Note: Well, this website has been having considerable problems, though I think email notifications are starting to work again, and the website techs are getting the viewing counts on stories/chapters back up slowly. For the last couple of months, all stories have been showing zero views and all authors reported barely any reviews. Whether this was due to the email alerts not working or whether the review system wasn't working correctly is unclear. However, hopefully matters are now improving. If they do not, I am contemplating moving to another large well-known fanfic site, but holding off to give the site techs time to fix everything. Apparently private messaging has also not been working for some people, so apologies if I've not replied to anyone who messaged me.
Other than that, I hope everyone is well and, after a very busy month, wishing you all a very belated happy New Year.
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ACT 2 – TRUTH
Chapter 43 – Second Segment
It was a very pleasant evening on Pelydr, not that Oneakka recalled ever experiencing an unpleasant time here at the Retreat. Out beyond his favourite sitting spot, the beautiful view stretched out below, the evening's lowering sunlight shimmering over the lake nestled in the deepest centre of the valley and casting a warm golden glow across the closest angles of the massive outlining mountains.
It was an unendingly fascinating landscape as, despite having sat in this spot every year for almost two decades, he never once tired of the view.
Though, admittedly, this evening he was spending far less time watching it than usual.
Looking away from the view, he returned his attention to his dinner companion, and watched as Raven finished off the last of her second helping of the spiced stuffed peppers and fried green sproutlings he'd made them for Late Meal. That she clearly enjoyed his cooking, to the point of wanting more, had triggered a profound primitive sense of satisfaction in him that he felt almost embarrassed about. He'd cooked on plenty of missions, and for friends off mission, but he'd never considered it a skill before, and certainly not one that could make his chest feel twice the size with pride. Elite were taught pride was not a virtue, and yet, providing food for her that so obviously pleased her…well, it only confirmed to him exactly how many hormones were swimming through his veins right now.
And how surprisingly successful his plan was proving in his intention to prove his worth to her beyond simply being an Elite Warrior.
"You're sure there's no more left?" Raven asked into their companionable silence as she scraped her fork along her plate to capture the last of her meal.
"Not unless you don't want any Midday Meal tomorrow," he replied, though if she wanted to eat the leftovers he'd made sure to leave aside for her for tomorrow, he was hardly going to stop her.
In fact, given this newfound need to please her, he had to wonder exactly how far his willingness to say 'yes' to her might go.
"And you definitely won't be back here tomorrow until well past Midday Meal?" She checked, gathering the necessary strategic data to make her decision on the food.
Amused, he smiled at her. "No, but you could make your own meal," he pointed out as he reached down to pick up his mug of moon petal tea. "There's plenty in stores."
"Mmmm," she considered out loud as she scraped her plate one last time, extracting another micro-layer of the meal's sauce from the surface of her plate.
Admittedly, she was probably still extra hungry from having missed meals during her long hike to rescue on Saoka's planet yesterday, but there was still a big difference between being hungry from necessity and actually enjoying what you were given to eat. He'd had literally thousands of basic bland meals during countless missions to know the difference.
"Fine, I'll leave the leftovers for tomorrow," she decided with a reluctant tone, but there was a smile on her lips as she lifted the fork to her mouth.
He looked away before she licked the fork this time.
"Wise choice," he said simply as he risked glancing back round at her. The fork was back on the plate and she was leaning forward, setting it down on the grass beside his own discarded plate. "You remember how to reheat it tomorrow?" He checked.
"Yes, Oneakka," she sat back and gave him one of her bored impatient looks. "You showed me the oven and the controls twice."
"I showed you once," he corrected her. "The second time was a test. That you mostly failed," he baited her.
She dropped open her mouth and gave him a good glare. "Failed?! How exactly did I fail your test?" She demanded as she settled her left elbow on the end armrest of the long cushioned sofa. The sofa was a good five metres long, but the two times they'd sat here, she had picked the end point of the sofa both times. It was therefore clearly a strategic decision for her, but he wasn't sure if that was because it was deemed safer for some reason, or whether it was because it was the only spot that had an armrest. She was far more alert and awake than she had been yesterday after what she'd been through on Saoka's station, but he could see how much weight she was now resting on the armrest as she settled comfortably into the deep sofa cushions.
He lifted his gaze from her elbow on the armrest to meet her gaze again, to find her still glaring at him. She'd not sat directly backwards in the sofa, instead sitting turned slightly into the corner provided by the armrest at the end of the sofa. So maybe that was part of the reason for her choice. It certainly made it easier for her to sit slightly angled towards him sat beside her.
Well, not right beside her. He'd chosen to sit at the same distance as there usually was between their chairs when they ate in the Facility's Canteen; a polite distance, but still sat together. Besides, sitting further away along the long sofa would have seemed rude.
He never normally worried about such social niceties, but it was pretty clear now that nothing was 'usual' for him when Raven was involved.
No, now he was carefully judging sitting distances, watching his choice of words, and he'd even exactly measured out all the ingredients to the spiced peppers recipe. Normally, he just threw in a vague amount of each spice, salt, and grains into the mix and didn't overly care beyond that. Not tonight though, no, instead he'd set about very carefully preparing their Late Meal, taking far longer than normal too.
Not that she knew that, because at the time she'd gone to unpack and then wash her hair, as apparently it had still smelt of the Healing Bay's decontamination shower.
He'd been struggling not to stare at her long, shiny clean hair since she'd joined him here for Late Meal. Her hair was always the deepest raven-wing black, but with it left loose around her shoulders this evening, it shimmered in a pure dark waterfall over her closest shoulder, strands catching against her arm and breast as she moved.
He'd seen her with her hair down several times, but it was a rarity, which made it feel more significant.
It was probably just because she hadn't been able to entirely dry it's long length under the hot-air dryer in the Retreat's bathroom hut, so had left it loose to dry in the warm evening air.
It didn't mean anything more than that.
Other than maybe that she was truly feeling relaxed here at the Retreat. Her body language was certainly very relaxed, even with the glare she was still giving him.
What had they been talking about? The kitchen test.
"You hesitated on which controls were which on the oven," he recalled.
"I was thinking about the answer, not hesitating," she argued, but he could see the sparkle in her eyes that confirmed she knew this was banter. Not an actual argument.
In fact, they hadn't come close to exchanging even a vaguely cross word all day.
"You were clearly trying to read the labels to work out which was the temperature dial," he pointed out with a smile.
"You'd only shown me once and I didn't get a chance to look at the dials that closely during your whirlwind training of all the kitchen facilities."
"Not my fault if you couldn't keep up," he quickly countered.
"If you're the teacher and all those you're teaching fail, then it is your fault."
"Ah, you agree you failed the test," he leapt on that quickly. "Good, glad you can finally admit it."
"I'd have gotten it right if you'd given me more than a millisecond to look at the dials," she argued.
"In battle, sometimes all you have is a millisecond."
"To heat up your food?" She asked with clear pleasure at purposefully misunderstanding him. "What exactly do you do when invading Hive Ships? Stop to heat up some noodles?"
He couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"Hold up, Mr evil killer Wraith," she declared as she leaned forward, holding up a hand to act out the imagined scene. "I've just got to get the stuffed peppers in the oven before you try to feed on me."
Grinning, he watched as she lowered her hand, clearly pleased with her point.
"I just pointed out the correct dial to be helpful," he tried a different tactic, since she as fast winning this round.
"Helpful?" She scoffed loudly. "You? Please!"
That almost struck a little too well.
"My whole life is dedicated to being helpful," he pointed out. "That's what Elite do. We help the galaxy by killing Wraith."
"Or those not heating up food quickly enough."
Her mind was definitely working far faster tonight compared to her exhaustedly sleepiness yesterday, but she appeared to be leaning even more of her weight on the armrest. He knew from too much experience that it took far more than one night's sleep to get over a significant battlefield event.
Especially considering the inevitable nightmares.
He had busied himself taking a sip of his tea as he considered how to reply to her comment, her dark eyes on him, her eyebrows lifted, waiting to hear his come back, and see if she'd won the round.
"Exactly," he agreed simply and smiled at her.
One raven-dark eyebrow rose even higher up her forehead, before she shook her head and looked away as if she was bored of him.
There seemed to be a slight flush to her cheek as she turned her profile to him, but she was probably just warm because of the spices in the stuffed peppers, or maybe because of the nice warm air this evening.
Seemed like he'd maybe won that banter round after all, so-
"Well, I'm glad the Elite trained you so well," she quickly interrupted that conclusion as she looked back round at him with a smile that was instantly suspect, especially combined with the compliment. "Not just how to fight Wraith," she continued, "and how to use any weapon made, but also how to read labels at truly elite speeds," she teased.
"Well, if we left it to you to read labels, the food would never get heated up," he quickly retaliated.
"I'd have read the label fine if you've given me more than a millisecond to read it!" She repeated her former argument, clearly a sign she was running out of ammunition.
"Let's just hope you can read the labels tomorrow when I'm not here to help you," he grinned as he goaded her.
She deployed an overly dramatic sigh and eye roll, before looking away with her chin up high in her bizarrely Athosian way.
He had now clearly won that round.
"So," She stated with a clear 'new discussion' tone, "tomorrow, while I'm expertly heating up my Midday Meal, where are you going?" She looked back round. "Visiting friends of your parents?" She recalled from this morning.
Her haughty banter had disappeared at the end there, replaced by the same careful tone people used around him when mentioning anything to do with his people and his family. Even Raven, one always willing to wade into any subject, was looking at him now with a faintly cautious tightness around her eyes, her gaze assessing him closely.
"Yes," he confirmed, making sure to hold her assessing eye contact. "Pauldron and Mareta. They live that way," he looked away and pointed out to the left side of the valley below. Behind the ridge of the valley, there's a plateau next to another small lake and they live a short walk up from there, in the foothills of Red Ground Mountain."
"You going to take a Transport there?"
"No, I walk it," He shook his head as he dropped his gaze to the landscape running alongside the valley lake below, and stretched out an arm, indicating the path he took each year. "I hike down from here, along the lake's edge up to that bend with the large boulders, then, to the left, there's a pass out of the valley that you can't see from up here."
"How long does it take you to get there?"
"A few hours," he looked back to her.
"You haven't walked that kind of distance since before your injury, so it may take you longer tomorrow."
He frowned at her, surprised at the strangely careful turn of phase and tone she'd used.
"What?" She frowned at him frowning at her. "It's a valid point. I'm just politely reminding you of your limits right now."
"I'm not shocked at the point, it was the politeness."
"I can be polite!" She insisted.
"When exactly?" He pressed.
"To other people."
"Just not to me, you mean?" He checked with a smile.
"Exactly."
"Except just now, when you were polite about my being able to walk three hours."
"And three hours back, so that's six hours total walking."
"With a couple of hours rest in the middle," he pointed out.
"I said total," she clarified quickly, barely a split second between his verbal point and her return. "Pay more attention," she stated haughtily and looked back to the view, chin up high again and a victorious smile on her lips.
There was a definite flush to her cheek, he was sure if it.
"I see the politeness has worn off then," he noted to her profile.
"It was a passing aberration, I assure you."
Because she'd let her guard down, maybe?
"Probably just brought on by the good food," She added, gesturing down towards their empty plates.
He was pretty sure she hadn't meant that to be such a clear compliment, but it was, so he'd won that round too.
"So these friends of your parents," she restarted her earlier line of questioning, "they're Pelydrian or do they just live here?"
"They'd both Pelydrian," Oneakka replied as he settled further back against his own section of the sofa cushions. "Pauldron was a Trader, but in typical Pelydrian fashion he traded in learning customs and traditions. I suppose he'd be better described as an anthropologist. He first visited Father to learn about Ugun metal working and metal spirits. Mareta, his wife, is a Healer and used to travel with him to share discussions with other planet healers and my mother was a Healer. Somewhere it went from trading knowledge to the four of them becoming friends. I remember there being Pelydrians visiting the forge when I was young, remembered one female used to sit and laugh with Mother, but I don't remember them properly from back then."
"But they reached out to you when Ugun…?" She guessed, that cautiously careful look and tone back again.
"Yes," he answered, glancing away to the view. The sunlight was definitely deepening in hue across the landscape, the first touch of oranges mixing in with yellow now. "Pauldron and Mareta remembered me and had a lot of Ugun things they wanted to share with me, objects and knowledge. We've stayed in contact ever since. I visit them every year I'm here and sometimes meet up with them if we're on the same planet. They're long retired, but they regularly travel to visit other off-world friends."
"So they're of a mature age, like Jin?" She asked.
He smiled round at her. "No one's like Jin," he joked and Raven grinned back. "Pelydrians age differently to us, and, no, I don't know how old Pauldron and Mareta are, before you ask. Pelydrians rarely ever tell you their true age."
"But isn't this supposed to be a planet of honesty and no crime?" She asked.
"I don't think keeping your age private is considered a crime, Raven," he chuckled.
"Depends who's asking," she noted with her Security Lead tone.
She'd settled further back into the corner of the sofa, more of her weight now snuggled into the cushions. She definitely looked relaxed, which was good. He'd known she would like it here.
"Did you say they live on Red Ground Mountain?" She asked.
He nodded.
"Is that because the soil is actually red on that mountain?" She asked with a bemused look.
"It does have a red dusty tone on the lower hillside, yes."
"Creative," she smiled looking out over the valley. "Do all the mountains here have names?"
"This one we're on," he pointed up behind him, "is the Lunar Mountain, because at one point of the year, all the moons seemingly line up above it, all in line with the valley below."
She glanced up over her right shoulder, over the back of the sofa, to the towering distant top of the mountain above the Retreat.
"Then, that one over there," he pointed off to the closest mountain on the right side of the valley view below. He glanced back to her, checking she was looking where he was pointing, "is Snow-Capped Eagle Ridge."
"I thought I saw some large birds circling it earlier."
"The next one along is Snow's High Reach."
"So, they're pretty literal when they name things here," Raven stated as she shifted even further into the sofa's cushion, turning more towards him as a result.
"No, not everything," he smiled. "The lake in the middle of the valley below," he pointed to the beautiful wandering lake snaking along the valley, "it's called Time's Gaze."
She frowned. "Time's Gaze? As in it reflects the sky and stars so well?" She guessed.
"No, it's said that the lake can become so perfectly still that, if you look down into it at your reflection, that you'll see your past and your future."
She gave him an amused frown. "Really? You're not pranking me?"
"No, that's what they say."
"Normally," she lifted a dark eyebrow as she looked down at the lake, "I'd dismiss a mythical, fantastic tale like that, but…given we're on Pelydr…" She looked back to him.
"True, but I've hiked all around that lake over the years and I've never seen through time."
She laughed lightly. "You sound grateful."
"Not sure I want to see my future, and I've seen more than enough of the past."
She nodded, then blinked a slightly heavy blink as she looked back out towards the lake.
"Tomorrow, you could check out the view on the left side of this plateaux," he indicated off to the left end of the Retreat behind her. "There's a path you can just about see," though it was definitely starting to get dark now, "it goes up a short worn path up to a lookout point where you can see the next valley on that side of the mountain."
"Sounds a good plan for tomorrow," she nodded. "Sleep in, expertly reheat my Midday Meal, and then take in the views."
"I was planning to cook us some pancakes for First Meal, so there's that too," he added.
"I didn't know I was going to get my own personal chef on this holiday," she smiled.
"You promised to prepare us some cloud root another day," he reminded her.
"True," she nodded, the movement a little slow and exaggerated, just like last night. She was definitely getting tired, yesterday's exhaustion rearing its head again. Though he'd had a few impromptu naps on this sofa before; the cushions a little too comfortable sometimes.
"Does it get annoying?" She asked.
He frowned, not sure if he'd missed something. "Cooking?"
"No, being good at everything you do?" She asked. She'd used a slightly pointed, annoyed tone, but it had been a serious compliment.
Her guard was clearly down this evening, like her richly dark hair.
"I'm not good at everything; I'm just well-trained and experienced at certain things," he replied, despite the blossoming of pleasure in his chest at her flattering opinion of his skills.
"What aren't you good at then?" She demanded.
"Currently, passing medical reviews and flexibility."
"Please, you'll get that back and pass your next review; you just took it too early, you know that."
He tried not to smile at the unusually soft, kind tone she'd used, which he suspected was due to the sleepiness clearly setting in. Still, it was nice.
"Honestly," she pressed, "tell me the top thing you're bad at."
Though tempted to make a joke or come up with something that was a superficial kind of weakness, he actually made himself consider her question. "Being able to move on from grief," he voiced the obvious honest answer.
He'd wanted to look away from her as he'd said it, but he forced himself to maintain eye contact. He saw her lower her eyes though as she nodded faintly.
Her dark eyes rose to his again. "I'm not sure anyone is supposed to get over what you went through, Oneakka," she said with that soft tone again.
He couldn't stop himself from looking away from her this time, lowering his eyes to his tea and taking a sip.
It wasn't like other people's understanding and sympathy was new, and sometimes it felt like other people had their own form of profound grief for his people that was very separate from his own. Jin, who had been a very close friend of Father, had actually spent far more accumulated time with Father than Oneakka had, and still, to this day, Jin's eyes regularly filled with tears when talking about Father.
In truth, there were a significant number of people alive who had known Oneakka's own people for far longer and deeper than he had. All his memories of his family and his people had been through the eyes of a child, and there was a great deal about Ugun culture that he'd had to patch together from Ugun literature he'd collected or from talking with those who had regularly visited his homeworld. Despite holding the position of being the last of his people, there were aspects of his people's lives and ways that he would never know. Though, there were frequently times when people would remark how very 'Ugun' he could be, which was some rather undefinable quality, but happened enough that he knew it had to hold some truth. He just wished he could see it in himself some days.
He took another drink of tea and set the mug down by the plates. "So, what are you bad at?" He asked to get the conversation moving again.
"Too many things," Raven replied with a half-smile.
"That's not an answer," he pointed out as he shifted on the cushions to face her a little more, his neck starting to ache from having to look sideways at her along the sofa.
She gave another smile as she shifted, wriggling her feet out of her sandals on the grass, and he watched as she drew up her bare feet, folding her legs up onto the deep cushion beside her, really now nestling into the comfort of the sofa. He realised he'd never seen her in such a comfortable position before. Normally they were sat in the Canteen, and even when she had sat beside his sickbed during his recovery, she'd been sat upright in a chair. And last night, as he'd sat guard as she'd slept, he hadn't been able to see much detail of her sleeping, her covers pulled up practically over her head.
"What are the top things you're bad at?" He pushed.
She snuggled a little further into the cushions, tucking her curled legs a little further up against her with an enviable amount of flexibility.
He abruptly felt the urge to go get her a blanket, which was ridiculous because it was warm and Raven was the last person who was going to get cold.
"Umm," she considered, "I would say the top things I'm bad at are picking Turn-Style brand tumbling locks, letting other people handle security, running at any decent speed, walking handstands, liking those disgusting berry biscuits Massa loves, taking time off to relax, and accepting that there are things I can't do."
He was rather impressed and fascinated with the list. "Walking handstands?" He picked out first.
She nodded. "I've gotten much better at a handstand now, but I can't move; well, not intentionally."
"Just when you're about to fall over?" He smiled, remembering his own attempts at learning them when he had been younger.
"Yep, but I don't think that counts."
"I can teach you how to do walking handstands," he offered.
"Of course you'd be able to do them," she rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, making it clear she was teasing him.
"I can do one-handed handstands and handstand press-ups too," he found himself abruptly boasting. "Well, used to, I'll have to build up to them again with my recovery."
"Press-ups in handstand position?" She frowned.
"You lower yourself so you touch your head or forehead to the floor or a block on the floor."
"Yeah, maybe I'll just focus on the walking handstands for now," she winced.
"You can do backflips and cartwheels," he pointed out. "You'll be able to do the walking handstands and the press-ups."
"Maybe," she conceded with a long tired blink, as if her eyes were feeling dry.
"And in regard to the running fast," he added, "I've seen you hit a good speed."
She frowned at him, clearly unsure to when he was referring. "On the Glisi world?"
"No, my back was to you and the others when you were running. I meant on Belsa," he smiled. "When we ran into each other and I chased you down through that town."
"'Chased me down' is not accurate," she objected.
"You ran and I caught up with you; which part is inaccurate?" He challenged with a smile.
"That was an urban environment, and if those idiot males there hadn't gotten in my way, you would only have found my boot-prints," she stated with a smug smile.
"I was tracking you well enough from the rooftops."
"Rubbish," she countered. "You only found me because they held me up and I had to fight them. Then," she tilted her head, "yes, I'm pretty sure we both remember what happened after that…what was it?"
He looked away, trying to control a smile.
"Yes, that was it: I shoved dirt in your eyes and got away without a scratch," she stated proudly. "I defeated and escaped an Elite Warrior."
He looked back at her. "'Defeated' isn't the right word."
"No? Did you capture me?"
"I did a day later," he pointed out.
"Only because stupid Robiah walked me into your trap."
"Still a win," he argued.
"And then what happened at the end of that whole 'adventure'? I saved you from a Wraith Queen," she added, seemingly needing to do some boasting of her own now.
"I remember," he had to concede that point.
"Which is surprising considering how drugged up you were at the time."
He shuddered to remember that horrific event, Kari having been fed on, lying in the snow near his feet, his veins shot through with that Mind Lineage Wraith Queen's enhanced Quantum drug, and the evil creature trying to tear information from his mind.
"I remember it all too well. And I'm still grateful for you saving me," he told her.
She pulled a surprised, but pleased expression. It wasn't like it was the first time that he'd thanked her, but she seemed surprised every time for some reason.
"But I've saved you too," he felt he had to add for his own reasons.
"True," she conceded, "but we'd agreed before not to keep count."
He nodded.
"Because I'd clearly win on that count," she added in a lower voice, but loud enough for him to hear her.
He opened his mouth to protest.
"I'm joking," she added quickly. "Just joking."
He shut his mouth, but narrowed his eyes at her.
She looked away innocently and coughed, which had sounded a lot like "winning".
He shook his head at her turned profile, watching her taking far too much interest in the landscape, a smile obvious on her lovely lips.
The impulse to declare his intentions abruptly stirred and, for a moment, he contemplated it…
She was clearly feeling relaxed here with him, playful even, which was more than he'd hoped for on their first day at the Retreat. But making his intentions clear now wasn't the plan he'd made. He'd wanted to make sure she had time to thoroughly decompress from what had happened on Saoka's station, and from their increasingly heated arguments in the recent days beforehand.
Being here alone together for the few days she'd agreed to stay, it wasn't to be hurried. The time was important for them to be away from everyone else, with no other distractions; just them, testing the waters of potential peace between them, and giving him time to prove his worth to her.
Her smile had drifted away from her lips as she watched the view, and he watched her lift a hand, stifling a yawn behind her fingers.
She had been through a lot over the last days and needed this time here to properly rest. She'd just admitted she wasn't good at taking time to relax, but here she was, with him, looking nicely relaxed. Though, possibly some of that was due to residual exhaustion from what she'd gone through.
No, he needed to keep to his plan. She needed these days to rest, and if he declared his intentions too soon, he could ruin things.
He'd keep to his strategy. Three days together, prove himself and also get to enjoy her company…before he potentially ruined their friendship if she wanted nothing to do with a relationship with him.
Nervousness stirred as he glanced away from her, towards the long lengthening shadows across the valley below. The sky had started to shift into deeper colours now as the sun descended faster, casting some areas of the valley below in darkness while others were alight with the beautiful shades of sunset. But it wouldn't matter how dark it became, as the snow-caps on the mountains always seemed to glow, providing a constant presence and perspective in the darkness.
Yes, this had always been his perfect place to relax and heal, and he was glad that Raven could enjoy it.
He looked back round to her. Her eyelids were looking heavy as she quietly watched the landscape.
She blinked long and sleepy, and then glanced round at him, sensing his attention.
He smiled at her and looked back out to the view. "It's the best entertainment, isn't it," he gestured towards the spectacle. "All weather, all day or night, it's beautiful."
He glanced back to see her smiling as she nodded.
"I can see why you come back here every year," she agreed as she lifted her gaze up to the colourful sky directly above them, the thin wisps of cloud now glowing in hues of deep red and purple.
In the fast lowering light, her black hair and eyebrows, and the deep brown of her eyes, seemed even more apparent. He wasn't sure he'd seen her in this low level of light before, and wondered why it made her seem even more beautiful. It was just the play of light and shadow.
Yet, like the landscape below, fascinating to watch.
She shifted and he broke his gaze away, realising he had been staring.
He heard another barely suppressed yawn and smiled back round to her.
She was blinking heavily for certain now. "I think I may have to call it a night soon," she reported with an almost embarrassed smile.
"Go sleep, Raven," he told her, sensing that she somehow needed the push to retreat to her bed.
"I should help you clean up in the kitchen," she said with the faint return of that sleepy lisp she'd had yesterday in the Healing Bay.
"There isn't that much, I'll do it," he insisted firmly and reached down to the grass, picking up their plates and his mug. "You can do tomorrow's," he suggested as he stood up in the deepening shadows, demonstrating that now was the time to move and for her to go sleep.
"Okay, if you're sure. I'll definitely do clean up duties tomorrow," she insisted as she pushed herself up off the sofa, though it noticeably took her a bit of effort.
He almost reached out to help her, but wasn't sure she was sleepy enough to willingly accept help, so he resisted, but stayed close enough to reach out to catch her if she lost her balance like yesterday.
"You didn't sell this holiday well enough really," she said as she got upright and looked down to the darkening grass as she slid her bare feet back onto her sandals. "On staff Elite Warrior providing meals and cleaning duties."
"You just said you're doing tomorrow's cleaning duties," he teased back as he held in place, watching her correct a slight wobble as she worked her feet into the sandals' straps.
"Still have an Elite Warrior washing plates for me," she smiled, her sandals finally secure.
He just nodded at the teasing, quite happy to do all cleaning duties for her while she was here…even wash her long black hair for her.
He frowned at that sudden random thought.
Why would he want to wash her hair for her?!
"I said I would help," she insisted, misinterpreting his frown.
"Good," he quickly recovered, shoving the strange hair thought out of mind.
"But, you're still making those pancakes tomorrow that you mentioned?" She checked.
"Yes, First Meal," he confirmed.
"What time?" She asked as she started to turn away from him.
"No need to keep time here, Raven," he reminded her.
"But you're leaving after First meal, aren't you, so…" she paused in moving away.
"If you're not awake by the time I leave, I'll leave the pancake batter in the chilled cabinet for you."
"Okay," she agreed with a sweet sleepy smile. "Thank you, Oneakka."
He grinned at her. "The politeness is back, then."
"Don't worry, I'm sure it won't last," she stated as she started around the far end of the sofa to head up the lawn towards the cabins. She faintly wobbled as she did though, and he frowned worriedly at her.
"You sure you're okay getting to your cabin?" He checked as he moved forward a few paces to stand at the end of the sofa, plates and mug still in hand.
"Yes, Oneakka," she insisted over her shoulder as she started up the sloping grass. "I think I can walk up a slight slope, thank you."
"Okay," he agreed, but wasn't entirely convinced as he watched her heading up the lawn. It was fast getting dark now, though there was just enough light left to see the way up towards the cabins at the back of the Retreat space. "Just watch your ankle, the ground is a bit uneven in places," he warned her.
"Yes, yes," she waved vaguely back towards him as she continued up the slope, not entirely in the straightest line, but she seemed okay. "Night, Oneakka."
Her tone had a finality to it that said she knew he was still watching her.
"Good night, Raven," he called back, but he didn't move towards the kitchen just yet. He stayed in place, keeping his eyes on her. She was definitely still favouring her good ankle, but she was making decent speed and didn't seem to be wobbling anymore.
As she progressed, her outline became less distinct as she passed through the long deeper shadows cast by the surrounding trees, and then the angle of the slope took her from his view entirely. Moving forward, he paced up the start of the slope enough to bring the dark tops of the cabins in view. After a few long beats, he saw the warm light of a Pelydrian lamp glow to life within the rectangular outline of her cabin's open doorway. Good.
Hopefully she'd sleep deeply tonight, like last night, free from nightmares of Saoka's planet.
He turned away, heading back along the front of the sofa towards the kitchen to clean up their meal.
Perhaps for tomorrow's Late Meal he'd cook them a sweeten pea stew; introduce her to some Ugun food.
00000
"Intra-Subspace Network'?" John repeated back the term Jackson had used, translated from the single line of Ancient text displayed on the big screen behind him and Rodney.
The strangely simple diagram below the Ancient term was no more enlightening; a flattish circle with a big arrow passing through it. Given the complexity of Janus' database so far, the diagram could have been drawn by an Ancient kid.
"Yes," Jackson replied, "I really do think that's the best translation," he added, as if that was issue here.
John frowned at the screen and Janus' diagram again and wished he'd made a strong coffee on the way up here. Instead, he was clutching a warm mug of Teyla's Athosian tea, made quickly in her quarters after the late night call to this urgent meeting. He'd been awake, despite the late hour, having spent far too many hours sat in Teyla's side of their adjoining quarters by her tea making table instead of sleeping.
It was Janus' fault. Since Teyla had gone off on her Skerti hunting mission he'd gotten into the little habitual ritual of going into her quarters and making a mug of her Athosian tea before he went to bed. He'd usually then sit for a bit on her rug and stare out at the stars, wondering what she was doing and if she was okay.
Not that he didn't actually think about those things during the day, but he did try to limit his daydreaming or worrying over her to off-duty time; then he was free to let his mind wander and really get into freaking out that she was okay.
But, after the last batch of Skerti intel from Janus' database, John hadn't been able to stop thinking about how the Ancient had described the Skerti Warriors: "Filled with bloodlust and almost mad with violent aggression".
Violently mad monsters that even the Ancients hadn't been able to handle. Sure, the Ancients didn't have the best track record of dealing with anything that came from that crappy Iratus Bug planet, but at least with the Wraith, it had been shear numbers that had forced the Ancients to retreat to Atlantis. The Skerti though…clearly they had been an entirely different kind of handful. To the point where the only option the Ancients had had been to lock them away somewhere…
But now they were back, after thousands of years somewhere, no doubt really working hard on holding a violent grudge. Probably having refined it into even more of a violent madness.
And Teyla was out there, somewhere, trying to find them!
With only a handful of Alliance ships as back up.
Technology clearly hadn't helped the Ancients win against the Skerti, so what real threat were the Alliance going to be compared to drones and Ancients shields that hadn't helped?!
Which had been the constant worried fears that had circled his head for hours as he'd sat in Teyla's quarters, not even bothering to get changed for bed. He'd been too awake, too agitated. Then the call to this meeting had come in, which had actually been a relief to have something else to focus on and that, maybe, Janus was going to have some better news in this latest batch of Skerti intel.
However, so far, all Rodney and Jackson had shared with the crowded room was the apparently correct translated term.
"And that means what, exactly?" General O'Neill asked Jackson from the other end of the conference table.
"It's this," Jackson pointed towards the simple diagram. "This is how the Ancients and Skerti were able to travel vast distances in an instant, enabling them to so successfully ambush the Wraith."
"The Skerti Drive?" The Elite's top science brain, Silvar, asked from the other side of the table to John.
John was oddly a little pleased to see that even the urgently recalled Alliance faces were looking as tired as he felt right now.
"Exactly," Jackson pointed a pen towards the Alliance scientist.
"No!" Rodney disagreed firmly, the sharp word sounding oddly loud to John's tired ears.
"No," Rodney repeated as he stepped forward, putting himself in front of both the big screen and Jackson. "That's like calling the key you start the engine with a car itself."
John frowned at that rather convoluted statement.
Fortunately, John saw plenty of others around the room frown with equal incomprehension, their own tired minds not keeping up with Rodney; not that that wasn't a pretty common occurrence most of the time. Rodney was nearly always miles ahead of everyone else when it came to anything sciencey, but way behind everyone else when it came to anything else.
"What?" John asked him on behalf of the rest of the room.
Rodney let out a tired frustrated noise as he reached down to the laptop set on his and Jackson's end of the conference table, and he jabbed at the keyboard until the line diagram on the big tv screen was replaced with the familiar photo of the Skerti Drive.
"This," Rodney gestured wildly round towards the photo behind him, almost smacking Jackson in the face as he did. Despite looking pretty exhausted, Jackson moved with surprising speed, ducking back and away, managing to get out of the way in time. There was a murmur of amusement around the room, but Rodney forged on, shoving past Jackson to reach the big screen.
"This," Rodney repeated as he used both hands to point emphatically at the Skerti Drive in the photo, "isn't Skerti tech," he stated almost angrily. "It never was."
"But-" Someone started to ask.
"Yes," Rodney interrupted whoever it had been before they could even get their sentence started, "it incorporates Skerti organic tech, but that was just to make it compatible with their adapted ships and energy sources. This," Rodney again pointed dramatically at the photo, "is all Ancient tech. Through and through, and was conceived, developed, and everything but the organic tech was built right here, in Atlantis."
A heavy pause of silence filled the room.
"Okay," O'Neill was the one to answer, not appearing in any way affected by the very early hour. "And that's important, whyyyy?"
Rodney screwed up his face into a confused frown at the General down the length of the table. "What do you mean why?" Rodney asked, as if he'd been asked the most stupid question in the world…well, in the galaxy….galaxies.
John blinked sleepily down at the mug in his hands and lifted it to his lips to quickly drink down a good slug of Athosian tea. It didn't have the full-powered kick of coffee, but it was still helping him focus despite the tiredness.
"Because it's all Ancient tech," Rodney continued. "It's an entirely new way to use subspace and wormhole technology-"
"Janus doesn't say it utilises wormhole technology," Carter abruptly interrupted.
Rodney turned his pale-faced frown on the Colonel instead now. "Of course it's using-"
"If it's quantum entanglement of some kind-" Radek piped in from somewhere in the sea of pale tired faces around the room.
"Please," Rodney scoffed. "There's no way-"
"Let's just move on," Carter interrupted firmly, "to how the network works."
John kept his reaction controlled as he sipped some more tea; everyone's nerves were seeming a little stretched. After days of constant work in Janus' Lab, and Rodney, Jackson and Carter probably not having slept for over a day ago, the three of them were looking the most exhausted out of everyone in here.
"Fine," Rodney muttered as he turned back to the photo. "This," he started up his dramatic pointing again, "is just a key to access the Ancients' 'Intra-Subspace Network'. It works similar to the Gate system where an activated Stargate dials the correct spatially-located address of the target Gate we want to reach. Once the Gates are connected, a stable wormhole is formed between the two Gates, allowing people and objects to pass through."
"Yes, yes, the worm eats through the apple," General O'Neill interrupted. "Even I know this part, McKay."
"With this new network," Rodney continued without a beat, "there are no Gates, instead there are what Janus describes as 'Activators'," Rodney supplied with air quotes, "concealed in set locations within subspace itself."
"Within subspace?" Silvar asked, leaning eagerly forward in his seat.
"Yes," Rodney replied. "Janus, of course, doesn't tell us how they did that or exactly how these Activators work, other than that any two Activators on this network can be activated together to open a 'doorway' – as Janus calls it – between them and allows…," he stepped forward to the laptop and jabbed at the keyboard so that the simple diagram from before reappeared on the screen, "…ships to pass through from one side to the other like passing through a…well, a doorway."
John glanced at the simplistic diagram, the oval and arrow passing through it now making obvious sense.
"The footage we have seen of the doorways being used," Silvar stated, "the most recent being during the incident near a trading space station, there was seemingly no obvious threshold between the two locations. It was like an open window through to what was occurring on the other side of the doorway in real time."
"Exactly," Rodney nodded. "There's no wormhole travel time like we see in the Gate system. It's somehow instantaneous travel between one Activator's location and the next. It's crazy."
"So any two doorways on this network can be connected up?" Silvar asked.
"Yes," Carter was the one to answer. "Janus doesn't go into anything close to enough detail, but essentially the Jump Drive acts rather like the DHD, the dialling device for the Stargates. Depending on where you want to go, a specific frequency is emitted by the Jump Drive at set coordinates which initialises the Activator hidden within subspace, and that unique frequency is the key that connects the local Activator to the target Activator and a 'doorway' is opened between the two."
"That would certainly explain the ability to so precisely manipulate the output frequency of the Skerti Jump Drive we have," Silvar considered. "And how the Skerti Queen was able to so easily alter it to emit radiation to damage the Wraith on the Rogue Hive that attacked our territory."
"Yes," Carter nodded. "The Ancients tried to closely control the technology, placing their own engineers on the Skerti ships to control the Jump Drives when in use. By choosing not to preset the doorway frequencies on the Jump Drives, they hoped to prevent the Skerti using the technology without their supervision."
"Well, that worked out well," John muttered sarcastically.
"Does the Ancestor Janus provide the frequencies and the coordinates for the Activators on the network?" Silvar asked.
"There's a map," Jackson answered that question, drawing all eyes to him, "but we don't have it yet," he added quickly.
"Let me guess," O'Neill asked. "It's locked away in that third and final batch of encrypted files and you haven't gotten into it yet."
"Actually no," Jackson replied quickly. "The map is included in with this latest set of information…but it's encrypted and we haven't gotten into it yet," he added with a slight wince.
There was a communal frustrated sigh at that news.
"Hang on," John held up a hand. "You're telling us that Janus password protected the map within this already password protected second batch of files, all within his secret hidden lab that no one knew about until he told us find it?"
Jackson pulled a face. "Yes."
"That does seem something of an overkill in terms of security," Silvar uttered.
"Yeah," John replied with feeling.
"He must have had a reason," Jackson argued weakly.
"Like how to make our lives as difficult as possible," Rodney blurted from where he had now sat down by his and Rodney's laptop, a big mug in his hand, which presumably held some strong coffee.
"So, we know these Jump Drives open up hidden doorways," O'Neill summarised, "we just don't know how they work or where these doorways are?"
"We do know the location of a few of the doorways within our territory," Silvar pointed out. "Those used by the Rogue Hive and then the one opened by the Seed Ship recently. And we now have confirmation that these doorways have fixed locations," he glanced at the surfer-dude-style Elite, Skan, next to him. "Which means we will need to permanently maintain a military presence at each location."
Skan nodded. "I have already informed the other Elite and the Military Council is being briefed."
Silvar turned back to Rodney and Jackson. "Does the Ancestor Janus tell us if it's possible to deactivate these subspace Activators, disable the doorways?"
"No," Rodney shook his head.
"He does imply," Jackson added, "that we can't access the Activators. Only the Jump Drives can trigger them and only on the set frequencies. Which does at least mean that they're unlikely to ever be accidentally triggered."
John pulled a face at that reach for some silver lining.
"So, for all we know, there could be thousands of these doorways out there?" O'Neill asked.
"We don't think that's likely," Jackson replied with a glance towards Rodney.
"Pray tell," O'Neill asked.
"Janus," Carter was the one to answer, "lists a series of warnings on using the doorways, one of which is that the network mustn't be used too frequently. Whether that's because of the way subspace is being manipulated by the Activators is somehow damaging, perhaps exotic particles being formed-"
"Or simply that the Activators' power sources need sufficient time to recharge," Rodney interrupted. He now had an elbow on the conference table, his hand propping up his jaw, and he was practically hugging his mug of coffee.
"Might I ask a question?" Imseti, the Elite's bio-tech expert and top Carson fan, piped up for the first time. "Given that the Skerti were able to begin creating their own technology, as Ancestor Janus explained in their genetic manipulation of their Slug Robots and the growth of the Seed Ships, is it possible that they could have created their own additional doorways?"
"No," Jackson replied. "Janus talks about the Skerti having managed to work out some of the frequencies on the network for themselves, but they didn't have the entire map. He doesn't say anything about them creating their own network. In fact, the way Janus refers to the Activators and their placement in subspace suggests that the network had been created well before they decided to start using it with the Skerti."
"That is strange, is it not?" Imseti frowned. "We know the Ancestors were of course using their own ships and the Portal system, the Stargate system. Were they not using this Intra-Subspace Network themselves as well?"
"It's not clear," Carter answered her. "We haven't found any mention at all of this network anywhere in Atlantis' database."
"They probably purged it all, like they did everything on the Skerti," Colonel Sumner put in, his first comment of the meeting.
"Or perhaps it is due to the list of warnings you mentioned that the Ancestor Janus provided?" Imseti turned to Carter.
"Perhaps," Carter nodded. "Most of the warnings are regarding restrictions when using the doorways. The doorway only holds at a certain width, and, once open, can only remain open for a short period of time compared to a Stargate. We know, in most circumstances, a Gate can only sustain a wormhole for thirty eight minutes. The Jump Drive doorway can only be held open for a maximum of eight minutes. The ship utilising the Jump Drive also has to remain close to the coordinates of the doorway to keep it open," Carter continued. "Janus details how the Ancients and the Skerti used one ship with a Jump Drive to hold its position at the doorway, allowing smaller ships to pass around it and through to the other side. He also warns not to get too close to the outer edge of the doorway while it's open as it causes damage, and he lists the necessary specifications for ship hulls to withstand the stresses of passing through the doorways."
"What kind of damage?" John asked.
"He doesn't say," Carter replied. "But our own ships all easily match the specifications," she looked to Skan, "and Honoured Elite Skan has confirmed the same for all Alliance ships."
"So, if we see a doorway open, we can use it ourselves," John considered. "If we're quick enough and there's enough space around the Jump Drive ship holding it open?"
Carter looked to the far end of the table again. "Rodney, why don't you tell them about the rest of the information Janus left us."
Rodney, who had been gulping down some more coffee, quickly swallowed and nodded hurriedly as he stood up again. He tapped on the laptop's keyboard, the big screen shifting quickly through images of Ancient text to finally stop on another line drawing, this one of an oval with a pointy mohawk.
"A Seed Ship?" Silvar identified it first.
"Yes," Jackson answered as Rodney had taken the opportunity for another gulp of coffee. "As Janus told us in the last batch of information, these were grown by the Skerti themselves, specifically designed to attack Wraith Hives using the razor upper hull, but also in delivering the germ-form of the Slug Robots to infest the Hive. However, now Janus tells us that the Seed Ships were also designed for several other purposes."
"By putting the Jump Drives in these smaller ships," Rodney, coffee now consumed, took up the briefing baton, "they allowed more space for ships to enter the doorway around them, allowing more ships to go through in total, but the Skerti also outfitted these Seed Ships with a ridiculous new type of engine."
He tapped on the laptop and another line drawing appeared, this one with the oval moving from one place to the next across the image. John remembered well enough from his time on the Sythus, when the first Seed Ship had been encountered, how the blasted thing had seemingly vanished to appear again right up under the Sythus' belly.
"These Seed Ships have a unique way of punching through subspace," Rodney continued. "If the Gates and these Jump point Activators are like locks and keys to be able to open a door, then the Seed Ships are just smashing right through the mail slot."
There was a few murmurs among the Elite scientists and John glanced round to see Carson whispering an explanation of a mail slot.
"They are equipped with something like an infantile-hyperdrive," Rodney continued over the whispering. "It can't create a stable hyperspace window, instead it thrust the ship wildly through subspace for mere milliseconds. It can't take the ship far at all, and the forces on the ship are ridiculous."
"I remember when the Sythus first met a Seed Ship," John glanced at Skan. "The ship just vanished from view and then reappeared right up under our hull."
"It appears to have been a very effective tactic against the Wraith," Carter supplied. "With no hyperspace window on sensors first to forewarn where the Seed Ship will appear, they are for all intents and purposes, vanishing and reappearing in an instant. However," Carter added pointedly, "Janus was able to provide a very interesting consequence of using this style of travel. Apparently the forces involved kill any living thing inside it."
"More like liquidise," Rodney supplied.
"So, the Seed Ships are unmanned?" Silvar asked.
"Not exactly," Carter replied.
"You all remember the Skerti' favourite pets?" Rodney asked, drawing all eyes back to him and a new image on the screen. John almost shuddered at the photo of the multi-armed Slug Robot. "It seems the Skerti mutated their beloved pets not just to incorporate an organometallic shell, but also to withstand the forces the Seed Ships are subjected to by this unstable, uncontrolled jumping."
"The Seed Ships are controlled by Slug Robots?" Silvar asked, clearly shocked at the idea.
"Most likely only one," Carter replied. "Deep inside the Seed Ship where it had the most protection. However, Janus confirmed that the Ancients were never actually able to capture one."
"From our research into the remains of the Slug Robots that attacked the Sythus," Imseti stated, "the creatures' brains are certainly not developed enough to undertake complex thinking to effectively control a spaceship."
"Like strapping a labrador into a formula one car," Rodney supplied.
"Janus believed," Jackson added, "that there was some form of basic onboard computer system and that the Skerti were able to control the ships via their psychic connection with their Slug Robots."
"You mean when that Seed Ship attacked the Sythus," John frowned, "that there was a Skerti nearby?"
"Probably, but not necessarily very close," Imseti answered instead of Jackson, "given the complex and powerful telepathic ability of the Skerti, it is possible they could send commands to the Slug Robot from a nearby ship or planet within the same solar system."
John wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.
"However the Skerti controlled their beloved pets to get them to go on suicide runs," Rodney cut in, "that the Slug Robots also create their own bioelectricity, would have supplemented the power requirements of running not just a Jump Drive, but also the crazy-ass hyperspace jumps."
"It might also explain the propensity for these Seed Ships to explode," Silvar considered.
"Exactly," Rodney nodded. "They're unstable and being controlled by a single-celled slug brain."
"Not single-celled, Dr McKay," Imseti felt the need to correct his exaggeration.
"Either way, the Seed Ships were a significant problem for the Ancients as well as for the Wraith," Jackson added.
"And now us," O'Neill replied. "Unstable ships manned by killer robots with no sense of self-preservation, equipped with the ability to just jump from here to there without warning, and have these Jump Drives onboard-"
"Only some of them had Jump Drives," Jackson interrupted it. "Janus tells us that the Skerti weren't able to replicate the Jump Drives, that they had to steal them from the Ancients. The Skerti were never able, like us, to replicate Ancient tech."
"Well they've certainly had enough time to work on the problem since, haven't they," Rodney pointed out.
"If they had access to unlimited numbers of Jump Drives," Jackson replied, "we'd probably know about it already."
John felt a faint shiver as his mind traitorously pictured that. If the Skerti had tons of the Drives and the ability to grow their own Seed Ships with home grown Slug Robots to control them, then surely they'd use the intra-whatnot network to spread uncontrollably…
"And we're pretty sure there can't be loads of these doorways everywhere, right?" John asked into the tense hush of the Conference Room.
Jackson looked at him and John could instantly tell the guy didn't know for sure. "Hopefully," Jackson supplied with an apologetic smile.
"Dr McKay," Carter stated into the silence. "Let's continue to the rest."
"Right," Rodney nodded as he reached for the laptop and the big screen starting rapidly scrolling through image after image of Ancient text and the occasional line drawing flew by. "The rest of this batch of information starts with Janus explaining the basics of how they used the network to their advantage against the Wraith, how the Skerti stole Jump Drives and put together some of the network map themselves, then how they started on their killing rampage across the galaxy…"
Various more line drawings of ships and ovals appeared and disappeared as Rodney dismissively tapped through them.
"He then goes on," Rodney continued, "about making sure there aren't certain phenomena near an activating doorway, warns about the movement of planets and asteroids over time in relation to the location of the doorways' jump points."
John's tired brain was starting to feel a bit dizzy watching the constantly shifting screen behind Rodney, so he dropped his focus back on his comforting mug of Teyla tea, lifting it up to drink the last of it.
"He then," Rodney rambled onwards, "goes on again about not using the network too often, but supplies absolutely no explanation as to the reason why, and then he supplies us with complete directions on how to build our very own Jump Drive."
John blinked into the sudden shocked silence, and snapped his attention round to Rodney's rather smug smile. On the big screen behind Rodney, there was now a complex schematic, full of a multitude of tiny details and arrows, dotted with tons of Ancient text.
"Wait, what!?" John asked, sure he must have heard that wrong.
"Detailed directions on how we can build our own Jump Drive," Rodney repeated with a tired smile as he gestured to the complex schematic.
"That's how to build one ourselves?" John pressed as he pointed at the screen with one hand and lowered Teyla's mug back to the table with the other.
"Yes," Rodney nodded, amused and clearly having left this bombshell announcement for the end of the briefing. "Down to many feet of cabling we need."
"From Janus?" John frowned. "Mr Ancient 'hide-all-my-secret-tech-from-everyone-even-my-fellow-Ancients' is giving us a play-by-play on how to build one of these Drives ourselves?"
"Yes," Rodney repeated, getting a little impatient now.
"But doesn't the Skerti Drive contain organic components?" Carson pointed out.
"It does," Imseti confirmed from beside Carson, "a lot", and John heard Silvar murmur his agreement.
"That'll be just so it was able to be incorporated in with Skerti tech back then," Rodney replied dismissively. "The Skerti powered theirs from their own powercells not ZPMs, so they would have needed to be compatible."
"Which is why we have struggled to control power into the recovered Skerti Drive we have," Silvar reported. "It was clearly designed to be powered by these organic powercells, which would naturally have a more variable output."
"We won't have that problem," Rodney stated proudly.
"We also believe," Carter added, "that we should be able to adapt a naquadah generator to power any Drive we might wish to build."
"Wish to build?" Rodney frowned at her at the other end of the table. "Why wouldn't we?"
"Why would we?" O'Neill asked.
"What?" Rodney frowned at the General with clear bewilderment.
"We've got working Gates that clearly were the preferred method of travel, even for the Ancients. What we need is something to stop the Skerti using this tech, some way to fight them, especially the Seed Ships."
"If we build a working prototype of the Drive then we can test it. There's no other way to find out how to disrupt the doorways otherwise," Rodney argued, still clearly unable to conceive of someone not wanting to build some advanced tech.
"You just said Janus warned there were dangers to using this network," O'Neill argued. "If it was so good, why weren't the Ancients using it instead of hyperdrives and the Gates?"
"We don't know that they weren't," Rodney returned quickly. "Besides, you can't compare them like that; they're completely different systems. It's like comparing us using the Intergalactic Gateway to Earth to Sheppard gating to Athos to pay a quick visit to his wife."
"Hey!" John objected, not impressed at what Rodney might be implying…or whether it had been an insult or not.
"The Elite already have an actual Skerti Drive, and we don't even know where these doorways are," O'Neill argued.
"We'll get through the map's encryption," Rodney dismissed the point with a wave of his hand. "Then we can use the network ourselves and, you know, take the battle to the Skerti. Get all military on them."
John had to a smile at that.
"If we can get a prototype working," Carter spoke up. "We can start running tests on it, and only use it if the need arises in the future."
"I agree," Skan agreed firmly. "This network is a weapon the Skerti have been using to their advantage against us. If the Ancestor Janus has left instructions on how to build one of these Drives from the foundation up, then we can properly study our enemy's weapon, how to defend against it and how to disable their ability to use it entirely."
"And building something from foundation," Silvar added, "is often enlightening anyway. We may well learn a great deal about the scientific principles behind how it works and, by comparing it to our Drive with the Skerti adaptations, should allow us to further understand Skerti organic technology. I am willing to assist as needed."
"Exactly, cooperation," Rodney pointed eagerly to Silvar.
Wow, John smiled, it was a rare day that Rodney was eager to bring someone else onto one of his projects. Of course, John suspected Rodney would agree to just about anything to be able to build his own Jump Drive.
All eyes turned to Colonel Carter sat at the far head of the table, Skan and General O'Neill flanking her. John watched her look round at O'Neill, the two holding eye contact for a moment, the silent pause clearly full of an unspoken conversation between the two old colleagues. John watched the General tilt his head with a look that seemed to be a response to a silent point Carter had made, and then he lifted his hands lightly and leaned his forehead forward, which seemed to be slightly towards Skan across from him, even though the General was looking at Carter.
"Just because we build it doesn't mean we will ever use it," she said out loud to O'Neill.
"A ' if you build it, the Skerti won't come' kind of a deal?" O'Neill joked and John saw Carter smile.
"We'll need to discuss the situation with the IOA," Woolsey piped up for the first time from O'Neill's side, and Carter nodded. John couldn't help but notice that, despite the very early hour, Woolsey had still turned up in a full suit and tie. Maybe he slept in them.
"Another point," Jackson uttered into the silent pause, all eyes turning back to him at the other end of the table, "is the fact that we've even seen this schematic," he pointed to the Jump Drive blueprint on the screen. "That Janus has given this to us is…groundbreaking really. And, even more so that The Others, the other ascended Ancients, haven't stopped him, says a great deal."
"You think this is like the Ori situation?" O'Neill asked him. "That the Ancients are helping by not stopping us? In their backseat driver kind of way."
"I do," Jackson nodded. "From the start it's been strange that Janus even revealed himself to Colonel Sheppard."
"I'm not sure that's the best description," John joked and there were chuckles around the room.
"That Janus all but walked us to his Lab and is now sharing this," Jackson continued as he gestured to the schematic again, "it's unprecedented and I think that alone means we should do it."
All eyes turned back to Colonel Carter.
She looked from O'Neill to Woolsey and then set her hands on the table. "I think it's time I made a call home. Rodney, get a team together to start building the Drive."
00000
TBC