Teyla shook her head. “I am not sure it is a choice that I can imagine making for myself or my people. Any chance of life seems better than none at all. Even if you can see no solution to a problem, there is always some slim hope.”
“I think you’re right,” Daniel said. He shook his head. “But you were telling us about what you’d heard from our allies. It sounds like basically we struck out.”
“Not entirely,” Teyla said. “None of our human allies appear to have anything more than old legends to share with us, but we were able to make contact with our allies among the Wraith as well. Queen Alabaster says she may have information of interest to us.”
“Okay,” Daniel said after a momentary pause. “Tell me how bad an idea that is.”
“Alabaster was our ally in the war against Queen Death,” Teyla said. “She has been faithful to the treaty we agreed to after the end of that war.”
“The treaty that the IOA hasn’t actually agreed to yet.”
“The Wraith have so far been willing to accept our own provisionary agreement to the treaty, as long as none of our warships venture into their territory.”
“Have we actually told them that we don’t have any authority to promise that, because Earth’s battle cruisers don’t actually belong to the Atlantis expedition?”
Teyla put her head to one side. “Do you believe that would be a wise negotiating tactic?”
“No, I’m not arguing with everybody acting like we have a treaty, I’m just trying to figure out where we stand. So, we have a treaty, but actually the only ones on our side who’ve actually agreed to the treaty are the Atlantis expedition. Our battle cruisers report up the chain of the command, which means in practice they report to Jack, who’s not going to break the treaty unless he has a good reason to. And the Wraith say they’re keeping the treaty, but actually we don’t really know what they’re doing.”
“We have had some reports that the Wraith have offered the retrovirus on several worlds in their territory,” Teyla said. “And there have been no recent reports of cullings on the worlds that they have agreed to leave alone.”
“So that’s something. What’s your feeling about Alabaster?”
“I think she will continue to hold to the treaty at least until she has experimented more widely with the retrovirus. She would like to find a way for the Wraith to feed repeatedly on humans without killing them.”
“More immediately, do you think she’s really willing to meet with us, or do you think it’s some kind of trap?”
“We should be cautious,” Teyla said. “But Alabaster is a sensible person. I don’t believe either she or Guide would betray us without a good reason.”
“That’s comforting, I guess. Is Dr. Keller still travelling with their hive?”
“So Alabaster says. It would be good to see her, and to make sure that she is all right.”
“You don’t have to convince me,” Daniel said. “I’m up for meeting with Alabaster if Woolsey will go for it.”
“Many people hesitate to meet with the Wraith,” Teyla said.
Daniel shrugged. “I’ve been to a meeting of Goa’uld system lords. That was worse. Besides, I figure it’ll be interesting.”
“I expect it will,” Teyla said.
On his way into the dining hall for lunch, Daniel ran into John dumping his tray on the way out. He could see the rest of John’s team still eating. Torren was on Teyla’s lap, reaching for French fries off Rodney’s plate; Rodney scooted the tray back as an evasive maneuver, with a tolerant smile that seemed entirely uncharacteristic. Ronon took the opportunity to steal a French fry from the other side of Rodney’s plate, handing it to Torren, and Teyla shook her head at them both.
“Did Teyla tell you we heard from the Wraith?” John said.
“Yep.”
“We’re trying to set something up. I take it you want to come with us.”
“I’m the archaeologist, so, yes.”
“I figured you’d say that. In which case, officially I can’t recommend that you get Carson to give you the retrovirus before we go, because it’s an untested experimental drug. You only get it if you ask for it personally and then sign a stack of waivers saying that it’s probably a bad idea and also not guaranteed to work.”
“But… ”
“But we’re going to visit the Wraith, so think about it. Personally anything that makes it less likely that I’m going to die like that makes me feel better.”
“Your team has taken the drug?”
“Me and Teyla,” John said. “Rodney was thinking about it, but Carson said no, he’s not doing anything to mess with Rodney’s genes now that he’s got him back to normal again. More or less normal.”
“I’ll talk to Beckett about it,” Daniel said. “But I’m basically in favor of not dying, given a choice.”
John glanced back at the table, where Torren was now clambering over Ronon’s shoulder. “Some people would say it’s preferable to the alternative. If you’ve taken the drug and someone sticks you in a feeding cell, you’re going to be there for a long time.”
“I’d rather have the chance,” Daniel said immediately. “There’s always some way out.”
John shrugged, unsmiling. “Then talk to Carson,” he said.
The Traveler ship Durant made planetfall on Dhalo at midmorning local time, though a thick cloud layer covered the landing site until the last moment. Elizabeth assumed they were landing based on instrument readings, since from the windows of the dining room she could see nothing but gray clouds.
Suddenly the clouds thinned, Durant making a wide circle toward their landing point. Beneath was a land of dark green and brown, heavy vegetation along a wide, placid river in the rain. Huge, twisted trees spread massive leaves to the sky, and the ship’s course led it over a town partially built out over the river, small boats moored at fragile-looking long docks, while the shore was built up with buildings in white and red, a few on the highest ground of stone with elaborate carvings. It was strange and beautiful and fascinating.
Ahead there was a cleared field marked out in banners like yellow windsocks, and Durant settled onto it, sinking heavily into the soggy ground. A rainy season, Elizabeth wondered. Or just a particularly wet day?
The Durant’s lower hatch opened. Across the field there were figures moving in the heavy rain, a welcome party or a trader party. The comm unit crackled to life. “OK, folks. Going out to get permission to trade. Get your things together if you have independent trades. I’ll leave the comm on so you can hear terms.”
As they grew closer Elizabeth frowned, trying to get a better look through the rain streaked window. There were twenty or thirty men all wearing bright colors, mostly bright pink and red silks that clung to their bodies in the rain, long black hair pulled back from their faces beneath steel caps. Perhaps that was just a ceremonial uniform, but the bows they carried weren’t. They stopped in a semicircle three ranks deep facing the ship.
“This does not look good,” Elizabeth said to herself.
The captain came down the ramp smiling. “Hi folks! How’s everybody doing? Prince Raiuna! How are you?”
The man at the center of the semicircle took a step forward. His silks were soaked with rain, which also dripped off his neatly trimmed black beard. He was tall, and his bow was still slung at his back. He wore what looked like a sword at his belt. “Begone!” he said. “You’re not welcome here.”