A babble of voices broke out. Dekaas’ brows knit. “A retrovirus? Why would we do that?”
“It strengthens the human body so that feeding upon a human doesn’t kill them,” the Wraith said.
“You mean like that enzyme?” Dekaas demanded. “We’ve seen the results of that. It’s as deadly as the feeding, just slower.”
“This is not the same,” the Wraith said. “It has been tested on many humans so far with no lasting ill effects. It does indeed allow feeding without death.”
“And why would we allow that?” Fenna asked. “That’s crazy.”
“We will feed in return for providing assistance,” the Wraith said. His eyes swept over the crowd. “I see that you have injured among you. We could heal your injured for a price.”
“That’s impossible,” someone said.
“It’s not,” Dekaas replied. His eyes never left the Wraith. “But life must be taken from one to give to another.”
“No longer,” the Wraith said. “Our scientists have rendered that unnecessary. A treated human may be fed upon with no ill effects, and thus life may be given to another.”
“And what do you get out of it?” Fenna demanded.
“Food, of course.” The Wraith looked over them again. “We will return. If any of you have chosen to participate in the trial, you may come with us then.” He gestured to one of the drones, who stepped forward to dial the gate.
One of the men with bolt action rifles rose to oppose him, but Fenna gestured him back. “Let them go,” she said. “No sense calling trouble down on us.”
“A wise choice,” the Wraith said.
Chapter Fourteen
Rodney glared at John across the desk in what was once again John’s office. “So basically you lost Elizabeth. You found people who knew a woman named Elizabeth who had lost her memory, but she went somewhere with somebody and you don’t know who or where.”
John shifted in the office chair uncomfortably, as though he were more worried than his words admitted. “Rodney, it’s not a problem. We know she’s on a Traveler ship belonging to a guy named Lesko. The ship’s probably in hyperspace or trading somewhere remote right now, but as soon as it rendezvous with Larrin’s ship she’ll give us a call and then we go get Elizabeth.”
“At least you admit Elizabeth is alive,” Rodney said.
Teyla thought it was time to put in a word. “It is highly unlikely that there is another woman named Elizabeth who has lost her memory, especially since it is a name from Earth and I have never heard it in this galaxy. So yes, Elizabeth is alive.”
“But is she a Replicator?” Ronon asked, and the other three turned to look at him. Ronon spread his hands. “I hate to say it. But I’ve got to say it.”
“We don’t know,” John said tightly. “We don’t have any idea whether she’s human or Replicator. And the only way we’ll know is to find her.”
“She’s human,” Rodney said.
Teyla closed her eyes for a moment. “Rodney, you cannot know that.”
“When Jackson unascended he was human.”
“He was human when he ascended,” John pointed out.
“Why would she unascend as a Replicator?” Rodney demanded. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“We don’t know!” John was actually shouting, what Teyla thought was clearly a measure of his frustration with the entire situation. “We don’t know, Rodney! We have no idea. We’re messing with stuff nobody has any idea about! All we can do is find her and then see.”
“You don’t have to yell about it,” Rodney said. “I was just pointing out…”
“Don’t you come back the way you went?” Ronon asked.
“We don’t know!” John snapped. “So how about everybody refrain from speculating while we look for her? Let’s put out another call for Larrin and ask her to let us know when she hears from Lesko’s ship.” When everyone just sat there he stood up. “Rodney! Go do it!”
“Right.” Rodney got up and left, a picture of injured dignity. “Don’t bother to say, McKay, you were right.”
“McKay, you were maybe kind of right,” Ronon said, clapping him on the shoulder as he followed him out.
Teyla waited until the door closed. “Do you think it is Elizabeth?”
“I don’t know.” John’s eyes were worried. “We might be chasing a red herring. Somebody who lost her memory and we supplied the name to the Mazatla. Or it might be a Replicator.”
“Or it might be Elizabeth,” Teyla said. “But I see your point that we must not rush to conclusions. There are many people in the galaxy who would like to lure us into a trap. Including some we think of as allies.”
“The Genii,” John said.
“Yes. I do not think they can repudiate their treaty with us at this time, but I am certain there are some who would like to. If we were to make ourselves vulnerable…”
“And there’s this business about the Asgard following us. We have no idea how they did that.”
“That is indeed disturbing,” Teyla said.
“Some kind of subspace… I don’t know.” John shook his head. “But you were right when you said it was too much of a coincidence. They’re following us because they want something and we have no idea what.”
“Maybe they found it,” Teyla said. “Maybe the device was what they wanted.” She paused. “Or maybe it’s Elizabeth.”
“How would they know about Elizabeth? Even if she were unascended?”
“I do not know,” Teyla said. “But it is possible that the Asgard are also hunting for her.”
“I know.” John looked down at his laptop like he could see some answer there. “I’d like to go charging off on this like McKay.”
“But you cannot. You are in charge of Atlantis.”
“Until further notice,” John said.
Richard Woolsey looked out the window at bumper to bumper traffic moving up Massachusetts Avenue toward Union Station, a cold February rain falling over DC, not quite cold enough to freeze. He supposed it was rush hour though it felt earlier in the day to him, his body still on Mountain Time. Or maybe on Atlantis time. Which he needed to put behind him, because he was here to stay. This was his office. Quickly emptied of former Governor Roy Martin’s things, this office in Homeworld Security in downtown DC was his until future notice, until he resigned, the President dismissed him, or he died.
There was a knock on the door and he turned to see the super-efficient Lt. Colonel Davis with a stack of briefing folders. “Come in,” Woolsey said. He went around behind his desk and sat down. “If you’ve got a moment, I’d like to hear from you what the most pressing issues are.” And that was a thing he’d learned in Atlantis: the papers could tell you far less about what was really important than an on-the-ball subordinate could.
Davis slid into one of the visitor chairs like he’d expected to be asked. General O’Neill probably employed this technique all the time. “The most critical thing is the logistical support for the expansion of Atlantis personnel.”
Woolsey blinked. “What expansion?”
“Atlantis is getting twenty-eight more people leaving on Daedalus tomorrow, to be assigned permanently, with another seventeen following on Daedalus’ next run in eight weeks,” Davis replied. “They’re all Indian. Sixteen of the current group are civilian scientists and five of the next group. The balance are Indian Air Force personnel who are assigned to support for the Asoka.” Woolsey must have looked blank because Davis continued. “The Asoka is the Indian research vessel that’s preparing to launch.”
“I thought that was next year,” Woolsey said.