A/N: Every now and then someone adds this story to their favourites. And I get thrilled, and then I feel guilty as heel. Since my update rate is horrible. And still people read it.
Thank you for hoping there will be another chapter. It truly is what makes me write them!
Chapter 8
"You."
It took three days before she opened her eyes again. But when she did, she was rested and restored. As well as thankful that no dreams had lingered in her mind.
She was still in a hospital bed, an IV was on her hand and a mask providing oxygen over her face. When she pulled the mask off, Dr Beckett noticed that his patient had finally awakened.
She had been given some privacy, a few curtains set up around her bed. He pulled one to the side and watched her calm, slow and careful movements. Not even in this state she seemed even slightly confused.
"How does it feel?"
"Like I've spent the night drinking liters of Ryncol."
He gave her a questioning look and she waved it off.
"Never mind." She shook her head and Beckett stepped up to the screens to check her condition. "Dr Beckett... How long was I out?"
"Three days after you woke up, before that... about a month."
"A month? 30 days?"
The answer clearly startled her, perhaps even scared her, and Beckett sat down at the edge of the bed.
"Has it happened before?"
"Yes..." She said staring at a blank spot in front of her. "Though never that long. Three days.. once five. Never more than that. Never like this." She touched her right temple with her hand. Staring down at her other hand, imagining a white slip of paper with the word Live on it, in daring red letters. "Doctor Beckett..." She started but stopped, her mouth hanging open.
"Yes dear?"
His voice dissipated the imaginary note and she looked up at him.
"I shouldn't be alive." She stated.
This wasn't just a case of guilt or depression, it was a statement. He waited for her to continue.
"I believe you monitored my vitals when I was comatose. My brain activity as well."
"Yes." He nodded. "There was an... unusual amount of activity."
"I re-lived my life. In bits and pieces, constantly, not a moments rest. I would have died, I should have died. But I had help."
"Yes, Chaya. She is-"
"No Doctor." Vera cut him off. "I remember her, she was there, but she wasn't the one who helped me in the end. The one I'm talking about was a relative of mine. My sister. Apparently she ascended at some point in her life. And now... I don't know about what rules there may be for ascendants. But she defied them to help me. She mended my mind, and gave me my life back." Vera looked at him with watering eyes. "What do one do with such a gift, Doctor?"
Carson gave her the warmest of his smiles and took her hand in his.
"You cherish it. And make the most of it."
A tear fell from her eye. He got up from the bed.
"I'll wait an hour before I call Elisabeth and give her the news. Give you a chance to... Wake up."
"Thank you Doctor Be-" She stopped, thought about her sisters smile. "Carson. Thank you Carson."
A couple of hours later Vera had showered, dressed and read some of the reports on the events that had transpired after she had fallen into a coma. She would have wanted to speak to Michael and she wasn't happy about the choices the Earthlings had taken.
"He will never trust us now." She said, putting down the pad on Dr Weirs desk.
"Who?" She asked, furrowing her brows. A part of Weir couldn't help but admire the fact that Vera had already pulled herself together and started working. She certainly didn't waste time.
"Michael, the Wraith."
"I doubt he trusted us in the first place."
Vera decided to drop the subject, right now she couldn't stand the idea of conflict.
"He did ask to see you, though." Elizabeth said carefully.
"Oh?"
"Yes he... He spoke something about a... ghost? Something of a Wraith legend."
To her surprise, Vera nodded and she stayed silent for a long minute before she spoke.
"I would like to ask you a favour, Elizabeth."
She was surprised, not sure if she had heard Vera call her by first name before, at least not like that. It sounded so... informal, coming from her. "Yes? What?"
"I believe you all have questions. And I have a tale to tell. I'd rather not tell it repeatedly as it will deal with my past. It's not... an easy subject. Would you set up a gathering for me? You may invite whoever you think should hear what I have to say."
"I can do that." She nodded.
The meeting was set up in the conference room, for which Vera was thankful. There was a limited amount of seats in the room, which meant she wouldn't be speaking to the entire crew. She brought up a panel from the table and was prompted to input her password when accessing her own personal account. She logged in and an icon flashed in a corner.
She frowned, confused. It was an icon showing that there were messages for her. She activated her inbox and saw the name of the sender. Not a name she could recall. So she closed it for the time being and meant to open it when she was back in her quarters.
Proceeding to the military database, it only took her a few minutes to find the material she wanted and had some time left before the people from earth would show up. She sat down and thought about the things she was about to tell. It wasn't something she had spoken much about in the past. Every time she had woken up from the sleeping pod everyone had already been informed. They knew who she was, what her abilities were.
She wasn't sure how these people would handle the information. They might even regard her as a monster... It would not be the first time that happened.
Though she sincerely doubted they would shun her like that. She had never come across a people like these that were both very easy and very hard to read. Anticipating their next move was next to impossible at times.
"Hey." She heard a voice and looked up to see Dr Weir coming through the door.
"Elizabeth." Vera acknowledged her.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes." She nodded and rose.
Elizabeth nodded, opened the doors and let the rest of the people she'd chosen in. They took their seats under silence. Vera recognized each and every one of them. She knew their names and was satisfied with Dr Weir's choices. After the doors closed she tapped the wall and a section of it turned into a screen. It showed a picture of Vera, in profile and from the front. Only she was just a little girl in the photo.
"I will start from the very beginning. Hopefully it will all make sense. This is a picture of me when I was seven years old. The footage you are about to see is from the Chair-Room."
A large screen flickered to life in front of the wall. It showed a picture from the Chair room in a birds eye perspective. By the entrance stood two young girls. Blond hair, blue eyes, one dressed in blue, the other in white. By the chair there was a man working on a panel, also with blond hair and white clothing.
"This is me and my sister, Alice. I am the one dressed in white. This man is our father." Vera took a step to the side and the footage started rolling. The sound came from unseen speakers.
"Ethan, your girls are here." A voice outside the picture announced. "Come on girls." The children were lead into the room by another man dressed in beige.
"Alice, Vera!" He called when he saw them and put down the pad he was holding in his hand. The two girls shouted "Dad!" and "Father!" at the same time and ran up to his embrace. "Thank you Tristan." He said to the man who nodded and then walked away. He stood up and there was a short conversation about how the day had been. It was mostly Alice that did the talking of the two. "I need to get something from a room down the hall. Can you wait here for me?"
"Mmhmm!" Alice answered while Vera nodded with a "Yes."
When he reached the door he turned around to add. "Just wait for me, alright? No goofing around, Alice!"
She answered buy sticking out her tongue and giggled.
After he left she waited a few seconds and then looked over at her sister.
"Come on Vera, jump up!" She said and patted the chair.
"What?"
"This thing controls the entire city, right? We could sneak a peak on what mom's doing!"
"Ship." She murmured before answering. "Why me? You do it."
The young girl placed a fist on her hip and made a determined face. "It's your dream, isn't it? To fly?"
Vera looked quietly at her sister for a moment before nodding.
"Come on!" She patted the chair again and this time her sister only hesitated a moment. "So how does it work?" She asked while Vera climbed up in it.
"You kinda just.. imagine it."
"Well, show mom!"
An image appeared showing a blond haired woman wearing a lab coat, discussing something with the other employees by a working station.
"Booring, she's just working." Another image popped up, pushing the one with their mother to the side and making it smaller.
"What's that?"
"It's the Euthymia." Vera said, smiling. "The last checks are being made before it leaves Atlantis." The screen was showing a ship docked to Atlantis, people entering and exiting it. There were other ships docked as well, along with several vehicles lying out in the ocean, and others hanging in the air. Showing Atlantis as it once had been: A busy central hub in Lantean society.
"Can you make the lights come out?"
"The yellow ones?"
"Yeah."
"I'll try."
And the screen started to follow ten lights shot out from Atlantis. The two girls laughed and giggled as Vera discovered she could control them easily. She had them circle ships and the center spire. Played with them in formation. A uniformed man came running to the door frame, where he stopped instantly. The girls didn't see him, they were busy giggling. He stood still for a few moments, observing and lifting his hand to his ear and talking to someone before lowering it again. The father came into view and he looked confused to see the man there. The man signed for him to be quiet and pointed to the chair. The father looked horrified, but the other calmed him down.
At last, he took action, walked up to the girls and calmly and slowly told Vera what she was playing with and how to solve it.
It ended with the ten missiles exiting atmosphere and exploding in space, then the man helped her off the chair. The video feed stopped and Vera stepped up in front of the screen again.
"The next day I started my studies for a military career. As my sister Alice stated, it was my dream to fly. I spent a large part of my childhood looking to the stars. When I was fifteen I entered active duty. At this time we were at war with the Wraith. But it was small scaled, we had hardly learned anything about them. We didn't treat them as a proper threat. Most Lanteans didn't even know about them. This next footage." She said and the screen changed. "Was taken from a mission where I and my squad were captured and taken onboard a hive ship. Only a few had ever been captured like this before, so we had no idea what to expect. We didn't know of the Queens power or their hive like behavior. Yes?" She stopped and made eye contact with Major Lorne who signaled he had a question.
"Just... curious.. How can you have footage from a military op like that?"
"In a squad there is always at least one fitted with optical recording. Whatever he, or she, sees is recorded and stored."
A few in the room raised their eyebrows and exchanged looks.
"This is from when we were taken to their 'throne room' and met with the Queen. She singled me out."
The footage started rolling again. As she had explained it showed four Lantean prisoners, not bound but with weapons aimed towards them. A young woman, dressed in a dark gray and wearing her blond hair in a thick braid was pushed forward towards a Wraith queen.
"Colonel!"
A man from the Lantean ranks tried to break lose but was rewarded with a blow from the butt end of one of the wraiths weapons. The woman, apparently a young Vera, turned towards the man and raised a hand to stop him.
"Colonel?" Sheppard said to her in a voice of surprise and doubt. Remembering how she had commented how he himself were a bit young for his rank.
"What do you want with us?" She asked the Queen.
"Want?" The Queen smiled and raised a hand towards Veras face. "I want you to kneel." She hissed and extended her hand in a commanding gesture.
The people watching the footage all knew what power a Wraith Queen had, and what to expect. To their surprise, nothing happened. Well, at least not what they expected.
Vera watched the Queen, unimpressed, and noted that the Queen was confused.
"Kneel!" The queen shouted and again hurled her hand towards Vera. But this time the Lantean acted. From a hidden pocket she had produced a knife and now took hold of the queens arm and shoved the blade into her palm. Instantly the other Lantean soldiers moved on their enemies. The confusion ruptured into chaos instantly. Shots were fired, shouts was heard across the room. Moments later weapons had changed owners and the Wraith was lying on the floor. Including the queen who had a gaping wound running across her throat.
"What happened?" One of the soldiers asked Vera with a panting voice.
"I don't know, and we have no time to discuss it. Come on, our ship should still be in the hangar bay... Wherever that is."
And the footage came to a stop. Nearly every face in the room was displaying surprise and confusion.
"At this time." Vera started. "We had no knowledge of the Queens manipulative powers. We were the first to leave a Hive ship alive."
"But what... happened?" Sheppard frowned, knowing what happened the first time a Wraith Queen held out her hand over him.
"I never had a clear answer as to why I was able to resist a queens manipulative powers, or why I could take control over her minions. But I did manage to develop the skill and I became better at it. Though until the recent events I had never had the chance to control a Hive-ship to that extent before."
"So you have no idea why you can do it?" Weir asked.
"Apparently..." She paused. "It has to do with Ascension. I only found this research yesterday, so I'm not familiar with it. I have added the notes of my ability to your servers, so you will be able to read about it if you wish. But if I understand correctly, it has to do with that I am somehow, in theory, close to ascension."
"So it's different from Teyla's connection?"
"My DNA has been thoroughly tested, there is no connection to the Wraith there."
"There has been indications that people close to Ascension develops extraordinary skills. Perhaps this.. is.. such a case." Teyla met Vera's eyes then glimpsed around the table for confirmation.
"I'll look into it." Elizabeth nodded.
"There were something else as well."
Vera had never really been interested in understanding how this skill had manifested, or how it worked. The first time she had used it, it had been strangely natural. And developing it had been challenging, but rewarding.
So she steered the conversation away from the topic.
"Dr Weir said Michael had spoken about a Wraith legend."
"Yes." Elisabeth acknowledged. "He didn't say much, just something about a being that was like a ghost that was sometimes reported by Wraith on missions."
"It was never confirmed, but it's most likely me they were talking about." She continued before anyone had the chance to start asking questions. "It started out at a stupid idea and a desperate measure, continued as an experiment and in some extraordinary situations this rumour we had created was used as strategy."
"What exactly do you mean?"
Teyla asked the question and Vera shifted her eyes to her. She didn't want to tell the whole truth about the origin. She had been young and it had been stupid. So she told them the scaled down version with the essential information. But what really happened was...
"Well Colonel..." A young man stood at the edge of a cliff. Dressed in a white tshirt and fastening the last button on his cameo coloured pants. He reached for his jacked, coloured in the same style. "How are you going to get us out of this one?"
Vera finished braiding her hair and pulled a band off her wrist over to her tassel of hair to fasten it. She looked over at him. A man her own age, 23, built like a man who had served in the military since he was 17.
Which was exactly what he had. His hair was dark and short, his skin as dark and brown as his eyes. A man she had taken a liking to and had proceeded to start a relationship with. It hadn't been hard. He had been happy to play the role of her boyfriend. A man to scare off any other men that got the idea to get close to her.
It wasn't love, though she did appreciate his carefree personality. And his skills as a lover.
She looked over the cliff edge again. During the time the two of them had been.. occupied, a hive ship had landed about ten kilometers away. Right next to the stargate. If they had had a ship they could've cloaked it and stayed hidden long enough to get close to the gate, opening it by remote control and slipped through. But it had been a day long off duty vacation. They had chosen to hike through the demanding terrain. Climbed the cliff using only their hands.
"It looks like they're setting up base." She stated. Vera didn't wear clothes with the camouflage pattern that he was. She was wearing white. Spotless, shining, white. With the fabrics stain- and dirt-repelling attributes, the hike and climb hadn't left any marks on her clothing.
"Sooo we won't be able to just slip by unnoticed?"
"We need to get closer. We wont be able to see anything essential from this far away." She turned and started on the way back. He quickly gathered his belt from which a weapon hung and fastened it around his waist before he followed.
When the sun started setting they arrived close enough to have to start moving carefully to avoid their patrols. They stopped in a groove protected by thick-leafed bushes. Watching Wraith carrying crates out of the ship, walking around the ground engaged in conversation. They had managed to get past their perimeter and was getting closer to the gate. But activity was increasing, and it was time to come up with a plan.
"This really doesn't look good Colonel." He whispered.
"We need to get to the control panel, dial up, wait for the connection to establish and go through under 180 seconds."
"Well that's not gonna happen."
"We need a diversion."
"Wait. That's... That's a Queen." Vera silently moved over to his lookout point and confirmed it.
The Wraith queen moved smoothly out of the ship, surrounded by six guards. They were moving over to a flat empty plain in front of the ship. One of their white haired, slim, well dressed wraith stood there, flanked by two soldier types.
"I think the Commander is in trouble."
They watched a conversation taking place between the queen and the wraith. Or more rightfully, it seemed as if the man was pleading his case. The queen seemed unimpressed. After a couple of minutes the queen suddenly raised her hand at the man, which seemed to force him to his knees in pain.
Vera almost shot up from their place. She recognized it. This was just what had happened on that Hive ship when she and her unit had managed to escape. Only she hadn't reacted as expected. She hadn't reacted as this man did. She hadn't felt anything that would cause her pain.
"Telepathy." She said suddenly. Realizing what it was.
"What?" Her partner frowned and looked back and forth between the two women. "That's what was supposed to happen to you? On that ship?"
Vera looked down at him and almost frowned, managing to control her surprise. "You're not supposed to know that."
"Well I have ways." Then he hushed her and pulled her down. Two wraith was about to walk by on a patrol. When they had passed he spoke up again, before she could accuse him of any crime regarding breaking into military classified files. "If you could resist that..." He nodded towards the white haired wraith that was now being dragged away, seemingly lifeless. The queen had already disappeared from the site. "Maybe you could use it."
"What?" This time she did frown.
"I saw the whole footage. Your escape through the ship. Think about it." He said and knew she was already recalling the event. "You barely ran into any enemy activity at all. Could you have manipulated them without knowing?"
She was still highly skeptical. But also had to admit that she had noted this as well. Not only had their path to the hanger been fairly uneventful, it had been suspiciously easy for her to find. They had waited for the next pair of soldiers to pass them on their patrol, and Vera tried a simple exercise. To reach out to their minds, and make them stop. To her surprise. They did stop, right in front of them. Vera focused and her partner watched her intense concentration. After a few moments the two soldier-type Wraith walked separate ways.
"What just happened?" He forgot to whisper and she hushed him. She signed for him to follow and they made their way closer to the gate. They both kept their eyes on the soldier that looked as if he knew where he was going.
"Be ready to run." Vera ordered sharply and they watched the soldier walk up to the control panel to the Stargate.
Not until the Wraith started dialing he attracted any suspicion from his fellow wraith. The Stargate started up its dialing process and the two Lanteans had already drawn their side-arms.
"You go through the gate first-"
"And take up defensive position as soon as I get through. Got it."
The soldier-type was about to be interrupted when an explosion was heard and flames lit up the darkness. It barely took thirty seconds for the chaos to be a fact. Just before the last chevron locked Vera hissed a sharp "Go!"
They ran as silent as possible and kept their heads low. As the got closer the man sprinted faster, creating a distance between him and Vera. The chaos and commotion almost kept them out of gunfire, but about 100 feet away the wraith discovered them and opened fire. The man kept running without giving his surroundings any attentions. It only took seconds before he was through. Vera fired several shots and had to throw herself into a roll to avoid the last shots fired. On the other side she instantly got up and kept running towards the control panel. When she passed the man he stepped right into the path she had come and went down one knee, holding his weapon raised.
But no wraith managed to get through before Vera could force a shutdown. She breathed out loudly and put her hands on the panel to the Stargate, not believing how they got out of that mess. She lifted her eyes and saw the man come towards her.
"You." He said with a dark voice which caused Vera to stand tall. A defensive reaction.
She had 'dated' military personnel before. In fact, all men she dated were military. All 'friends' she had was military. The only reason she saw life outside military was probably thanks to her sister.
But people reacted differently to her set of skills, her dedication and personality. There were many who couldn't bear it, some were annoyed that she had a hard time calling people by other than their rank. If he reacted in a negative manner, she wouldn't show him any emotions. She would discard him and-
He stopped right in front of her, close. She was still breathing heavily from the sprint.
"You." He said again, inched closer and broke into a smile. "You are amazing." And he kissed the startled Vera.
The meeting was over. Teyla and Sheppard was hanging out by the balcony. The sun was setting, and a breeze brushed passed them. Sheppard was leaning against the railing, peering at the sun.
"Controlling the Wraith." He said. "You ever heard anything like it?"
"No." She sighed and turned to lean her back against the rail. "I can't recall any rumour, stories or legends that speak of a human being able to control Wraith like that. But Michael confirmed it to Dr Weir."
"What do you think it's like?"
"I don't know. I can't imagine what her own people thought about it. I wouldn't be surprised if she expected us to distance ourselves from her now."
"What? Why would we-"
"This is amazing!" Dr McKay cut them off, walking up to them from the side and balancing a laptop on his hand while typing with the other. "Look at this!" He said and turned the screen towards them. Showing a diagram that essentially made no sense at all.
Teyla and Sheppard both turned towards him, looked at the image, gave each other a look and Teyla raised her shoulders in a 'I have no idea' gesture.
"What are we watching?"
"This is the analysis that the ancients did on Vera's ability to control the Wraith! Her ability to focus is amazing. Just look-"
"Alright! Just tell us in... non-science-geek language, thanks."
McKay sighed as he closed the computer and put it under his arm. "Her level of concentration is so high that she kind of taps into the same plane as the ascended lives on."
"You mean..." Sheppard folded his left arm over his chest, resting his right elbow on it and holding a closed hand towards his lips. "She's so focused she can use..." He fell silent. The only word he cloud think of was 'superpowers', and he had no desire to be laughed at.
"-Extraordinary abilities?" Teyla saved him and he sighed of relief in his head.
"Exactly!" McKay snapped his fingers and pointed at her.
Teyla and Sheppard shared a look.
Vera sank down into the couch in the apartment that had been assigned to her. Thankfully no one had looked at her with disgust. From what she could tell there hadn't even been fear among them. It had been a relief. A true relief.
As she breathed out and relaxed she remembered the flashing icon that had indicated that she had received a message. Now that was interesting.
She leaned forward and activated a panel on table in front of the couch and and image was brought up in front of her. She accessed her personal inbox, entered her military code and brought up the message. It was a file, a recording. Starting it, she leaned back.
A picture of a young man filled the screen. He was portrayed from the chest and up. He had a nervous appearance, but somehow still managed to look calm and serious. He had olive skin, blue-grey eyes, short dark hair and a light stubble. Vera found herself thinking that he looked too young for stubble.
"Greetings, Admiral." He started, but then stuttered at the next phrasing. "Cut that one out." He said, looking at someone next to the cameras recording eye.
"Yeah, sure." You heard a female voice off screen. The man took a breath and started over.
"Greetings Admiral. It would be my wish that you never will receive this message. However, we feel that we need to take precautions. There is a debate going on whether we are going to evacuate Atlantis or not. If the decision is made to leave, we are not sure how soon the evacuation will take place. Though... we are rather certain that regardless of the decision, you will not be awakened." He paused, with his poise showing that he intently disagreed with it.
"We can only assume that your stasis pod has a failsafe for when the crystal runs out. When that happens, we might be long gone. If the evacuation becomes fact, Atlantis will submerge to the ocean floor. The shield can be sustained for thousands of years. In the event that you awake to this situation, we wish to help. Attached to this message is a gate address. There we will leave you three VEC's. I am sorry to say that this is the best we can do at this point. May the stars watch over you."
Vera leaned forward and stopped the message before it ended, rewound a bit and let it play.
"May the stars watch over you." The man repeated and this time the message played out to black screen and disappeared.
"And may they always lead you home." She whispered in response.
Atlantis, approximately 10 000 years ago.
"-There we will leave you three VEC's. I am sorry to say that this is the best we can do at this point. May the stars watch over you." The young man sat still, watching the recording eyes, waiting for his companion to cut it.
"Damn, you are such a cliche." A woman laughed as she turned off the recording.
The man breathed out, trying to shake off some nervousness. "Well you try to talk casual to legend."
"She's not actually here, you know." She was tall and very slender. Her skin and hair was the same colour and length as the mans. You could easily tell they were related. Only difference was that her eyes had a green hue instead of blue.
"Yeah, I wish she could be, though." He looked down at his hands, as if whatever he'd do wouldn't be enough. The woman walked over and put an arm around him.
"Come on Khalid. There's still time. We might still finish it."
"Unfortunately, we won't." The both of them looked up to see an elderly lady had stepped into the room.
"What do you mean?" The woman asked, her body stiffened.
"The vote is over. We evacuate tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Khalid stood, the woman's arm fell of his shoulder and she started in disbelief.
"So soon?"
The old woman nodded slowly. "The preparations has been going on for some time. The planet they decided on is not very technically developed.. to say the least.. so we won't be taking much with us."
The man closed his eyes and shook his head. "If only we had awakened her when we had the chance."
End
Notes: Thank you for reading. I'd love it if you leave a note, telling me what you think!
I know exactly how the next chapter should start and proceed. And I've just bought a new keyboard. Perhaps it wont be a year untill the next update! xD