*A wise answer.* Death lifted her head. *And it is I who will choose our next action.*
*This one swore he could get us past their defenses.* That was Flare, whose full brother had led the first wave. He raised his feeding hand — deadly insult — and pointed at Quicksilver. *He has betrayed us, my queen. Kill him now, tainted thing — *
*Be silent,* the queen hissed, the words a blow that drove Flare to one knee. She turned slowly. *What, then, is your explanation, Quicksilver?*
*My queen.* Quicksilver stared at his screen, not daring to meet her eyes. *The Lanteans must have built some kind of mechanical barrier for their Stargate — a moveable one, they couldn’t afford to block it entirely. It is not tied into their computers, or I would have found the controls there.*
*It withstood the most powerful explosive we had with us,* Nighthaze said thoughtfully. He was a cleverman, a specialist in such things. *Perhaps something more powerful could breach this barrier?*
*What I’d like to know,* Farseer said, *is why this one didn’t know of it?* He gestured toward Quicksilver, who lifted his head.
*Because they didn’t have it when I was there,* he said. *That should be obvious.*
The Old One turned to survey the Stargate, tilting his head so that his thin braid slithered across the back of his coat. *I don’t believe it’s even possible. A moveable barrier for the gate? I cannot conceive it.*
*Well, obviously it is possible,* Quicksilver said. *And I know who did it. That has to be McKay’s work — I’m sure of it, he’s the only one of them clever enough to design such a thing, make it work within the wormhole’s tolerances. And he’s got an assistant, what’s-his-name — he could build it for him. With guidance. And it’s McKay who’s locked me out — * He stopped, aware of a strange tension in the air around him. *What?*
*You will not speak that name again,* Death said. Her tone was even, her anger leashed, and all the more terrifying for it. The fingers of her feeding hand spread and flexed, and Quicksilver ducked his head. *That is my will and command, do you hear me? Never again.*
Quicksilver went to his knees under the force of her gaze. *Yes, my queen.*
Into the sudden silence, Guide said, mildly, *The Lanteans are quick to learn, my queen.* He did not say that he had said as much before, but everyone knew it. Death’s eyes narrowed.
*What, then, would you have us do?*
*Return to the hive, my queen,* Guide said. *We have given the Lanteans more cause to fear us, and that will buy us time to reconnoiter, to plan a direct assault. They, on the other hand, must wonder every moment when we will next bombard this shield of theirs — and perhaps we should do just that, and keep them worrying. It is not an altogether worthless result.*
Death eyed him for a long moment, and then she had mastered herself *No. Not entirely. Very well. Let us go.*
Quicksilver hauled himself to his feet, his mind still ringing as though he’d been struck. He reached for his computer, hunching his shoulders as though that could hide him from the queen, but she turned to block his path. He froze, the computer still in his hands, and Death laid her feeding hand against his chest. Even through his coat, he could feel the prick of her claws, see the shift of muscles as she slowly tensed her fingers. She smiled.
*Do not forget what I have told you, cleverman.*
Chapter Twenty-two
Allegiance
Dick straightened his notes and tried to look calm and confident in the face of the assembled IOA members. That would have been easier if they hadn’t spent the last hour demanding that he explain one more time why they’d turned an Ancient warship over to the Genii. At this point, he felt they were well aware of his reasoning, and were taking the opportunity to air out their own personal soapboxes.
“The potential benefits of having an additional warship under the direct supervision of the IOA cannot be underestimated,” Shen said. Her eyes were on the American committee head, Dale Strom, who was watching her with an expression of polite interest that revealed nothing. “To let such an opportunity slip through our fingers this way — ”
“Personally, I’m more concerned about the effect of the Genii having the ship than I am about our losing it,” Jean LaPierre said. “I’m not sure that arming an ally on whom we can’t depend from moment to moment — ”
“The Genii have been extremely helpful in many ways,” Dick said firmly. “Certainly in our current search for Dr. McKay, their intelligence network is proving invaluable.”
“Let’s talk about how you came to lose Dr. McKay,” Strom said. “Can we review the mission where he was captured, just so that it’s fresh in all of our minds?”
“I’d be interested in hearing a little more about that myself,” Roy Martin said. Martin was the new U.S. representative to the IOA, a former senator who O’Neill hadn’t seemed particularly enthusiastic about. He had thinning white hair and a soft Southern drawl.
“Lifetime politician,” O’Neill had said, in the same tone he’d have used to say convicted felon. “Never served in the armed forces. Retired a couple of years ago, and probably a big donor to the President’s campaign.” O’Neill had shaken his head as if to say what can you do? “You watch, he’ll be Kinsey all over again.”
Dick took a deep breath. “We received a distress call from our allies on New Athos. We believed they were under attack by the Wraith. We sent two teams through the Stargate to render assistance.”
“Two teams,” Nechayev said. “How many men?”
“Eight,” Dick said. Somehow it sounded less adequate put that way.
“Was that really enough to deal with a Culling?”
“Obviously not,” Shen said. “I think the results speak for themselves.”
“It wasn’t a Culling,” Dick said. “It was an ambush. When we arrived on New Athos, no one knew anything about the distress signal. Colonel Sheppard and his team were talking to the local leaders while Major Lorne’s team guarded the gate. At that point, three Darts came through the Stargate. We believe their intention was to capture Dr. McKay.”
“Bear with me, please,” Martin said. “I’m new here. Why would they want to do that?”
“Presumably because of his scientific expertise,” Dick said. “Dr. McKay also had extensive knowledge of Atlantis’s defenses, including the city’s computer security and its shields and weapons technology.”
Shen folded her hand in front of her. “And what efforts did you make to recover Dr. McKay?”
“You’ve seen my report,” Dick said. “Colonel Sheppard’s team was very nearly successful in retrieving Dr. McKay, but they had to fall back when the Hammond began taking heavy damage.”
“Not a very good trade, one of our warships for one scientist,” Nechayev put in.
Dick met his eyes. “One with information that could give a dangerous strategic advantage to the Wraith.”
“And given his access to that information, why was he sent on such a mission?” Shen said. “Why would you risk such a valuable asset on what was essentially a military maneuver?”
“Dr. McKay is an integral part of Colonel Sheppard’s team,” Dick began.
“He is a scientist,” Shen said. “Surely responding to reports of a Wraith Culling does not require Atlantis’s Chief of Sciences. I think it is a sign of dangerously misplaced priorities to send someone so valuable on a mission for which he lacks any professional training.”
“He has over five years of experience in the field,” Dick said.
“It doesn’t seem to have done him much good,” Aurelia Dixon-Smythe said. “And now that you’ve lost him, you say that he must be recovered at all costs. How many costs do you expect us to absorb?”