrowing his eyes at her and broadening his shoulders in a threatening manner. "The only natural digestion we Wraith possess is that which absorbs the energy you humans are so keen to deem obsolete! Consider if the tables were turned, Doctor Kell-err...if we Wraith were striving to develop a serum to render your manner of obtaining nourishment inert. I could demonstrate my point by removing you of your hands!" He advanced on her, and she shrank backward, frightened by his outburst.
"Furthermore, I have expressed my concerns about this particular methodology to you in the past, yet your kind has remained defiant and steadfast in your search for a solution, never once considering the thoughts of those whom this therapy will affect. Michael's research was hardly flawed. It was quite ingenious, actually, for his therapy ensured the Wraith would never need to feed again...on energy or tangible matter." His face was mere inches from her own, his anger and offense clearly visible in the way the veins in his skull pulsed so rapidly.
Thoroughly refuted, the doctor lowered her eyes to the floor once again and clasped her hands in front of her waist.
"Forgive me," she said quietly, and dipped her head in submission.
The Wraith bared his teeth and slammed the laptop closed. He roughly pulled the cords out of the back ("Humans and their rudimentary power supplies..."), and then thrust the computer into Jennifer's arms.
"You will spend the rest of the evening examining Michael's research for yourself, and will report your findings to me come morning. I beg you do not close your mind to the possibility that he may have been...on...to something. My Second has thus far been unable to determine why all of Michael's experimentations were failures. If you can provide me with this information...you will be greatly rewarded." The yellow eyes locked with brown and the pupils dilated slightly as it happened. Unable to sustain the contact for any longer than an instant, Keller looked down and gave another nod of understanding. Todd swept out an arm, clearly aggravated but retaining the niceties, and ushered her toward her private quarters. He opened the door and practically shoved her inside, and she heard the telltale sound of the locking mechanism once the door was closed.
In spite of Rodney having installed the translation script on the laptop before Todd snatched it from the Atlantean lab, the random Wraith glyphs inserted into the mix were making it increasingly difficult for Jennifer to understand Michael's notes. As the mathematics and chemical sequences grew more advanced, Rodney's script became less accurate. Eventually, it reached the point where the good doctor could understand none of it, and she finally pressed the lid down. She tried to imagine what Rodney would say to her to ease her frustration, but his voice was clouded by the sudden realization that she would likely never speak to Rodney again.
She remembered the way the Wraith cruiser had spiraled soon after their takeoff, and a part of her wanted to believe it had been caused by a Replicator weapon. Far more likely, she surmised, was that the Ancient city had carried out its threats to self-destruct. John Sheppard and his crew had been off-world at the time, but with Atlantis' destruction they would have no way of knowing exactly what had happened, and no chance of finding any survivors. Even if they did somehow manage to return to the planet, now gateless, that had once played host to the city-ship, they would likely assume Jennifer to be dead as well and would make no attempts to search for her. It occurred to her that, had Todd been telling her the truth when he insisted she was safe with him, her stay aboard the Hive could be far from temporary.
It seemed strange to think that these alien quarters might well become her permanent home. Todd, at least, seemed to have considered this possibility before she had. He had taken to checking in on her each evening before he vanished to his own section of the upper deck, and although Jennifer didn't quite believe he did so out of anything but necessity, this routine had helped ease her transition into Hive life. Not that she was actually assimilating into the Wraith society...but at least the strange noises and motions of the organic walls and floors didn't startle her quite as much as they had before. In time, she almost came to appreciate the faint hum of the engines and the soft mists that filtered across the floor each night. The air was always the right temperature and surprisingly fresh, but still slightly more humid than she preferred.
Her thoughts wandered to the Wraith that had brought her here, and back to the situation on Atlantis that had caused him to do so. In spite of having worked with him for so long on her own turf and believing she had a decent understanding of his character, Todd's daily presence still filled her body with adrenaline. Jennifer was fairly certain he knew of his own influence upon her, and she still feared what he would eventually do with that influence. Thus far he had been true to his word and had not tried to feed upon her, but he could only survive so long without sustenance. She doubted there were any humans aboard the ship besides herself. Todd wouldn't have been so careless as to enter into a contract with the Atlanteans while his chambers held human prisoners. Sooner or later he would need to feed, and Jennifer shuddered at the thought.
The door to her room dissolved into itself and revealed Todd's Second on the other side. Kenny, as she knew him, bore a stiff, stern expression as he stepped forward dipped his head in greeting. Confused as to why he had come rather than Todd himself, Jennifer held her ground.
"I have been instructed to move you to one of the lower decks," Kenny said quickly, and without hesitation he reached for the woman's upper arm and took hold, far more tightly than necessary, and tugged her from the room. Once outside the door, which contracted following their departure, Kenny gestured that she move before him and he moved his hand to her shoulder. His grip was tight here as well, and he directed her through a maze of winding corridors and several transporters until, finally, they stopped in front of a cell.
"This is only temporary," the Wraith Second assured her as he shoved her inside, but his voice did nothing in the way of reassurance. The webbed gates of the containment cell closed behind Kenny as he left her there, disappearing from her sight just moments later.