“— Picked up Dr. Zelenka and Dr. Robinson and the missing Wraith Guide was worried about. And we have Dr. McKay, though we’re not entirely sure how he got here —“
McKay? John sat up sharply. “McKay’s alive?”
The city found video feeds, presented him with a picture of Carter frowning through hazy air, the hair at her forehead damp with sweat. “That’s right, Colonel,” she said, with that familiar grin that said they’d gotten away with something. “He’s in my sickbay with a broken wrist, but otherwise he’s none the worse for wear.”
McKay wasn’t dead. John felt a grin of his own spreading across his face. He didn’t care how — didn’t really care about anything except the simple indisputable fact. Neither of them had paid the price this time. “That’s good,” he said, knowing the words were hopelessly inadequate. “That’s great.”
“Yeah.” Carter’s grin widened.
“What’s Atlantis’s status?” Woolsey asked, and John shook himself back to the business at hand, the readings jumping to present themselves.
“Shields are at about seventy percent. The East Pier maneuver engine is still out, but we have better control now that nobody’s shooting at us.”
“Can we land the city?” O’Neill asked.
John considered, the answer coming not from the displays but directly through the chair, as though he could feel the damage like bruises on his own skin. There would be work to be done, but the repulsors were all still intact, and there was plenty of power left in the ZPMs. The repaired conduit was fragile, but holding, and the city projected that it would not need to use more than those repairs could stand. In fact, the sooner they were down and could lower the shield, the sooner they could reroute power around the damaged areas. “Yes, sir,” he said. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Take her home,” O’Neill said.
John relaxed into the chair’s embrace, easing the city down through the layers of the atmosphere, bleeding speed against the night sky, the aurora leaping around them. If there had been anyone to see, Atlantis would have blazed like a comet, friction flaming bright against the shields, more massive than any meteor, trailing dark smoke across the stars. Now the aurora flashed cold around him, the shields trailing streamers of blue and green and scarlet. He held the city steady, balanced against gravity, the lines of force holding them safe, the fragile towers cradled at the still center where all the forces intersected.
And then they had slowed enough, dropped below the level of the aurora, and ahead the horizon glowed white as they rushed toward the dawn. This time, there was plenty of power, plenty of time to choose his line, to find his perfect landing spot, the city laying out the pattern as though he had all the time in the world. The sun was rising, the city sailing to meet it around the curve of the world, the ocean stretching clear and empty as he brought the city gently down to meet the waves. Atlantis struck, slowed and settled, the water heaving away from her blue and foam-streaked in the new light. Satisfaction filled him, his own, the city’s, mingled and indistinguishable, the job well done at last..
“Atlantis has landed,” he said, and let the city wash over him.
Jennifer leaned forward in her chair in Woolsey's office. It was still early morning, but with blessedly few casualties for the infirmary to treat, she wanted to seize the moment. "I've been talking to Guide," she said. "He and Alabaster plan to conduct a large-scale test of the retrovirus on Alabaster's people."
Woolsey raised his eyebrows. "Do we think this is a good thing?"
"I really don't know. For these particular people, yes, I think it is. It means that when they go to Alabaster for healing, they won't be giving up years of their lives, or even risking death to save the patients."
"I wasn't certain she'd be going back."
"I don't think she plans to stay there permanently. I understand she's settling in on Just Fortune. But the test is going to take some time, and once it's done, I expect the hive will return to the planet at intervals to feed."
"As long as that's a voluntary choice for the local residents."
"I hope it will be. If Alabaster heals their sick when she visits, I think there will be enough people who feel that undergoing the discomfort of being fed on is a fair exchange. But I'd like us to be able to monitor that. Plus I'd like to actually see the results of the test, and find out if there are long-term side effects or improvements we can make."
"What are you suggesting, Dr. Keller?"
Jennifer took a deep breath. "I'd like to go with Alabaster and Guide. Not just for the initial administration of the retrovirus, but to monitor its effects over the next few months. And then after that to work with them as they administer the retrovirus to other human worlds. Hopefully, they'll pick worlds they already control, rather than just showing up on a random planet and forcing the locals to take the retrovirus. But I understand we're still negotiating about that."
"We are," Woolsey said. "I expect those negotiations will be ongoing for some time. The Wraith would like us to cede control over half the Pegasus Galaxy to them in exchange for leaving the other half entirely alone. I have no idea what the IOA is going to say about that."
"What do you hope they say?"
Woolsey met her eyes frankly. "Dr. Keller, I wish I knew."
"You and me both."
"I understand that you want to monitor the administration of the retrovirus, but we will need you here in Atlantis."
"You need a chief medical officer," Jennifer said. "I'm — I guess I’m proposing resigning from that position. This retrovirus — I know we can't control what the Wraith do with it at this point, but surely we'd like to know what they are doing with it."
"We certainly would like to know," Woolsey said. "And you're proposing actually living with the Wraith for a period of months?"
"Or more," Jennifer said. "If nothing else, it's an opportunity we've never had to study the Wraith. There's so much we don't know about their biology, and even more we don't know about their culture."
"And you think they'll be willing to share this information?"
"Probably not at first. If they take me with them, it'll be because they think I'm a useful animal, like some kind of service dog. I don't have any illusions that I'll be much more than a pet. But I'll get to see parts of Wraith life we've never seen, and working on the retrovirus together is going to teach me a lot about their biotechnology."
"You will also probably see them killing people," Woolsey said.
"I know," Jennifer said. "Believe me, that's the part I've been thinking hard about. But… they're going to do that whether I'm there or not. If anything, I hope that having human pets around — me, and Alabaster's humans — will encourage the Wraith on Just Fortune to limit their diet to humans who've had the retrovirus. I'm not a vegetarian, but if I could have a perfect substitute for meat that wouldn't require killing animals, that would sound pretty good to me."
"I also expect that some people would find it unnatural."
"I expect there to be some resistance. Yes. And there's the question of the humans in the feeding cells, which is… frankly disturbing. My hope would be that they'll be willing to maintain a population of humans aboard ship who are willing to be fed on instead, and give them reasonable living quarters while they're there."