*I agree. And yet we must feed.*
*But we need not Cull there.* Farseer shook his head. *What are we if we do not keep our word?*
*They are only human,* Guide said.
*And do we not prosper when the humans bring their tribute willingly? When we risk neither men nor Darts in the Culling?* Farseer retorted. *They are intelligent enough, why not use it?*
*I don’t disagree,* Guide said. *But that is not what our Queen decrees.*
*No,* Farseer said. *Nor what the Old One wishes.*
*Gently,* Guide said. He could hear someone coming, the shift of metal as the drones came to attention in the corridor outside, timed his words so that Farseer could not reply. *Still, a queen’s favor doesn’t last forever. And accidents do happen.*
Farseer gave a tight smile, and turned away as Ember entered the long room. A seed well sown, Guide thought, and waited.
*Your pardon, Commanders,* Ember said, bowing, and Farseer brushed past him without a word.
*Well?* Guide waited.
*Your pardon,* Ember said again.
*I presume it is important,* Guide said, *since you’re here alone.*
*Quicksilver is with Salt and Whiskey,* Ember said. *It’s of him I would speak.*
Guide laid his off hand on the cleverman’s shoulder, a gesture exquisitely casual, easily broken, even as it allowed them to whisper skin to skin. *Well?*
*Was it wise, lord, to tell him even so much as Michael’s name?*
Ember’s face was thin and worn, and Guide wondered when he had last fed. More likely it was the effort of keeping up with McKay — a man incapable of moderation, Guide thought, and allowed his sympathy to show.
*He works at the puzzle to the exclusion of all else,* Ember said. *Oh, he does the queen’s work, I see to that — and the energy shields are nearly complete, they’ll function even without this ZPM — but he is a man obsessed. And heedless in the obsession.*
*McKay is like that,” Guide said. *I did not expect otherwise.*
So closely linked, he could feel the surge of interest, the stirring train of thought, but Ember shook his head, smiling ruefully. *That is not my point.*
*Let him be distracted,* Guide said. *It will keep him from more clever ideas like this last attack on Atlantis.*
*But if he remembers,* Ember began, and stopped. *Then he dies, but not at your hands? I do not believe that will please the Lanteans any better.*
*I don’t want him dead,* Guide answered. *As you say, that would make — other alliances — impossible. But if he remembers, even a little, he will have cause to keep quiet, and to seek allies among people he knows he has worked with before.*
Ember closed his eyes. *We are playing with fire.*
*Of course. Where else are the treasures found?*
Ember smiled at the old proverb, as Guide had meant, muscles easing a fraction, and Guide released him.
*Watch him well,* he said, and Ember reached for him, a breach of etiquette that stopped Guide in his tracks.
*It is dangerous,* Ember said, skin to skin, his off hand on Guide’s wrist. *So dangerous, Guide. And you run too many risks already. Let me arrange an accident.*
*No,* Guide said, and gently freed himself. *It would do no good, and you know it.*
*I do,* Ember said, and bowed his head. *I will do as you command.*
Chapter Fifteen
Waiting By The Phone
Jeannie was on her way back to her room, sandwich in hand, when she heard what sounded for all the world like a cat meowing. She was pretty sure that there weren’t cats allowed in a military base in another galaxy, and yet it really sounded like a cat. She stopped before rounding the corner, hesitating. There were probably no dangerous aliens who sounded like cats, and yet she’d learned not to underestimate the weirdness of Meredith’s work environment.
“Is anyone there?” she said. Not that it was probably the smartest move, because if there were meowing alien creatures around the corner who intended to have her for dinner, they probably weren’t going to answer. She jumped as someone came around the corner, and then relaxed as she saw it was Ronon.
“Can you do something with this?” he said, holding out what in fact appeared to be a half-grown Siamese cat. It was hissing, its ears laid back, probably at the fact that it was being held at arm’s length as if it might explode.
“Like what?” Jeannie said, reaching gingerly for the kitten. It yowled and writhed in alarm, but she managed to tuck it into a slightly less unhappy ball in her arms, and thankfully it didn’t seem inclined to bite.
“It’s McKay’s,” Ronon said. “Only it keeps getting out and attacking people.”
“Attacking,” Jeannie said.
“Lying in wait and then trying to bite people’s ankles.”
“Bite their ankles.” She was trying really hard not to smile.
“Not very hard,” he granted. “But it’s annoying.”
“Why don’t I take the kitten back to Dr. Keller?” Jeannie suggested.
“That would be good,” Ronon said, and left her trying to balance kitten and sandwich.
She managed by tucking the sandwich under her arm, and hoped she remembered where Jennifer had mentioned that her quarters were. The last thing she wanted at the end of a long day was to knock on some perfect stranger’s door brandishing an angry kitten at them.
She pressed the door signal with her elbow and crossed her fingers as well as was possible under the circumstances. The door slid open to reveal Jennifer, who looked dismayed at the kitten.
“I’m sorry,” she said, reaching for the kitten, who yowled at her plaintively and dug its claws into her sleeve. “Was he bothering you?”
“I think he scared Ronon,” Jeannie said.
“Ah,” Jennifer said. “Maybe not scared, but I don’t think Ronon’s a cat person.” Jeannie stepped in to let the door close, and Jennifer detached the kitten with some difficulty and set it down on the floor. It leapt for the back of the sofa and perched there indignantly.
“Well, I can see that in a place like this, having anything jumping out at you might be a little spooky,” Jeannie said.
“I can’t seem to keep him in here,” Jennifer said. “There’s got to be some hole or crack or something that he’s getting out through, but I can’t find it. I think he wants to go hunt the pigeons.”
“Pigeons?” Jeannie said.
“We picked up some accidental passengers back on Earth,” Jennifer said. “They’re probably going to wreak havoc with this planet’s ecosystem, assuming any of them survive, but we haven’t really had time to worry about that very much.”
“It’s been a little busy,” Jeannie said.
Jennifer nodded. “How’s the security stuff coming?”
“Well, it’s a process,” Jeannie said. “I’ve found some things that Zelenka didn’t think to look for, so that’s a good thing. I’m just afraid we’re only scratching the surface of how many things Meredith did to the computers here without telling anybody.”
“He wasn’t always really forthcoming about that kind of thing,” Jennifer said.
“Isn’t,” Jeannie said pointedly.
“What?”
“Isn’t always really forthcoming.”
“Oh,” Jennifer said, a hint of color coming into her cheeks. “Right, no, I just meant that when he was working on the computers before, he didn’t tell anybody what he was doing, not that he won’t — ”
“Okay,” Jeannie said.
“I mean, I know Ronon and Teyla are doing everything they can to find him. And Colonel Sheppard, although right now he can’t exactly run around looking himself.”
“And Dr. Zelenka,” Jeannie pointed out.
“And Dr. Zelenka,” Jennifer acknowledged, but she didn’t sound like she found that particularly reassuring. “And we’re still working on the retrovirus.”