Warriors and city officials were now crowding around the table, talking about the weapon. Naturally, no one had ever seen it because it was inside the Enclave, but all of them were convinced it existed.
“Why is it that nobody thinks to mention little details like this earlier?” Rodney’s face had turned an entertaining puce, but then it shifted, chameleon-like, to a shade that John recognized as ecstatic pink. “That’s it! My God, that’s incredible!” declared his teammate. “Dalera didn’t have a ZPM, so she figured out how to power a weapon via this grid!”
“Okay,” John said, attempting to keep himself from swaying. “That’s good. But it doesn’t explain why the Wraith are trying to get to it — assuming that’s their intention. They can’t use it.”
“Peryn probably could have,” Rodney said, his voice contemplative. “He was a natural Gene carrier.”
This still wasn’t adding up. “So the Wraith figured on what? Grabbing themselves what would have to be a relatively low-tech weapon dependent on someone with the ATA gene to operate?”
“And thus I remind you that the Wraith have apparently succeeded in constructing — what was the last count? Sixty, I believe? — hive ships doubtless powered by something similar to a ZPM. Sadly, they weren’t born yesterday. Given their level of technology, they could conceivably reverse-engineer any weapon. Or at least, they must think that they can. With an ATA gene bearer held prisoner—”
He didn’t have to explain further. Turning to Yann, John asked, “Have all of the outlying villages now been evacuated?”
“Yes. And amongst the refugees more and more Genes are being discovered. They are now returning to the villages so that they may use the Shields in such a way that it confuses the Wraith.”
Okay. That was something to work with. “Order all of the Genes to get back here, immediately. If McKay is right—”
“Of course I’m right!”
“—we need to get every one of the Stations manned to slot into this weapon’s grid. Equally importantly, if just one Gene is captured by a Wraith, we could be in serious trouble.”
Yann’s eyes widened, and he turned and began issuing orders to the warriors.
“We have to get to the Enclave,” Rodney declared, snatching up his pack. “Although the temple or whatever it was has been destroyed, despite what I said to Lisera earlier, the teaching windows in Sanctuary Hall might offer a clue as to the exact location of this weapon.” He strode determinedly to the door, speaking as he went.
“Just hang on a minute.” John pulled on his own pack and picked up his P-90, pleased to see that it had been cleaned and loaded. Ford must have…Damn. Quickly heading off that thought before it could lead somewhere he wasn’t prepared to go, he followed McKay out and down the stairs. “What exactly are you proposing?” He paused when they reached the bottom of the steps. Affixing a contemplative look on his face would hopefully mask the fact that he could barely see through the hammering in his skull. Christ, but concussions sucked. “Wouldn’t it be better if we go straight to the Enclave?”
“And spend hours sifting through charcoal? The teaching windows are our best option.” He shot a narrow-eyed look at John. “You should wait here.”
“Who, me?” John smiled and swallowed back the almost overwhelming need to throw up. “Just a little headache. All I need is some fresh air.”
Outside, the light was dim, the air hazy and anything but fresh. Regretting the action almost before he took it, John set as brisk a pace as he could manage. Although most of the smoke was blowing away from the Citadel, that wouldn’t last long if the Wraith decided to take matters into their own hands and light a few incendiary weapons over Black Hill.
Swept off her feet, Teyla had managed to catch sight of two things simultaneously. One had been the face of Dr McKay, who appeared to have been shouting at someone, and the other had been a wall of flames screaming toward them atop the wave of oil.
Peryn’s reflexes had fortunately remained sharp, and he’d slapped his hand down on a button before the doors were fully open. A wall of heat had struck, but the doors had kept the fire itself at bay.
“They’ll need reinforcements! ” Aiden declared instantly, trying, and failing, to stand in the swirling blackwater. “We need to get back to the Command Center and find a bugler.”
The transport opened into the remains of a building that had recently been ravaged by fire. Weapon poised, Teyla stepped out and looked around. The structure was too large to have been the Sanctuary Hall, and the little she could see through the smoking ruins indicated that they were still inside the Citadel. She turned to Peryn. “Where have you taken us?”
Before he could respond, a tremendous, ground-shaking explosion erupted from somewhere nearby. It was immediately followed by a massive pall of gray smoke. Glass shards crunching underfoot, Teyla ran with Ford across to where a wall had stood until recently, and looked out.
“On second thought, maybe reinforcements won’t be necessary,” the Lieutenant offered when the worst of the smoke cleared.
It appeared that the transport they had most recently used at North Bridge was gone, along with a nearby building. Although she could not be certain from this angle, it seemed that the majority of the Wraith had been killed by the explosion. As she and Ford watched, the remaining Wraith were overrun by warriors and Dalerans arriving from adjacent streets.
Teyla noticed that Peryn had not followed her and Ford, but instead was still standing in the transport, staring at the residue of blackwater pooling at his feet. Returning to him, she said, “Peryn? What is it?”
He glanced up once, and in the light given off by the oil fire, she saw that his youthful face was pale and wracked with guilt. Quickly averting his gaze, he whispered, “I tried to fight them.”
Understanding his dilemma, Teyla took Peryn’s chin in her hand and lifted his face until their eyes met. “There is no shame in being captured.”
“They were so strong!” Peryn’s voice fractured, and he tried to stem his tears. “The Wraith…It was like he was inside my head, forcing me.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault, okay?” Lieutenant Ford clasped a hand on his shoulder. “You couldn’t help what they did to you.”
“I…I did not let them see this.” Peryn wiped his eyes and pointed to a recess in the inside wall of the transport.
Teyla bent to look. “This is the panel the Major discovered soon after we arrived.”
Ford walked back outside into the ruins and looked around. “This must be the Enclave. Or at least it was the Enclave. Not much left, now.”
“Why did you bring us here, Peryn?” Teyla asked, following the Lieutenant. The smell of burned remains was strong. While familiar to her, it was an odor that had, until recently, had been exclusively associated with the Wraith. Such a waste, that Dalerans should fight among each other.
“In my head…”The boy followed them, sniffing noisily. “I don’t know. This place seemed important to them somehow, and they made it feel like it was important to me. That’s how they tried to get me to come here.”
His words disturbed Teyla in ways that she could not fully articulate, perhaps because they seemed connected to her ability to sense the Wraith. “Then you did well to conceal the fact.”
Nodding in agreement, Lieutenant Ford moved out ahead of them. “Maybe we should take a look around before we report back.”
During the walk to the Sanctuary Hall, John did in fact begin to feel better. The sight of crowded refugees filling the streets also helped, because their presence was a testimony to how many had been saved. Once inside, though, he began to realize that not everyone was quite so pleased. The place was filled not only with villagers but inhabitants of the Citadel, anxious to escape the worst excesses of those who roamed the lower levels of the city, pillaging and killing. The end of the Wraith siege wouldn’t be the end of the Dalerans’ battle.