The Furies

Chapter Fourteen Command Decisions

Sam leaned back, letting the water run through her hair, her eyes closed. The Hammond’s biggest drawback was two minute showers, and one of the nicest things about being in Atlantis was the constant supply of fresh water. The locker rooms were open around the clock for her crew, and there was always enough hot water for anyone to spend as long as they wanted in the shower. Which was a good thing. It was one of the places she did her best thinking.

Way back in her first year at the SGC, Daniel had turned it into a running joke. Every time there was a serious technical problem, you’d find Sam in the locker room with her head under the shower. Somehow wetting her head made her brain turn on. Very funny, but there was something to it. The sound of the water and the way the heat relaxed her did make her think better.

But it wasn’t something she could do on the Hammond. Yes, nobody was going to yell at the captain for taking more than two minutes in the shower, but she could hardly make a rule and then abuse it. If the rule was fair you had to follow it, even if you thought you ought to be the exception, no matter what the price was. Jack had taught her that, and exactly how expensive it could be.

But there were always compromises. At least there were ways to obey the spirit if not the letter. The rule was about conserving water on the Hammond, where wasting potable water was very nearly a crime. Atlantis had no shortage of water. There was a whole ocean of it. And so if she wanted to spend half an hour in the shower in Atlantis, that was ok. At least it was forgivable, one amusing quirk of a well-liked captain. She had a few of those. She hoped they caused amusement, not resentment.

She leaned her head back, letting the water run down her hair. It was hard to keep it clean on the Hammond. Maybe she ought to cut it off again, but it had taken so long to grow. Eyes closed, she still half expected her old team to stick their heads in the locker room door, laughing at her. “Still soaking your head, Carter? General Hammond said if you’d like to join us sometime today…”

Instead it was the voice of a very hesitant airman. “Colonel Carter, ma’am?”

The Ancients had apparently believed in clear glass doors, and Airman Ayesha Salawi was looking at the ceiling, walls and floor with the visible discomfort of an Airman First Class who has been sent into the women’s locker room to retrieve a colonel who isn’t wearing clothes.

“Yes?”

“Dr. Zelenka sent me to get you. He said tell you that Teyla Emmagan has returned with the Wraith ship.” Salawi seemed to think she was up there on the ceiling somewhere.

Sam turned the water off. “And Colonel Sheppard?”

“Colonel Sheppard is with her, and she says he’s fine. But they need to talk to you about some important intelligence.”

Sam let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Ok. I’m on my way.” She reached for her towel. “Tell Dr. Zelenka I’ll be up in five minutes.”

John wasn’t sure whose office it was. Theoretically Woolsey’s, but Woolsey had been on Earth for the last month. Which made it his, temporarily. But while he’d been gone Sam had been using it, just as she had for the year before Woolsey arrived, even though actually it should have been Radek. The uncertainty seemed to be resolving itself by all four of them standing around, Sam with her back to the desk, Radek opposite her with his back to the door, his arms crossed over his chest, and John and Teyla at the other two points of the diamond.

Outside in the control room technicians kept sneaking glances. Some of them probably didn’t know it was Teyla. For all they could see, he and Carter were meeting with a Wraith queen. He had to admit she was pretty scary looking, which possibly accounted for the way Radek was shifting from one foot to another while she explained. It did take a little getting used to.

Sam just listened.

“This is policy,” Radek said at last. “I am not a policy guy, and I have no idea whether or not this retrovirus might hypothetically work. That is a question for the doctors, not for me.”

“None of us know if it can work,” Sam said.

“The issue is if we’re going to work with Todd,” John said. “Let’s be clear on that. We don’t know if this thing can work, and we don’t know if he’s on the up and up.”

“I thought the issue was whether or not it is desirable for it to work,” Teyla said. “If we do not want it to work, then we should not assist him further.”

Radek shook his head, his glasses reflecting the overhead lights. “People fed upon and then what? Released to go make babies? So that they can be rounded up again later?”

“That is already the case,” Teyla said. “Except that those who are rounded up do not return. And there are worlds of Wraith Worshippers as we know, humans who have traded the safety of some for the lives of others. If it were possible for them to trade only what is theirs to give, only their own life force…”

“And how would these things be decided?” Radek asked frowning. “Some would be prey and some would not be. It would come down to what side of a line you were born on.”

“Maybe,” Sam said. “Maybe not. There’s too much we don’t know.” She took a deep breath. “But we do know that something like this worked in the Milky Way. The Jaffa were dependent on the Goa’uld for their longevity and health, because without the symbiotes they carried they would cease to be what they were. But once Tretonin, a chemical substitute, was synthesized they no longer needed to be subject peoples. It was, ultimately, a medical solution.” She looked at John. “The Jaffa wouldn’t have given up being who they were to be rid of the Goa’uld. People won’t do that. That was the problem we had with the previous retrovirus.”

“That, and it did not work,” Radek pointed out.

“And that,” Sam said.

“We do not know if this will work either,” Teyla said.

“And the only way to find out is to trust Todd.” Radek spread his hands. “I cannot say I am enthusiastic about this plan.”

Sam was looking at him, and John realized with an ugly lurch in the middle that it was really his call. He was the commander of Atlantis. Sam wasn’t going to step on him here. It was going to come down to him.

“Let’s put it to the doctors,” John said. “See what Beckett and Keller think. If they think it’s plausible, let’s see where this goes. We’re a long way from having a working inoculation. And in the meantime we need Todd as an ally against Queen Death, particularly if Teyla thinks she can undermine the alliance and get Rodney back.”

There was a hesitant knock at the door, and John and Sam both said, “Come,” at the same time.

Airman Salawi stuck her head in. “Sirs, Banks said to tell you that Ronon has just missed his check in.”

John frowned. “Check in?”

“Ronon took a team to investigate some Ancient ruins on one of the islands in the large archipelago,” Sam said. She glanced at her watch and winced. “That was eight hours ago.”

“Missing check in isn’t Ronon,” John said.

“He must be in trouble,” Teyla agreed.

“I cannot imagine what,” Radek said. “He is right here on this planet. There is nothing arriving that we would not detect with the city’s sensors.”

“Unless there were something already here,” Sam said. “Ancient installations…”

“I’ll take a jumper to check it out,” John said. “Who’s he got with him?”

“Cadman,” Sam said. “The new archaeologist, Dr. Lynn, and Dr. Robinson went to fly the jumper.”

John grimaced. Cadman was a good choice, but Lynn was new to everything and Robinson could fly the jumper on a good day, but had no combat skills at all. “Ok,” he said. “Teyla, you talk to Jennifer and Carson and fill them in. I’ll be back in a few.”

Night was coming swiftly over the sea, the lights of Atlantis shining out into the darkness from every tower. For a change it wasn’t snowing, though the instruments showed it was getting bitterly cold, eight degrees Fahrenheit and dropping. A couple of time zones westward the sun hadn’t set, and John flew into daylight as he made periodic radio calls. “Ronon? Come in, Ronon.”

Nothing. Of course it had looked like whatever was left of this Ancient installation might be underground, and if they were inside they might not be getting radio signals. John frowned. That was the most likely explanation. And yet he had a funny feeling about it. In his experience, things were rarely easy.

“Ronon, come in.” There was the island, and John rolled the jumper in a neat maneuver to lose altitude, dropping down for a close air pass. The setting sun glared in his eyes and then he dropped beneath it, the shadow of the planet’s curvature plunging him into shade.

There was the other jumper parked neatly on the plateau over the sea, alone in the midst of a field of snow.

“Ronon, come in.” Something was wrong. He should be answering the radio unless he was far underground, but for the life of him John couldn’t see any door or entrance to anything. “Ronon, please respond.”

“Colonel Sheppard?” Captain Cadman’s voice was full of utter disbelief.

“Cadman? What’s going on?” John asked, coming around for a second pass.

“Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me.” John shook his head. “Cadman, where are you?”

“We’ve had some trouble, sir,” Cadman said. “We’re underground and our radios won’t reach you.”

“I’m hearing you loud and clear.”

“We’re using the comm system of a wrecked puddle jumper,” Cadman said. “It’s a long story. But Dr. Robinson is injured, and an avalanche has blocked the entrance to the Ancient hangar that we came in.”

“Ok,” John digested that for a second. “Is Ronon there with you?”

“Yes. Let me put him on.” There was a momentary silence.

“Ronon?”

“Hey Sheppard.” Ronon sounded relieved. “Thought you were captured.”

“Yeah well, Teyla rescued me.” John scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Cadman says you’re stuck.”

“We’re stuck,” Ronon confirmed. “Robinson needs medical attention as soon as possible. And there’s no way we’re getting out that door.”

“All right. Hang in there,” John said. “Back with you in a minute.” He switched frequencies, calling Atlantis. “Atlantis, this is Sheppard. Put Colonel Carter on if you would.”

She must have been standing right there, because it was only a second before Sam came on. “What’s the problem, John?”

He sketched it for her quickly, ending with, “So is the Hammond up to atmospheric flight and are the Asgard beams working?”

“They are,” Sam said. “And we can about manage atmospheric flight. I don’t think the hull is up to hard vacuum at this point, but we should be good for a little low altitude cruise to come get our guys. Tell them I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

It was twelve and a half, actually. John stayed on station, talking with Ronon and Cadman, until the Hammond arrived. At that point it was the work of a moment to beam them straight to the Hammond’s infirmary.

“Off into the sunset,” John said, turning the puddle jumper for home and following the Hammond in, Atlantis glowing ahead of them like a star resting on the sea.

Radek folded his hands, casting a quick look at William, who had at last subsided into silence. “I agree that the Ancient ruins are interesting,” he said.

John nodded. “Yeah, but is that really a priority right now? With everything we’ve got going on?” He looked around at Ronon and William. “You guys found some stuff, and it’s great if there’s more down there, but is that really where we need to focus our best efforts right now?”

“It appears that this was once an Ancient prison, and perhaps also a weapons testing laboratory,” William put in. “Some of the database seems functional, beyond the environmental systems. It’s quite possible that we could retrieve information on the research that was undertaken here, and that some of it could be germane. I think we need to go back.”

Carter winced. “You said that the entire entrance was blocked. “That’s going to require a lot of work with heavy equipment and a lot of time to dig back in. And a lot of expertise. A squad of engineers at least and somebody with the ATA gene to activate things.”

“Yes, well,” William began.

John shook his head. “I appreciate that it’s interesting. And that it might be worthwhile. But we’ve got a lot on our plates right now. We can’t pull people off the Hammond’s repairs or off other critical functions. In a couple of weeks, when Kusanagi’s team is free, then we’ll think about it.”

“It is really Dr. Kusanagi you need,” Radek put in. “She has the ATA gene naturally expressed, and she is a fine engineer. I would recommend Dr. Kusanagi and the Marine combat engineers, and perhaps Captain Cadman, when the time is appropriate. But Miko is occupied with the Hammond, which I was given to understand is the first priority.”

“It is the top priority,” John said. “The Hammond is pretty much our only defense right now. Getting all systems fully restored is critical.” He glanced around the table. “So we’ll talk about the Ancient installation next week.” He looked down at his laptop as if he had a to do list there. Which, Radek thought, he probably did. He knew what was coming and John making it so casual, in the midst of a biweekly meeting, made it seem less frightening and bizarre. And it was bizarre. “Next up, Todd.”

Ronon shifted in his seat, not looking at Teyla who sat across from him.

“Todd wants a deal,” John said. “Let’s talk about it.”

Carson leaned forward, his blue eyes grave. “First, let me say that I am skeptical that this idea of his can work without serious side effects. He’s taking the track of strengthening the human victim during the feeding by tinkering with the makeup of the Wraith enzyme that is injected at the inception of the feeding process. We’ve seen with Lt. Ford what the effects of a mega dose of the enzyme are. And we’ve seen how drastic the physical and psychological changes are as a result. It might be possible for humans to survive the feeding, but the cost to them would be enormous.”

“You’re saying this would turn them all into Ford?” John asked.

“It very well might,” Carson said solemnly.

Jennifer cleared her throat. “I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”

John looked at her, his eyebrows rising. “Yes?”

“That’s one of the possibilities,” Jennifer said, biting her lower lip. “But certainly not the only one. I think it’s a pitfall we should be aware of. But there are less drastic modifications that could be made.”

“Not that wouldn’t have some effect on the human in question,” Carson said sharply, and Radek wondered if he were not thinking of the disastrous side effects of the Hoffan retrovirus, rather than strictly speaking the fate of Lt. Ford.

Carter put her head to the side keenly. “Do we actually know what side effects we’re talking about when we’re not discussing an exact formulation? Isn’t this all hypothetical at this point?”

“Yes,” Jennifer said, and Carson sighed but did not contradict her.

“Then how can we decide whether or not the side effects are too severe if we don’t yet know what they are?” Carter asked. “Isn’t that a question for on down the line?”

John sat up straight in his chair. “Look, we don’t know if this will work, and we don’t know what the side effects might be. The question is whether or not we find out. What’s the harm in getting some more information before we make the decision?”

Ronon stirred, uncoiling like a sleepy cat, but there was nothing lazy in his movements. “That’s not the question. The question is whether we work with the Wraith.” He looked around the table. “How many times now have we decided we’re going to make some deal with the Wraith? And every single time we’ve gotten screwed. Michael was a great idea. And then there was this hive we were going to ally with. And then there were Todd’s deals. The question is how many times we’re going to keep beating our head into the same wall before we get smart.” His eyes met John’s. “They’re Wraith. We can’t trust them. Every time we do, people die.”

Carson blanched.

Radek cleared his throat with a quick glance at Ronon. “I am not sure I am comfortable with this either. Ronon has a point that this has not worked well in the past. Over and over we have been sold on a medical solution, but it does not work or it makes things worse.” He thought he saw Ronon relax a tad. He had not expected anyone to back him up. He should have known better with Radek.

Teyla said nothing, just looked from one to another with her golden eyes.

“And if we don’t do this?” Jennifer asked. “If we just let this opportunity pass by? What does that get us? We need to find out if this is possible. Just because we have a retrovirus doesn’t mean we have to use it.”

Radek sighed. “That is the Oppenheimer argument. We will develop a nuclear bomb to see if we can. The problem is that once you have developed something you no longer have control of it. Once it exists it will be used. It will not be your decision, nor Colonel Sheppard’s. It will be the decision of the Air Force or the IOA, and your opinions will no longer carry any weight. There are times it is best to leave the genie in the bottle.”

“The genie doesn’t stay in the bottle once anyone knows it’s there,” Carter said. “A number of governments were working along parallel lines toward the bomb. It was just a question of who got it first. When something is possible, someone will figure out a way to do it. And if you’re lucky it’s you before it’s someone else.” She looked at Radek. “Would you rather it had been Hitler who got there first? Or Stalin?”

John cleared his throat. “That’s a point. Todd knows this is possible.”

“Thinks it is possible,” Carson corrected.

“Thinks it’s possible,” John agreed. “He may be right. If he is, and if this thing is viable, we’re better off having a piece of it than having no idea what Todd’s up to or how far this thing has gone. We can’t prevent him from doing this work without us.”

“We could kill him,” Ronon said. “Say we’re going to do the deal, get in close, and don’t make a mistake.”

“He is our ally,” Teyla snapped.

“He’s a Wraith,” Ronon said. “In case you’re forgetting.”

“I remember it well,” Teyla said, leaning forward in her chair. “But he has come to us in good faith. And you suggest we repay that with treachery. I am surprised you suggest something so dishonorable.”

“People!” John cut off Ronon’s reply, and he subsided into his chair in silence. “Right now we need Todd. We need the intelligence, and we need the shot at finding McKay. Assassinating Todd is not on the agenda.”

“Put it on there for next week,” Ronon growled.

John ignored it manfully, Radek thought. Instead he looked at Jennifer. “Dr. Keller, do you think this is worth pursuing? It’s you he’s asking for.”

“I do,” Jennifer said, though her face was taut and pale. “I’m willing to return to Todd’s hive ship as he asked and see if this line of research is promising.”

“And give the Wraith one more hostage,” Ronon said under his breath.

“I am perfectly capable of looking after Dr. Keller,” Teyla said pointedly.

“Ok,” John said. He didn’t look away from Jennifer. “It’s your mission and your call. Take a look at his research and see what you think. And we’ll go from there.” He glanced at Carson. “You’ll stay here. We need you if Dr. Keller is gone, and with your arm messed up, you’re still out of the field.”

Carson sighed. “If that’s how it is,” he said.

“It is our best chance,” Teyla said.

“I hope we do not regret this,” Radek said.