A/N: I am sorry for another long wait. It has been a very difficult time in my life as I was dealing with a very unexpected, sudden death in the family. I am slowly trying to get back to my life now, though it will never be the same. I am trying to tap back into my old creativity well, but it's hard. Please forgive me if I don't manage to be as regular in my updates as I should be.

Chapter 31, part 1.

Alice took a deep breath. "Meet Iris."

"Hello," Iris said in a pleasant tone, her big blue eyes resting on the small crowd before her.

They were all the same people as before: O'Neill and Carter, Telford, SG-1, Sturgess, Alice and Rodriguez. And they were all gaping at Iris with various expressions, from skepticism to wonderment.

Iris was only slightly taller than Alice, had long blonde hair, blue eyes, slim body and long, nimble fingers. Her voice was smooth and melodic. And she was also an android.

"Looks nice, but will it work?" Telford asked doubtfully, rising to his feet to take a closer look. Iris smiled at him nicely as he walked around her.

"Yes, sir. As long as the plan to get her through works," Alice replied. "The code was checked by Doctor McKay and rechecked by Doctor Zelenka. There is no greater authority on nanite programming than them." Out of modesty, she didn't mention that they didn't find a single error in her entire code.

"State your primary purpose," Telford addressed the android.

"To assist the Destiny and its crew by effecting repairs, upgrades and modifications that will ensure their survival, the ability to continue their mission and or will enable their safe return to Earth," she replied in the same pleasant, flat tone.

"She's loaded with the ship's schematics and all the data we've been able to collect," Alice added. "She has all the code, instructions and calculations to implement Major Hailey's improved in-star dialing procedure. She's all ready to go."

"Are you sure it can't replicate?" O'Neill asked skeptically.

"Yes, sir. That protocol was not included in the programming. She is based on the Ancient Replicators, but the code is all ours, from the ground up. That means we might have missed something that will render her less useful, but we can guarantee no replication and no possibility of her going rogue on us. Her cognitive abilities are limited to what is strictly needed to accomplish her mission."

"Why the name Iris?" Vala inquired out of the blue.

"Iris was the messenger of the gods and ran errands for them in Greek mythology," Doctor Gregory replied before Alice could. "Quite an apt name."

Alice nodded and then addressed the android. "Iris, sit in that chair over there and go into standby mode."

"Affirmative." She turned, walked to the chair Alice had pointed to, sat down and closed her eyes, instantly becoming inhumanly motionless.

Telford went back to his seat, too, and finally Alice joined them at table as well.

"So is everything ready?" O'Neill prompted.

"We just got a coded message from Jonas, he confirmed it's a go on his side," Mitchell answered.

"The Langarans are still claiming they have no dealings with the Lucian Alliance, but they moved their Gate," Sturgess added. "They said it was moved to a more secure location, but I'll bet my yearly salary that it's in the Naquadria facility now. I can tell a cardboard wall when I see one."

"Are you saying they actually built a fake room around the Gate just so you don't realize it's in the facility?" Hailey shook her head in disbelief. "Damn."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, yes," the SG-9's leader confirmed.

"And what about the Alliance?" O'Neill looked at Alice.

"Now that Iris is all done and all the pieces are in place, I can finalize the calculations on the next trip, and the next step is up to Tallis. But I don't think he'll make us wait for long. He's got a strike team all ready," Alice replied.

"Does he want you to go with them?" Carter questioned.

"No, ma'am. He's not going himself, either. I think he's already realized that I'm not the kind of resource he wants to give away. Remember, it isn't really his vision, he just wants to get closer to Varrel. He's had a string of failures recently that put some distance between him and Varrel, cost him his position. He's desperate to regain that. Destiny is Varrel's pet project, but Tallis has no intention of sending his best people—or himself—to the other side of the galaxy for that. He just wants a win."

"So our success will be another failure for him," Hailey noted. "Won't that set him back—and you with him?"

"Somewhat, maybe. But if he spins it right, doing a successful dial-out without blowing the planet up this time can be regarded as a win in itself." Alice shrugged. "And since Varrel's obsessed with Destiny, I'm sure it won't hurt me when he learns who made that possible."

"Very clever," Telford praised.

"There's a lot riding on you," Carter told Alice. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Yes, ma'am." She nodded confidently. "Absolutely."

"Okay, then. Let's do it. You've got the green light," O'Neill ordered and Alice exhaled a little sigh of relief. She knew he was really not fond of anything nanite-related, especially human-form replicators, so getting a go ahead for the mission essentially hinged on his trust in her and McKay's work.

She waited until the others left and only O'Neill and Carter stayed behind.

"Is there something else, Major?" Her CO asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, ma'am." She looked around, but beside the two generals and the unmoving android sitting in a chair by the wall, they were alone. "I didn't want to mention it to the bigger group because it's a bit, well, horrifying. But you know there's another way."

Carter exchanged a look with O'Neill.

"Oh, do tell," he encouraged with a faint echo of sarcasm in his voice.

"We could just let the Alliance's strike team through, only without supplies," she said dryly. "According to the last communiqué we've had from Destiny, there should be no life support system. They would go through and in four to five minutes they'd be unconscious, and not long after that—gone. Suffocated. Nobody can find a way out of that in five minutes while they're gasping for air. And especially not Ra'ul."

O'Neill and Carter both bore almost the same exact frowned expression on their faces.

"That is horrifying," Carter admitted.

"What's the upside?" O'Neill asked, apparently less affected, despite the scowl.

"We could let them do the work," Alice explained, keeping her tone calm and measured. "We would have to ensure that in all the supply crates we include everything Iris will need plus some stuff to help our people in the first moments after they wake up. We would also have to ensure that any breathing masks or respirators are not included. Then I open the wormhole without any interruption from our side and they go through, carrying all the stuff in. As soon as they are on the other side, they start suffocating, maybe they radio back, maybe they don't, but the feat is done. Destiny is in no danger, Iris and all the supplies are there, my cover is intact and Tallis gets a pat on the back from Varrel for executing the plan—or gets downgraded for the plan being in vain. Either way, I get a good rep for safely opening the Gate. The only catch is that afterwards, we would have to make sure the Langarans do not allow the Alliance on their planet again—we can't pull it off twice, I don't think."

"But perhaps the Langarans, having seen that it can be done, would be more amenable to giving us access in the future, especially if you go to negotiate it," O'Neill added pensively.

"Jack, we'd be sending over fifty people to their deaths," Carter remarked quietly.

"We wouldn't. They want to do this, it's on them," he replied harshly.

"I couldn't negotiate with Langarans, not before my cover's blown or mission accomplished," Alice put in.

"Still, it's fifty people. I know they're technically our enemies, but—" Carter ignored Alice's interjection.

"Tell that to Fernandez's wife or Urie's mother," he parried.

"I'm just saying, I'm not comfortable with this."

"It's much less risk for our people," he noted. "It becomes a stealth operation to ensure that they bring over only what we allow them to bring, instead of a full-on assault."

"That's true, " she conceded. "But consider that the risk is still there in letting them through in the first place. We only think there's no more life support there. Think of the mayhem they could cause if they had a day aboard. They could remove our people from stasis and put themselves in…"

"How likely that is?"

"Not very likely," she admitted. "But we can't be one hundred percent sure."

"Nothing is ever a hundred percent." He shrugged.

"Ra'ul and his two henchmen are the only engineers they're taking with them," Alice added. "He's good but not that good. I doubt he'd be able to figure out how the stasis pods work that quickly—or any other Ancient system on the ship. He's not a specialist in Ancient technology, and I doubt he knows any of the language. Remember that the Goa'uld purposefully erased all the traces of the Ancients in the galaxy, as much as they could. There's a lot of tech floating around but nothing half as complex as Destiny."

For a moment, there was silence, and then Carter shook her head.

"I still don't like it."

O'Neill nodded. "I know. But it deserves some further consideration. I'll take it up with the President, and we'll probably gonna have to run it by the IOA, too."

"You know they're gonna be all for it. They hate the Alliance."

"Who doesn't?" He asked rhetorically and then stood up. "Thanks, Major. We'll consider this input."

"Yes, sir."

"Seriously, this guy is gonna get us all killed," Sheppard said with such vehement distaste as Alice has only ever heard him speak about the Wraith themselves before. "Can you believe it? And now I'm in trouble for this?"

"Oh, please, you're not, not really," Mitchell contradicted. "Nobody in their right mind would doubt your actions there."

"The fucking IOA does, always and forever." The Atlantis military leader threw himself onto an armchair with a puff of air escaping his lungs. "When they are ever gonna learn?"

"He's their pick so obviously they're trying to cover their own backsides," Daniel reasoned. "Relax, they're gonna have you answer some questions and let you go back with a slap on your wrists."

"I was hoping they were becoming more reasonable lately," Alice put in morosely. "Seems I was wrong."

"Nah, they always do what's best for them." Mitchell shook his head. "Just ignore them."

"Easy for you to say, they don't control you here the way they do us," Sheppard sighed. "And Childes dances to the IOA's tune, he never listens to us. I thought Woolsey was bad, but really, he was incredible compared to this bureaucratic puppet."

"Woolsey turned out to be really okay," Alice agreed. "By the time I got there, none of his famed rigidity was there anymore."

"Yeah, well, Childes is a pain in my ass," Sheppard murmured, still visibly upset. "He's not getting better, either. We've had zero progress in the last eight months because he won't authorize any mission that is even remotely dangerous without talking to the asshats in the IOA first, and then he goes and does this. I really thought I was gonna kill him."

"Maybe don't tell the IOA that," Hailey advised with a smirk, sprawled on a loveseat, her now clearly noticeable baby bump on perfect display.

Sheppard only shook his head dismissively.

"It's not wrong to follow the rules, as a principle, though, is it?" Doctor Gregory asked carefully. He was met with a range of reactions, from incredulity to distaste.

"You can't make up rules for what's going on out there," Mitchell said impatiently. "If we followed the rules, the planet would've been wiped out at least a dozen times by now."

"Rules are important." Alice decided to take Gregory's side for once. The poor guy did not feel very much like part of the team, yet, and she wondered if he ever would. It was difficult to fill in shoes such as Daniel's. "They provide a frame of reference. But as Colonel Mitchell rightly said, you can't create a comprehensive rulebook for everything that happens out there. The military has been working out its rules for centuries and still keeps changing them. But those rules were never meant to be used against aliens, humans on other planets, on spaceships and in other galaxies. If a rule isn't working, we're supposed to examine it and change it, not stick to it like it's holy scripture. And that can only happen post-factum. In the moment, you look at the situation and do what's best—or try to, anyway." She shrugged.

"Well said." Sheppard grinned at her, momentarily mollified. "Like the rule never create a human replicator."

She smiled back. "Yes, well, sometimes circumstances call for a little rule-breaking. I did get permission for it, though."

"Sure, sure. Zelenka told me your code was flawless," he noted.

"I had good teachers," she demurred, but it pleased her, nevertheless.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door and an airman stuck her head in.

"Excuse me, sirs. Colonel, they are ready for you."

"Here I go!" Sheppard rolled his eyes and then followed the airman out.

"Time for us, too," Mitchell said, standing up and stretching his arms and back. "Hailey, will you please find someone good for me?"

"Still checking 'em out, sir," she replied, a bit dismissively. Alice knew she was supposed to screen candidates for her own temporary replacement in the SG-1 while she was grounded due to pregnancy. Apparently she wasn't very eager to do so.

"Yeah, yeah." Mitchell waved his hand and then he, Vala—who had been uncharacteristically quiet—and Gregory filed out of the room to go get ready for their next mission.

"How am I supposed to know who's gonna be qualified enough for SG-1?" Hailey asked, half-rhetorically, before the door closed behind the team. "I don't want to hoist another Gregory on them. No offense, Daniel."

The archaeologist shrugged. "None taken. Gregory is very good at his thing. And he's a decent guy. Chemistry doesn't always happen all at once. Certainly took me and Jack a while." He smirked.

"That's true," Alice agreed, thinking about how long it took her to start getting along with Karim. "Getting trapped in an underground tunnel with no way out and toxic air causing your worst nightmares to come alive so you both cling to each other for dear life, helps," she added with a twinkle in her eye.

"That's… specific." Hailey chuckled, and then she got up from her seat and walked to the stereo in the corner. "Mind if I put on a little music? Do you guys care for a round of cards? Poker, perhaps?"

"I'm not playing poker with you," Daniel replied immediately, waving his hands as if he was warding off evil spirits. "I've lost enough money to your devilish ways."

She came back with a deck of cards in hand. "Oh, come on. How often do we all find ourselves in a break room together? Just one hand, I promise."

"Actually, I think I should get back to work," Alice said, her voice suddenly a bit unsteady.

"Now? Listen, I know you're a workaholic, but I'm sure you can spare another hour for us." Hailey sounded almost insulted.

"You okay?" Daniel asked, more observant. "You seem pale."

"I'm fine," she lied. "I'm just not a fan of card games, really."

Hailey rolled her eyes and threw the deck back onto the table where she took it from. "Oh, whatever. I've lost interest." And then she turned around and stalked out of the room.

"Oh, great, now she's offended," Alice murmured, irritated.

Daniel laughed quietly. "You don't always get along, huh?"

She tried to smile, but it was more a grimace. "I really like Jennifer, but she sometimes gets on my nerves. As I'm sure I do on hers."

"Yeah, well, that's basically my whole relationship with Jack." He grinned. "You'll be fine." And then he got up and nodded to her. "I guess I'm gonna give you your space," he said, indicating that he didn't buy her assurances of being fine.

Once alone in the room, she walked towards the stereo and turned off the music. The familiar voice was stopped mid-sentence. I took for granted all the times that I thought would—

The CD case was midnight blue with pale celeste writing that read Love letters. The name of the band wasn't even there on the front, only on the back, above a list of songs. Right here waiting was number three. Lionel Richie's Hello was four. Take my breath away was six. Can't help falling in love was nine.

She wasn't sure what kind of masochistic impulse made her do it, but she opened the case and read the inscription on the left side. It wasn't long. To all the women we love, it said.

Love letters. Songs he had sung for her before. Songs they danced to. And others—love letters he never got to send because she cut him off… which only confirmed that she made the right choice. Aaron had always been a silly romantic, and he loved grand gestures. This was quite his style. Yes, of course, it said we—all the women we love, as in all the band members. But she knew it was for her. It was clear as day.

Her hands were shaking as she put the CD case down carefully and retreated from the room, as if she was leaving behind not an album, but rather a bomb.

"So far so good," Rodriguez said quietly, leaning on the console, pretending he was checking on her progress.

"Don't hover," she chastised him loudly, for the benefit of Tallis and Rianna, who stood nearby. "It won't be quicker because you're looking at it."

"It's like watching paint dry, anyway," he complained in character and walked away.

"How are we doing?" Tallis asked, but it wasn't to her; he addressed one of his lieutenants, a man named Carlo.

"Everything is ready for transport," Carlo replied confidently. "We can go as soon as the Ring is open."

"And how's that going?" This time the Second turned to Alice.

"Need two more minutes."

"I thought you had it all worked out." There was just a smidge of threat in Tallis's voice now.

"I have to double-check the live readings, in case there's a difference to the data Langarans gave us," she explained without even looking up at him. "If we're off by more than point oh one percent, we explode the planet."

"That would be unfortunate," Rianna said, slightly amused.

"Maybe let's not do that while we're still on the planet," Rodriguez agreed eagerly.

"I'd rather prefer it remained intact in general," Tallis added disapprovingly. "We need to be able to do this again."

"Then perhaps stop interrupting me and let me focus on the damn equations?" Alice suggested, affecting annoyance. In truth, she was wondering what was the holdup—the SGC troops should already be here.

It was only a minute later that Carlo's communicator went live.

"We're under attack—the fucking Tau'ri are here!" A disembodied voice announced, yelling over a sound of explosions in the background.

"How did they find out?" Tallis immediately turned to Alice, but she still didn't lift her head up from over the console. "We have a mole!"

"Or Langarans do." It was Rianna who suggested it; Alice had planted the idea that they might not be fully on the Alliance's side weeks ago. "They used to work with them."

"Damn it!" Tallis picked up his own communicator. "Hold the line!"

"Tallis, they have a fucking Ha'kek!" Somebody responded on the other end. "I have to retreat!"

The Second cursed loudly. "Fine, retreat but do not leave this system!"

"We'll do our best," the voice replied and then went silent.

"Fucking Tau'ri!" Tallis stomped towards Alice. "Are you ready?"

"Almost. I—" She didn't finish because the heavy door at the end of the vast chamber that housed the Gate opened and people started spilling inside.

"Feran!" Tallis yelled as the man at the front of the crowd approached them. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Tau'ri are here!" Feran gasped, out of breath. "You have to leave! If they see you here, they'll know we allied ourselves with you and that is not good!"

"I think that ship has sailed," Alice commented nonchalantly.

"They already know, idiot, they attacked my Ha'taks in the orbit!" Tallis spewed angrily. "How did they find out about us? Who told them?" And he stepped closer, putting his hand on the Langaran's throat.

"I—I don't know," Feran choked out. "We didn't—we didn't tell them—very bad for us!"

"I don't believe you," Tallis squeezed even harder and Feran's face grew purple.

"He's saying the truth," a woman, one of those who came after Feran, jumped into the conversation. "But I think I know—it must have been Jonas Quinn. I've seen him earlier outside the facility. I didn't think anything of it because he is authorized, but he's a great Tau'ri friend…"

Tallis swore again and threw Feran on the ground. "You're gonna regret this!" He warned and then he turned to Alice. "We're not going anywhere. Open the Ring."

"Alright, commencing sequence," she replied and turned around to begin the dialing procedure. Outside, they could hear a commotion and then the door—which the twenty or so Langarans that came in had locked behind them—started shaking.

"Why won't they just transport themselves inside?" Rodriguez asked, on cue. "I thought Tau'ri could get anywhere if they have a Ha'kek in the orbit."

"The facility is sheltered," Alice replied distractedly. "Baal's old tech. I guess the Langarans didn't want the Tau'ri to come in and use their Ring uninvited." She then stepped back. "Watch out."

The first chevron on the Gate flashed and the inside ring started moving to get to the second position. For a moment, there was silence in the room as everyone watched the spinning circle. As further chevrons became engaged, the ground beneath their feet started shaking.

"You sure about it?" Rianna asked, trying to mask real worry. Alice couldn't blame her—if this didn't work, they would all be dead in a flash.

"It'll work," she replied, her expression intense. She had to sell it—she couldn't appear too confident.

"It better," Tallis growled and then turned to Carlo. "Send some people back there to hold the door. We might only have a few moments to get through."

His lieutenant nodded and walked away, towards the group of about fifty people that waited on the other side of the room, each armed to the teeth and hovering over big crates full of supplies. About ten of them broke away from the group and ran to the door just as it burst open.

At the same moment, the Gate's ninth chevron was locked and the kawoosh lurched forward. The connection was established. For a fleeting moment, Alice felt a swell of pride—but she was quickly brought back onto the ground. The SG offensive was a little late coming in—and they had to stop to fight with the rear guard just sent over there by Carlo.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Tallis called and the remaining group of forty people picked up their crates and sprinted towards the event horizon. Alice couldn't help but bite her lip; these men and women were going to their deaths… and this was the better scenario. Because if they managed to survive on the other end, Destiny's crew, asleep in their stasis pods, was screwed.

Almost half of them came through, including Carlo, when Tallis's communicator went off again.

"Stop, stop, don't come through!" Someone shouted frantically and Alice recognized the voice of Ra'ul, the man who used to have all the best contracts and deals with the Alliance before she came along. "There's… no air… no air here…" His voice cracked at the end and then fell silent.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Tallis shouted angrily, turning to Alice.

"How the hell should I know?" She replied with a question, her eyes wide. "But it doesn't sound good—you should stop the rest from coming through!"

Five or more people have already stepped over since Ra'ul's communiqué, and she was painfully aware that it meant five more people dead.

"Fuck!" He yelled and turned back to the Gate. "Everybody, halt! Go fight the Tau'ri!"

Alice reached out towards the console and the Gate shut down suddenly. Twenty-six people had made it through; these lives were now on her conscience. She wasn't going to add any more.

The ones left on this side dropped their cargo and ran, pell-mell, towards the three SG teams that were almost through the initial ten guys Carlo had sent against them. More shots and shouts followed, but neither Tallis nor Rianna made a move to join their troops. The Langarans hunkered behind them, apparently too scared to pick a side.

Rodriguez hovered near Alice, playing his role of a bodyguard, and she could almost feel the waves of anxiety coming off of him. He was as worried for the SG teams three, five and ten as she was, and wasn't hiding it very well. She didn't think anyone would notice in the chaos—and if they did, they would interpret it as fear for his own life, hopefully. But she knew better.

It took two more minutes of struggle for someone on the SG side to give order to retreat. She could see them run back out of the room and the bright flash of light that enveloped them as soon as they passed the threshold.

"They're gonna come back with more troops," Rianna said warningly as soon as the SG teams disappeared.

"We should haul ass," Alice suggested.

"Let's," Tallis agreed easily and then turned around to face the Langarans. "This isn't over yet!" He threatened, his voice menacing again. He didn't try to show off his dominance this time, though; he simply made an about-face and marched off, shouting orders for retreat.

"Now you explain yourself." Tallis leaned back in the central chair of the bridge. His face was scrunched and uncharacteristically worried.

Alice shrugged. "I have nothing to explain. I did what you wanted me to do—I opened the Ring and didn't explode the planet. So you're welcome."

He jumped onto his feet and launched himself at her, arms outstretched, as if he wanted to choke her like he did Feran back on the planet. But Alice was far quicker than the Langaran—and so was Rodriguez. He was by her side in a flash, zat at the ready, but she merely needed to side-step to avoid Tallis's angry lurch. It was almost comical how he missed her, stopped and then turned around, the fury coloring his face bright red. He did restrain himself from flinging himself at her again, though.

"You better be careful how you talk to me right now, Nova, or I swear you and your muscle are gonna pray for death!" He spat viciously. "I want to know what happened!"

"I told you already—I have no idea!" She let her emotions color her voice a little. "I don't know anything about Destiny other than what you told me and what little was there in Olan's research—but it's a ship, right? Ra'ul said there was no air. One plus two equals three. No air on a ship usually means life support's not working."

Tallis cursed, walked back to his chair and dropped onto it with a heavy sigh. "This cannot be. The Tau'ri have the ship—they couldn't have turned off the life support just in time for our arrival!"

Alice shrugged again. "No idea, man. But I'd say more likely the system malfunctioned and they're all dead up there."

"This would be consistent with what we got from our operatives on their planet," Rianna put in. She was standing a little ways away and throwing Alice cautioning glances. "They say the Tau'ri have been real quiet about the Destiny over the past couple years."

Tallis swore loudly again. "Well, at least we cannot say this was our fault—there was no way to know this would happen. We gotta make that clear to Varrel."

"We?" Alice repeated, suddenly anxious. It must have shown on her face, but this was nothing strange, even for Nova.

"Oh, you don't think I'm gonna face him alone after this fiasco?" Tallis grinned at her, mercurial as ever. "He's gonna be here real soon."

Alice's eyes flicked over to Rodriguez. He looked as nervous as she felt. Dealing with Tallis was a risky business at any time, but Varrel was a whole other league. He didn't show himself outside of his secure hidden compound very often, but the rumors that circulated about him made him out to be a real tough cookie. Getting close to him eventually was one of Alice's goals, but not this quick—she needed her own influence and clout first. Right now, in Varrel's eyes, she was a nobody—and nobodies were quick to die as an example to others.

"I thought he never left his planet," Alice said, pretending to try to cover up her nerves—they were useful to her right now; Nova should be scared of meeting Lucian Alliance's number one, but she wouldn't like it shown.

"That's what he wants you to think." Tallis leaned back in his chair. "Why don't you be a dear, Nova, and bring us something to drink while we wait?"

Alice wasn't sure if the flash of anger that made her straighten up and look at him disdainfully was hers or Nova's. "I'm not your servant, Tallis. You want something, you go get it—or ask one of your other minions."

Rianna audibly hissed, shaking her head at Alice. Tallis merely narrowed his eyes and looked at her menacingly. It didn't impress Alice, but Nova was nobody's fool. Even having just experienced a huge failure—or especially then—Tallis was dangerous. So Alice rolled her eyes, gestured at Rodriguez to follow her and walked out of the bridge. They didn't speak until they were alone in the supply room, rummaging through crates to find some alcohol.

"What should we do?" Rodriguez asked quietly, his gaze intense. "We don't have any backup here, and Varrel—" He hesitated.

"No, we don't have backup," Alice agreed, pulling a bottle of clear liquid from a crate. On Earth it would be just your everyday run-of-the-mill corn vodka, but here it was made from Kassa—the addictive component was mostly purified in the distillation process, but it retained trace amounts of it, which made it safe to drink but quite irresistible. "So we're gonna do exactly what we've been doing: be smart, keep in character and count on each other. Follow my lead, Lieutenant, I'll get you home, I promise."

He nodded gravely. "I don't doubt that, ma'am."

Well, maybe you should, she thought. Karim had trusted her, too.

When they came back, Rianna was typing something into a console and Tallis was standing in front of the viewport, his back to them. Alice came to a halt next to him and handed him the bottle without a word. He opened it and took a big swig, still looking out. Alice followed his gaze.

A Ha'tak was closing in on them—one at least twice as large as the one they were standing in. It floated towards them stately, without haste, and they made no movements to avoid it. And then the telltale high-pitched screech of the rings sounded behind them and Alice turned around to see the Lucian Alliance's leader for the first time, in the flesh.

He wasn't what she expected. Somehow, because of his ominous reputation, she pictured him as dark, broody and heavyset. About the only thing she got right in her imagination was his height—a tall man, he was also surprisingly lean, with slim waist and muscles only subtly highlighted. It was hard to pinpoint exactly how old he could be, but definitely on the other side of forty, maybe even older. He was blonde and had bright blue eyes, prominent cheekbones and intense eyebrows. A five o'clock shadow added masculinity to his rather delicate jaw. He wore black leather clothes, so beloved by the mercenaries all across the galaxy, but didn't have a coat—just a short jacket that didn't hide two zats in holsters on both hips. Alice couldn't deny that he looked very handsome.

Flanked by two other men in similar attire, Varrel stepped away from the ring platform, his eyes sweeping the room—from Rianna, standing over a console on his right, to Tallis by the viewport and Alice right next to him, to Rodriguez only a few paces away from her, hovering protectively.

"Varrel," Tallis said, bowing his head respectfully. "It's good to see you."

"Tallis, my friend," the Alliance's leader said, without a smile. He then approached his Second and shook his hand. Turning away, he walked towards Rianna and bowed a little, lifting her hand to his lips. "Rianna, you look fantastic as usual."

"You flatter me, Varrel," she replied warmly, but her eyes were guarded.

"And you must be Nova Ray." He walked back towards their group. Alice put on a cheeky expression and extended her arm for a shake. He took it in stride and even sent her a little smirk. "And your loyal bodyguard, Levi Kern." He shook with the lieutenant as well, then turned around and leaned on one of the front consoles, facing them. "I cannot wait to hear how your mission went."

It was clear that he already knew—at least partially—that it didn't go well, but Alice kept her mouth shut and let Tallis speak.

"It was mostly successful," the Second announced, his confidence blatantly faked. "We opened the Ring of Ancestors and sent our troops through to the Destiny." He paused, but since Varrel just kept looking at him with his expression unchanged, Tallis had to continue. "Unfortunately, it seems the ship has experienced some sort of malfunction since the last time. We got a communiqué from Ra'ul that there was no air—we had to stop the remainder of our people from going, or they would suffocate, too."

He stopped and looked at Varrel expectantly, but the man still just stood there, leaning on a console and looking at him calmly, without a word. Alice could almost taste the tension in the air.

"We, uh, the Tau'ri appeared out of nowhere, but we managed to push them back, which allowed us to retreat. They have a Ha'kek in the orbit now, so we can't go back to double-check the connection, or—"

"Rianna," Varrel interrupted him. "Anything you want to add?"

"Our intel from the Tau'ri in the last two years never mentioned the Destiny," she said, affecting composure. "It's possible that they had known about the ship's malfunction for a while."

"Nova?" He prompted, his eyes measuring, penetrating. He looked nothing like Karim, but the way he gazed at her was familiar—and uncomfortable.

"There was breathing equipment in the crates. If they were lucky, it was in one of those they managed to carry through with them. If they were quick, it's possible they could've gotten it out in time. Which would mean they're still alive. There's no saying for how long, though—there's only a few hours of air in those portable tanks, maybe a day. If the life support system is badly damaged, which we have to assume it is or the Tau'ri would've found a way to fix it, it might not matter," Alice explained, her voice steady and her eyes challenging. "Ra'ul can only do so much."

"You would've done better?" Varrel raised one eyebrow at her.

"Yes," she confirmed brazenly. "But I wouldn't have gone through."

"And why is that?"

She shrugged. "I like my life, Varrel. I don't want to get stuck on a ship halfway across the universe."

"You don't think there's a way back?"

"Listen, Tau'ri are annoying little shits—but they're clever enough. If there was a way to get back, they would've found it."

He nodded, as if agreeing with her. Then his eyes shifted to Tallis again.

"So let me sum this up. You went forward with this mission without sufficient intel on what the Tau'ri knew or didn't know about the ship. You allowed the information to leak and let the Tau'ri know we were in cahoots with the Langarans—they will not let us anywhere near again, that's for sure. And you ultimately failed to achieve the goal of taking over the ship. Isn't that an accurate assessment?"

Tallis blanched. "I—uh, I successfully opened the Ring, and the planet didn't explode this time, so—"

"Really. You opened the Ring?" Varrel cocked his head to the side, his face expressionless.

"Well—"

In a move quick like a flash, Varrel pulled one of his zats and shot at Tallis, twice. Alice jerked away reflexively, Rodriguez mirroring her jump half a second later. Rianna let out a little gasp. Only Varrel's two henchmen didn't bat an eye.

Tallis stood there for a moment longer, his eyes huge, and then he fell to the ground with a graceless thump.

"I hate people who try to take the credit for other people's hard work," Varrel said placidly, holstering the weapon.

Only silence answered him. Alice was looking at Tallis's body on the floor, wondering if this was it—were they toast? She was prepared to die, but she never wanted to drag Rodriguez down with her. The poor kid was a month away from making First Lieutenant, it would be a pity for him to miss that.

Varrel straightened up, ungluing himself from the console he'd been leaning on, and turned to Rianna. "You're in charge now," he told her casually. "Don't fuck up."

"I won't," she promised, striving for composure, but apparently even she did not expect this turn of events.

He nodded. "You did a good job bringing this one in," he praised, gesturing at Alice. "You have an eye for talent. Use that and don't try to screw me and you'll be alright."

"I'll do my best," she agreed, regaining a bit her countenance. "And my best is very good."

He sent her a half-smirk, pivoted around and walked towards Alice. He completely ignored the body on the floor, stepping over it, to stand in front of her. "Good job on the Ring. You've got Olan's research?"

"Tallis insisted on keeping it," Alice replied, fighting the urge to step back; he was a little too close for her liking. "But I've got it all in my head, if you're asking."

Varrel nodded. "Rianna will take over Tallis's Mifta, it should give her access to all his data, unless he encrypted it. Either way, you'll give me everything you have on the Ninth Chevron. Don't send it via the usual channels, bring it to me personally."

"I don't know how to find you," she noted, telling herself not to avert her eyes. Avoiding his gaze would be on-brand for Alice, but Nova was too confident—and arrogant—for that.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a sarcastic snicker. "And you won't. I'll send you details for a rendezvous point and someone will pick you up from there. I'm impressed with you, Nova, but I don't trust you just yet."

"Likewise," she said daringly and got a little chuckle in return.

"Fair enough. You shouldn't trust people you don't know well." And then he leaned in a little, so that his face was uncomfortably close to hers. "I'd like us to get to know each other well, Nova." And then he turned around, walked over to the Ring platform, where his two henchmen joined him, and without another word, he was gone.