No, worst-case would be getting him part way back, to where he knew himself, knew what he’d done, to where he was really Rodney again, and then not to be able to complete the physical transformation. Then you’d have Rodney, but Rodney unable to eat, Rodney who was going to starve if he didn’t feed, didn’t steal his life from his friends. He couldn’t see Rodney being willing to live like that — wouldn’t want to live like that himself, terrified that the hunger would take over, drive him to something worse than simple murder. But if it were Rodney who had to feed or die —
He shied away from the thought, refused to let it form. It wouldn’t come to that. Keller was smart as hell and so was Carson, not to mention that Carson knew more about Wraith-human hybrids than anyone else in two galaxies. And if for some reason they needed more help, John was prepared to go straight to Todd on this one. Todd owed him, owed him big time, and he was prepared to see that the debt was paid.
And it wouldn’t come to that, he repeated. Get Rodney’s brain back to normal, and he’d be the one solving his own problem, bitching all the while. A pigeon swooped past the window, a fat shape against the bright sky. It was obviously enjoying the good weather, too, John thought. It was the first one he’d seen in a while, though the maintenance crews’ reports made it clear the colony wasn’t exactly diminishing. Maybe they could put Rodney on the whole ‘alien life-forms’ problem, not that there seemed to be much of a local ecosystem to interfere with. It would be worth it just for the look on his face.
He glanced down into the gate room again, automatically noting the Marines beside the Stargate, the sergeant less than an arm’s length from the control lever even while he looked at something one of the kids was showing him on his phone. In the control room, Banks was frankly reading what looked like an old copy of Cosmo, and Airman Salawi looked to be studying something distinctly non-regulation on her laptop. Even Zelenka seemed to be checking the schedule for movie night rather than running another diagnostic. It was almost — peaceful, John thought, and winced as his mind formed the word. That was the worst thing you could say, guaranteed to bring trouble. He could hear Rodney’s voice in his head — oh, come on, Sheppard, you don’t really believe that superstitious crap, do you? — and Salawi straightened at her console.
“Dr. Zelenka?”
Zelenka closed his file, slid down the bank of consoles to look over her shoulder. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, John thought, as though they were underwater again, waiting for the windows to collapse on them…
“Yes,” Zelenka said, softly, sadly. “I see it. Can you increase — yes, good.”
Salawi gave him a quick, scared look, and turned back to her controls. Zelenka turned to face the upper row of consoles where John was standing, and John knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth.
“Colonel Sheppard. Our long range sensors have picked up a Wraith cruiser just exiting hyperspace.”
See? John said, to Rodney’s memory, and braced himself against the rail. “What’s it doing?”
“Nothing, at the moment,” Zelenka said. All along the row of consoles, the signs of leisure had vanished. Lynn and the botanist were closing windows, clearing the console for the defense team; on the gate room floor, the phone had disappeared, and somehow all the Marines were back in full body armor.
Zelenka touched keys, frowning through his glasses. “I think — I believe it is scanning, though at very low power.”
“It doesn’t know we’re here?” John said, dubiously.
“Or it is merely here to test our defenses,” Zelenka said. “It is at the very edge of our sensors’ capability. Salawi did well to pick out the anomaly.”
“Dr. Zelenka,” Salawi said. “A second window just opened. It’s a hive ship.”
Zelenka said something pithy in Czech. “It is moving to join the cruiser. They are both scanning now, I think.”
That made ‘testing the defenses’ seem unpleasantly likely, and John bit his lip, considering his options. “Put the city on standby,” he said, to Banks, “and get me colonels Carter and Caldwell.”
“Yes, sir,” Banks said.
It didn’t take long for the colonels to reach the control room, but even so, most of the key personnel had found their way in ahead of them. Teyla had appeared, silent and competent, shaking her head when John asked if she could sense the Wraith. Ronon was skulking in the background, not as quiet as Teyla, but with enough discretion that John could pretend he hadn’t noticed him, and Lorne was leaning on his crutches at the end of the consoles. That, at least, John could do something about, and as he crossed to meet the approaching colonels, he said, “Sit down before you fall down, Major.”
Lorne gave him a look at that, but did as he was told.
“Colonel,” John said, to both of them. “We’ve got a situation.”
“So I heard,” Caldwell said.
Carter nodded. “How far out?” She was already heading for the sensor station, and the others fell in behind her.
“They are just inside the orbit of the last planet,” Zelenka said. “So, perhaps — five hours out, maybe four at their best speed? But right now they are just lurking.”
“Lurking?” John said.
“And probably scanning.” Zelenka shook his head at the screens. “I cannot be sure about that. They are using very low power. But neither ship is approaching the city as yet.”
“What the hell do they want?” Caldwell murmured. John assumed the question was rhetorical, but Carter looked over her shoulder.
“My guess is they’re scouting. Unless they’re Todd’s, but I’d expect him to have contacted us by now.”
“We can’t let them get close enough to tell that we don’t have a shield,” John said. It might be obvious, but he figured somebody had to say it. “Otherwise — ”
“Otherwise Death sends her fleet and we’re well and truly screwed,” Caldwell said. “On the other hand, I’m not eager to take on a hive ship and a cruiser with just Daedalus and Hammond unless we have to.”
“It is one of the smaller ones,” Zelenka put in, sounding almost apologetic. “And the cruiser is of the kind that does not carry Darts.”
“They’re still just sitting there,” Carter said. She straightened. “Colonel, I’m inclined to ignore them unless they decide to make a closer pass. From their current position, there’s no way they can determine that we don’t have shields, and it’s far enough out that we might not have picked them up.”
John nodded, though every instinct was screaming to get to the chair, to be ready to defend the city. “Dr. Zelenka. You said we had a little power in that ZPM. How much is a little?”
“Not enough.” Zelenka spun his chair away from the console and looked up at them. The light glinted from his glasses, hiding his eyes. “You could probably fire drones, one, maybe two. Perhaps — in one simulation, perhaps as many as five. But the shield… it would only hold for a minute or so, which would hardly do us any good.”
Not even as a bluff, John thought. He said, “OK, shield’s out, but we might have drones. That’s something.”
“I’d rather it didn’t come to that,” Caldwell said.