Flying the city in short hyperspace jumps was not at all an unusual practice. Woolsey relocated Atlantis every so often, especially after establishing that a location was secure. There was much to look after, and Keller's updates from within the colonies kept Woolsey abreast of the territorial behaviors of the wraith.

As he was slowly pushed into an upright position, Sheppard thought longingly of the jumper. The Chair wasn't uncomfortable, it just wasn't as cool as when drone weaponry was necessary. As the galaxy was strangely quiet these days, so were the defenses. Sheppard hurried out of the Chair room. He missed threading needles with the jumper and had not been on a planetary mission that required any drastic action in some time. One might think this suited him, as he was into his early forties, but for Sheppard, age didn't matter very much.

Hopefully, McKay had managed to gather some leads regarding the mysterious communication and the growths on that weird mountain. Was it all just another issue with foreign matter or were the wraith really invading Atlantean territories? Sheppard sighed as he entered the lift and keyed for the command center. It just never ended, did it? He leaned back against the wall and waited, hands in his pockets, as the lift progressed. Images of great swaths of green biology swam before his eyes and he shut them.

The last time he had seen Ritha Guider in person was right before she left, and she'd seemed her usual, quiet self, absorbed in her own thoughts, her long black coat swirling around her ankles and her long, dark hair arranged in a very wraith-queen-like fashion. The woman had always maintained an elegance despite her somewhat unconventional mannerisms and tastes in fashion, and Sheppard had always found her an intriguing conversationalist. And she could keep up with Ronan, which was entertaining. She was not easily outdone by coldness, sarcasm, or careless attitudes.

Irakki piryyto i suand-attor. Those words, once spoken by Ritha after Ronan dared her to speak in wraith, were the closest pronunciation to the Ancient-derived syllables meaning, "Wraith are never-ending."

The lift doors slid apart.

"There you are," McKay said as the colonel approached. "Todd's hive arrived right after we did. Didn't waste any time."

"You know he's probably figured out the side order is we're investigating him," Sheppard said.

"This is as old as the hills," Woolsey said, adjusting his glasses. "I doubt he'll be concerned."

Images of Coldamber and her terrible beauty arose in some distant part of Sheppard's mind. Ritha had only seen some images of the dead queen after Teyla had destroyed her, but the scientist had not commented on them as much as she was expected to by people who knew something about her.

McKay was talking to Woolsey in a low tone and pointing at his tablet.

"I take it you're no longer hearing voices," Sheppard said.

"What?" McKay looked up.

"Case in point. Any progress on that…whatever it is?"

"Actually, it's dead." McKay twiddled a test tube between his fingers.

"Get anything out of it before it went to a better place?"

"Yes and no. We need to gate back to the planet."

"Give Todd the grand tour."

"Exactly," McKay said, holding his tablet close to his chest with an air of importance.

"He's never been guest of honor, but he usually tries to get there. Any chance you could throw in a fruit basket?"

"Oh no you don't, dusty bottles come out for Jennifer and my sister only. If they'd ever take some time off for a visit."

"I'm sure they never knew about it to begin with," Sheppard muttered shrewdly.

McKay sighed. "Ok, but it's going to cost you."

"Mm. Not if I get to it first, you agreed to let me try it last year, guess who forgot to keep his promises."

"I didn't bring enough to share," McKay muttered back.

"Cut to the chase, it might be our last drink," Sheppard said.

"What are you worried about, nothing's really even happened yet," McKay protested.

"Didn't think you'd object to a salutary toast, things could get pretty rough from here on out if we're right about what we think is going on."

"You're trying to make me feel bad and I hate to tell you it's working. Ok fine, but you get only one. Just don't tell Jennifer."

Woolsey expertly maintained a straight face.
...

The entrance, blue and silver in design, framed the wraith whose long white hair hung around his face and over his armored shoulders. Todd strode inside, his gaze fixed upon everyone who awaited him.

"We appreciate this very much," Woolsey said. "Welcome back."

"Indeed," the wraith said in his deep voice. "I appreciate this mainly because you chose to have me here. I have not been inside the city since I left it to begin pursuing the hives. It is quite familiar to me." His sharp eyes turned to the colonel. "Ahh. Johhhn Sheppaaard."

Sheppard reached out slowly and clasped Todd's right hand, not even flinching as he felt the feeding organ slit against his palm. "Sorry if you were busy. We've got some ground to cover, you've been staying out of trouble a lot longer than we're used to."

"Should I say the same thing about you, Sheppard? It is perfectly clear to me that an investigation is under way. Interrogation is perhaps bit too strong of a word, I hope I don't have to suggest it when I question the other reasons why you brought me here."

"Guilty conscience?"

Todd smirked a little.

"We most certainly have questions," Woolsey said. "We need to exchange information, enough time has been wasted already. I repeat, I believe we are about to be compromised in some way, soon or in the distant future, I have no idea which. This way, please."

The wraith fell into step alongside the commander. "I take it little progress has been made since before you arrived."

"Except for something Dr. McKay's been working to decipher," Woolsey said. The main corridor spread out before them, the polished floors rippling with reflections. "I already dispatched AR-9 to pursue any possible leads. They have not reported back."

"You truly fear the failures that we have worked so hard to prevent, are on the horizon."

Woolsey nodded. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this so soon."

Todd frowned a little. "As did I. Perhaps you are mistaken."

"Let's hope so."

"Not quite ready to hit the panic button," Sheppard said.

"You have alerted no one else I take it," Todd went on.

"Only Keller for the time being," Woolsey said as they marched down a corridor to the left. "She is with two other colonies, but so far, she has noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Here we are."

The towering wraith, his leather robes swaying gently, came to a halt as the next set of doors slid apart. His gaze flitted over every object. The most recognizable area of Atlantis to him, besides the social and science labs, was definitely this conference room.

Woolsey gestured toward the long, polished, angular table.

Teyla, Ronan, Beckett, and Brandon were already standing beside their respective chairs. While the former runner, his eyes not at all sinister, gave Todd a quick acknowledgement, Teyla bowed.

"Greetings, all. I detect a new means of communication has become somewhat habitual," Todd said slowly, glancing shrewdly from Teyla to McKay as the latter came to a halt with a bottle of wine in his hands.

"Oh, um…" McKay said, looking around. He pretended to study the label. "As usual…I have no idea what you're talking about."

Todd's long fingers brushed the table's polished surface. "Of course you don't."

Smirking, everyone took their usual places.

"Dr. McKay will fill you in on the details of our predicament," Woolsey said to the wraith. "You might remember Major Brandon. He oversaw the initial search and rescue this time."

Todd nodded to the tall, dark-skinned major, who acknowledged him in return. With the elegance of a master of the art, the wraith took the seat offered him to the left of the head and rested his arms upon the table. The vertical pupils in his greenish irises were not quite projecting negativity; however, they were as keen and cold as ever as they watched Woolsey.

All humans present often had an uncomfortable sixth sense that the wraith was in charge regardless of who truly was at any given moment. The aura was proud, keen as a knife, gentle as a tamed lion, not to mention slightly unnatural, now that wraith no longer killed their victims when feeding upon them. On the other hand, fear was no longer a factor as it had been during the first days Atlantis had worked with Todd.

McKay approached, his navy-blue uniform straining a little about his midriff and handed Todd a glass of dark red liquor. "Not exactly nectar of the gods but you might appreciate the aromas. 2008. Good year."

Todd took it by the stem with his long fingers. "To lighten the impending discussion I presume."

"Not this time," McKay said, placing a glass down for Woolsey.

"It is commendable to celebrate the past; since your worries, I'm sorry to say, have begun anew," Todd said, with a nasty little glint in his eyes.

"No, actually, it's to keep ourselves alert since we haven't slept," McKay responded, shattering the elegance of the service, and bustling around to the other side to pour out wine for the others. He finally handed the colonel a glass before taking a seat beside him.

Sheppard experienced a flashback, that of winging a piece of fruit and watching it slap into the wraith's feeding hand.

"We will begin at the beginning," Woolsey said, turning on his tablet.

"Always a good place to start," Todd said before raising his glass to his lips.

"Four days ago. I sent a recon team on a mission to gather intel from P6L-266." Woolsey pointed to the glowing star charts.

"I have never visited it."

Sheppard's eyebrows quirked. "You don't expect us to believe that."

"Do we any of us have enough time to visit every planet in the galaxy?"

"Well, I figured you'd cleaned out all the good stuff while you still could."

"A false lead led me to that sector many years ago," Todd admitted. "We never went to the surface of this particular planet because the readings gave us no reason to cull. There was great devastation. Someone had arrived there before us."

"Sorry to hear the bread box was empty," Sheppard said. "I know how it feels. You didn't dart over there fast enough."

Ronan coughed a little on his drink.

"H-h-h-h, you have grasped the concept of wraith humor," Todd said. "Hhhhh…if anything it has grown drier...thankfully Dr. McKay had the good sense to provide compensation and I have to admit, it does the trick." He lifted his glass. "Do you provide such diversions at every briefing?"

"Gentlemen!" Woolsey pushed his tablet over to Todd. "We were contacted by the team leader hours after AR-6's arrival, telling us they'd run into friendly inhabitants."

The wraith studied the empty video with its background of bluish sky. "There is nothing to be seen here."

"Once reviewed, it was found entirely devoid of life. That is not what was onscreen during the transmission."

Todd's eyes narrowed.

"Melbrick looked like he was in seventh heaven," Sheppard cut in. "Let's just say Ronan and I were jealous. Any chance the wraith can project hallucinations through an open wormhole?"

"I have never tried it, so I wouldn't know. If the wraith are responsible for invading your minds, I have no idea how they could have. How did one, likely more, know how to contact you in the first place, if the team was neutralized? The address must have been forced out of one of the captives if the dialing had not already taken place."

"We cannot be a hundred percent sure that the wraith are the perpetrators," Woolsey reminded everyone. "You recall the Sekkari."

Todd knew the story by now, after McKay had babbled about it in the science lab during a verbal spat with Zelenka.

"Shhh!" McKay said. "You'll just bring bad luck, we don't talk about them."

"I cannot think why they would be behind this," Todd said unconcernedly, "the fact remains that you have been left with evidence, while when you discovered the AI pod, some of you went through separate experiences with physical beings and consequences that could not be perceived by others."

"Well, we definitely don't know everything they are capable of, they couldn't wait to leave." Sheppard leaned on the table. "Back to the planet. Long story short, we found blast marks through the forest that lies ahead of the gate, looks like staff weapons were fired, a stun bomb, and there was blood on the DHD. We believe a wraith rune recently carved on a tree not far from it was made by Ritha Guider, one of the team. You might remember her."

"Ahh, yes," Todd said. "She was surprisingly well-versed in Wraith runes and a great deal of history. An unusual human, if you ask me."

"We're asking," Sheppard said.

McKay held up his tablet. "There. Our letter R. Now, to where this piece of dead biology comes from…" He put down a test tube and brought up images of the mountain and its strange fungal blankets. "Have a look…at this." He pushed the device across the table. "The attack on the team began there."

The wraith stared long and hard for several seconds. "I may have seen something like this…somewhere before." His long-nailed fingers barely touched the images. Silence reigned.

"I'm not a big fan of cliff-hangers," Sheppard said finally.

"It was long ago." Todd picked up the tablet.

"How long ago?"

"Years before Atlantis was operational again."

Sheppard didn't persist.

"We were hoping you could tell us exactly what that is," Woolsey said.

"I am not sure," the wraith said. "I will need a closer look in person. If I visit the planet I believe I can cover more ground than you have managed to thus far."

"Hey wait a minute, are you implying that I'm bad at this?" McKay protested. "I did my best! And geez, what it took for me to get this itty bit of slime off that stupid rock it's growing on…" He held up the long, thin cylinder.

"Did I say you did your worst?" Todd said.

"No. Also…the cherry on top. Guess what happened after."

"I can guess a great deal."

"It started talking to me." McKay said. "From what I could gather," he said, gesturing for the tablet to be handed over, and swiping around on it, "It was attempting to communicate telepathically."

"Do tell." Todd frowned a little. "An entity?"

"I can't be sure," McKay said, pushing the tablet back. "Remember when I was a wraith?"

Todd looked as though he wanted to express that McKay had been a sorry excuse for a wraith and somewhat of an insult to the species. "You experienced a similar type of communication. As you just did when you complained to Teyla that more than half the liquor has been consumed."

"I didn't say you could get in my head!"

"I didn't have to try, your eye patterns gave you away. So did Teyla's."

"What is this, Sherlock Holmes meets Han Solo?"

Todd scrolled around on the screen. "Were you able to translate what you heard?"

"Thanks to Ronan's untimely interruption, no, not entirely."

"Or should we say, not at all," Todd said, pointing to the information. "I didn't expect it to have made any sense to you."

"What, you don't believe me?"

"Oh I believe you," Todd said with a smirk. "But what you heard was not translatable. Not by your own methods."

"How do you know?"

"Hm. Intuition."

"Um…" McKay looked a bit annoyed. "Have it your way. I admit I'm stumped. Happy?"

Todd handed back the tablet. "Your unique abilities may have something to do with the connection."

"I sensed nothing," Teyla said. "But I was not present when Rodney was contacted and I did not try to forge a link with the materials."

"I cannot provide you with any deductions until I visit the planet. How far away is the location of that structure from the DHD?"

"A ten minute walk," Sheppard said before McKay could launch into ratios, kilometers, and conversions.

"So close to the stargate," Todd mused.

"We have had teams go missing before, but something is clearly very wrong," Woolsey said.

"I agree. And you did not expect a breach of the treaty so quickly."

"Well, not gonna lie, we expected something," Sheppard said.

"Didn't you realize that a seemingly uninhabited planet is an ideal place for rogues and traitors to bide their time?" Todd smirked.

"Guess we're getting old," Ronan grunted.

"There is still much about wraith you do not know." Todd watched the remaining wine swirl around as he tilted his glass.

"Oh not this again," McKay muttered.

"Someone knew how to dial Atlantis," Woolsey said. "Therefore, the attackers probably have our address."

"Someone besides Darok might have finished dialing," McKay said. "Well, that's what the shield is for."

"Blood was only on five of the seven glyphs. Someone else might have hit the final two," Woolsey said. "Or how about this. One hand might have been bloody and the other, uninjured, was used for the final two. Or one of the team could have been possessed to complete the sequence. What if Ritha was possessed when she carved that rune? Throwing us off the trail?" Woolsey stopped.

"You have not lost your interest in details," Todd said.

"I keep my tools sharpened."

Sheppard caught the wraith's eye. "What do you know about the missing team?"

Todd looked slightly amused. "Let me be very clear. Absolutely nothing. What reason would I have for tearing down what I helped to build? What has turned the tide of the war, in the end. You have me to thank for that, Sheppard."

"And we didn't even give you a medal."

"Have you received any communications that resemble the one we thought we were getting from AR-6?" Woolsey asked.

"No," Todd said. "I would be able to detect such a thing if I had."

"Don't be too sure," McKay said.

Todd blinked.

"Here's the sample I got off that rock." McKay held up the test tube. He rolled it across the table to the wraith.

Todd's long fingers handled it delicately. The blackened, dead piece of bio-material fell from end to end as he turned it about for a closer look. "Interesting. What is it?"

"We've got some specs, but not enough to tell exactly what it does or how it functions," McKay said. "At best, I can tell you it's a lot like hive material intermingled with some kind of fungal DNA."

"Hmm. You have it sealed for a reason?"

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you," McKay said. "Well, good thing I'm not you…I mean..."

"Oh come on, he's a wraith," Sheppard said. "Shouldn't hurt him to play with the stuff."

Todd examined the data on McKay's tablet. "It says here you ran multiple tests for harmful bacteria. Harmful to humans, that is."

"Yeah. It seems to feed on and stem from bacterial-packed pores in the rock, which I might add is an unusually lightweight mineral," McKay said, holding out a sliver of the stone. "No nacqueda deposits. See what you can make of this. It has a crystal structure, much like earth's quartz. But I haven't identified it, never come across it before."

Todd turned the sliver over and over in his fingers. "It has been decontaminated I assume."

"Of course, think I'd hand you a toxic substance?"

Todd just looked at him.

McKay glanced around. "So, back to Ritha? She's been the way she is pretty much her whole time in the Pegasus galaxy. Remember how she voiced the possibility of a retrovirus override?"

"Indeed," the wraith said, holding the test tube up to the light. "She would not leave the subject alone."

"Got on your case a little, huh?" Sheppard asked.

"Did she persist in her research?"

"She did, and more," Woolsey said. "Dr. Beckett discovered a secret data base of crystals, Ritha stored hundreds of files; information from coding to dialect, and indeed, our very worst fear: detailed instructions on how to complete an override."

Todd slowly put down the stone sliver and looked the doctor in the eye. "I dare…to ask." He was silent a moment. "Is it effective?"

"Well, naturally we haven't tested her theories." Beckett's blue eyes were earnest.

Todd looked around. "You are very much mistaken if you think I would allow myself to be a test subject."

"That's not what we had in mind," Woolsey told him. "We'd like you to see the data."

"Right here," Beckett said, indicating two cases of data crystals. "May not be wise to examine them on your ship. You can use our labs."

"So, you need my help?" Todd said. "Whatever for, if you understand the information? You wrote the basis of the virus in the first place."

"It'll be helpful to have a wraith look it over, you might notice something we didn't, is all," Beckett said.

Sheppard leaned forward. "I could be wrong, Todd, but…are you sure you didn't suspect at some point that Ritha might succeed just to prove herself correct that another Michael might be running around out there?"

"The thought occasionally crossed my mind that the one I called Vyronnesta could, in theory, write a dangerous code to undo what the doctors and myself so precisely formulated," Todd said calmly, putting down the tube to finish his wine.

"Her name's Ritha," Sheppard corrected him.

"Why didn't you voice your concerns?" Woolsey said.

"I was confident in our progress," the wraith said. "And surely you do background-checks on your own people; unlike yourselves, I do not waste time worrying about a crew that is not my own. Why should an Atlantean wish to destroy what has brought peace to the galaxy and allowed humans to survive along with the wraith she is so apparently fond of? Not that I understand her enthusiasm."

Sheppard winced minutely and everyone exchanged glances. "We wanted to ask you about your observations of Ritha."

"You suspect me in this," Todd said slowly, a little edge to his voice now.

"We are passing no judgement," Woolsey said. "But I'm sure you know from past experience that we leave no stone unturned. This work is not finished."

"By no means," Todd said. "And now…Ritha, as you wish me to call her, has apparently disappeared for good. You fear she could be a traitor."

Woolsey nodded.

"Do you have evidence that any of her research files accompanied her to the planet?" Todd asked.

"Unfortunately not," Woolsey answered.

"And I've gone through all of these," Beckett said, "I haven't found anything pertaining to her transporting traces of her work anywhere except within Atlantis. Not that she would have left any data on that if she really is up to something."

"Ritha was present during most of the time we spent developing the retrovirus," Todd said. "She did not ask many questions. Those that she did, were specifically about biotechnology. I saw no reason to refuse her the information. She also observed the feedings when Dr. Keller was a test subject. Or should I say, the only test subject. We could not use Dr. Beckett of course." Todd smirked a little. "Ritha had no intention of being fed upon, so I believed; for all her interest, she never offered. Of course, that may have been due to Keller's refusal to allow any member of her staff to undergo such a painful process. But Ritha was never absent. She showed no fear. I do not believe she was amused; her knowledge of the feeding organ anatomy is quite advanced."

Sheppard grimaced. "Yeah, well…before she left for her last mission, Ritha mentioned something about not returning unless she found what she was looking for."

"Bit of an eccentric," McKay said.

"A little mystical and kung-foo-y," Sheppard added, looking at Ronan.

"You will forgive me for being forward," Todd said, "but you might not know her as well as you thought you did before all of this."

"I suppose she just wanted to gather intel about the wraith," Woolsey said. "Habit of hers. I can't believe she would have a hand in foul play."

"I have no idea what she is up to. Not then, and not now."

"Well, that's good to hear," Sheppard said.

Todd was silent a moment as he fixed the group with a striking stare. "You aren't going to raise suspicions that I possibly know more than I am letting on?"

Sheppard squinted. "Give it up, Todd, it'll go easier for you."

"I am quite serious, I have nothing to add, I swear. Not this time."

Sheppard smirked drily.

"Perhaps Ritha was merely in the wrong place…at the wrong time," Todd went on. "Your caution is strong, but I also sense you are reluctant to accept the possibility that one of your own people may be on the brink of compromising everything we have worked for. I myself have been betrayed before, and…"

"We know the story," Sheppard interrupted. "The point is, a great way to continue our search is to involve a wraith who is willing to investigate some unknown bio-whatsit that may have everything to do with the disappearance and more."

"And you'd like to think I'd take you up on the offer," Todd said smoothly.

"Well, what have you got to lose? Sorry there's no welcome party, by the way."

"Is Ritha in contact with any wraith or with any hybrids? With her knowledge and the new alliances, she might have some, if not many, connections," Todd said.

"We do not know if that is the case," Teyla answered.

"I have people looking into it now," Woolsey added. "We would know if she had."

"Unless she broke a great deal of protocol," Todd said ominously.

"Knowing Ritha, she might very well be up to things we have no idea about." Sheppard crossed his arms on the table.

"Or…she may be entirely innocent," Todd said. "You see the predicament."

"Strange you should say that," Sheppard said. "Attitude like that would have been nice after the Attero device was activated."

Todd gently sent the test tube rolling across the table toward McKay. "I see no reason to dig up old bones, Sheppard."

"We would like to believe Ritha is innocent for the sake of everyone involved," Woolsey said. "But I assure you we are not blinded by our hopes. Can you leave for the planet immediately?"

"I am anxious to see it."

"Great," McKay said. He pushed down on the table surface as he got to his feet. "Oh, my back…"

"Maybe you'd better stay," Sheppard muttered to him as everyone else stood.

"Nope, no no no, I'm going."

Todd waited until everyone was heading out of the room before following them, Woolsey close behind.