*In the Mess Hall?* Ember’s mental voice was amused. *I do not think there are things that I would eat.*
*Are you hungry then?”
*Not noticeably,* Ember said. *I can go several days yet if I do not have to heal myself. If I am still here then…*
*If you are still here then, there are many who have had the trial of the retrovirus,* Teyla said. *Perhaps a volunteer can be found.*
Ember came and stood beside her. *You would ask one of your men to do this?*
*I expect a volunteer can be found,* Teyla said, not intending her mental picture of Dr. Zelenka to be seen, but it was.
*I gave him great pain before.*
*But no lasting harm.* Teyla put her hand to the glass.
*It seems not.* There was a shade of embarrassment in his mental voice, and she could find the source of it easily enough that he had been so far gone in pain as to be without restraint, desperate enough to save his own life that he would have killed the man who had helped him if Radek had not had the retrovirus. *I would have been sorry to kill him,* Ember said quietly.
*I know.* Teyla took a deep breath. *There are many I have killed for which I am sorry.*
Ember looked at her sideways, as if wary to receive such confidence from one he considered a queen.
*But we do what we must to live, or else we die,* Teyla said. *And I have never been one who was willing to die.* She shook her head. *And that was the choice of the First Mothers. I cannot say I would have chosen differently.*
His mind was open, and she showed him a shard of memory the bright tapestry of a starfield far from any world, beyond heliopause in the silence between systems where the Wraith were safe. Five ships hovered there, small and awkward for hive ships today, but hive ships nevertheless, grown from mollusks found on a distant world a thousand years ago. Five ships and two hundred and seventy four people, four daughters and twenty one sons, two granddaughters and sixty two grandsons, innumerable friends and consorts and men of other lines come to join her Osprey’s family. This was her line, her legacy, these ships, these men, these bright and brilliant daughters, this fleet. They had not simply survived. They had thrived. And they were beautiful. Her heart was filled by a life of such joy. Osprey stretched her mind out over the fleet, feeling her daughters answer, feeling each precious mind. Mother of Queens, First Mother…
Ember bent his head. To see such a thing from her mind was honor indeed.
*I did not know,* Teyla said. *I did not know there was beauty. I saw only death. Only hardship. When I first remembered, I felt pity. I pitied Osprey her suffering and for the injustice done to her. That was what I felt at first.*
*And now?* Ember asked boldly.
*I feel pride,* Teyla said. She reached down and scooped up Newton where he wound about her ankles. *Come. Let us return Newton to Dr. McKay.*
Atlantis’s current supply officer was a young Air Force lieutenant who had been hastily posted to Atlantis as they were leaving Earth. Lorne privately felt they would have been better off trying to get the highly competent Lt. Alberti back, even if it had required twisting multiple arms to do it. What he had, however, was Lt. Winston, who had an unfortunate faith in the reliability of all other links in the supply chain.
“That equipment came out of the shipment we just got a couple of weeks ago when Daedalus was here,” Winston said.
“That’s what I just told you.”
“So it should be fine.”
“It should be, but it isn’t,” Lorne said. “Two of the water containers sprung leaks, and one of the tents fell apart as soon as it was set up.”
“Maybe it wasn’t set up properly.”
“That’s possible. But that shouldn’t make it fall apart like it’s been shredded. And are you saying they filled the water cans with water wrong?”
“Maybe they put them down on rocks.”
“There’s nothing but rocks to put them down on. Come on, now. Let’s take a look at the rest of the gear from that shipment and see how much of it is pre-wrecked for our convenience.”
“The SGC wouldn’t send us defective equipment,” Winston said.
“You have got a lot to learn about life,” Lorne said. “Or at least about life in the military. Show me the containers.”
It took an hour to inventory the contents of the containers that had arrived on Daedalus. None of the other gear showed visible signs of damage or manufacturing defects, but then presumably neither had the tent and the water cans before they were used.
“Okay,” Lorne said finally. “Did Harper come pick up a new tent and water cans?”
“Right before you got down here,” Winston said.
The door to the supply warehouse slid open at that moment, and Harper came in, scowling. “You know those new water cans you issued me? One of them fell apart as soon we took it out of the jumper,” she said. “It looks like it melted. The others are still holding water, but I’m telling you there’s something wrong with these cans.”
“All right,” Lorne said. “Get a water trailer out there. We’re going to need one anyway if we’re going to have people stationed there for any length of time. How’s the new tent holding up?”
“They were setting it up when I left,” she said.
“Let me know if it stays up. Get the rest of the site set up, and let me know if you have any other equipment failures. I’ve got to go take Dr. Lynn and Dr. Zelenka to Sateda today, but I’ll come out and take a look when I get back.” They were dropping off some portable generators to help the Satedans get electric power to areas that crucially needed it, in exchange for letting Lynn explore the Satedan museum more fully, this time hopefully without the threat of Genii soldiers storming in while he was doing it.
He turned to Winston. “Have one of your people set up some of these tents out on the pier, and see if they fall apart. Let’s not have a gate team find that out when they’re relying on them for shelter in a blizzard. And start testing the water cans, too. Let’s find out if any of them actually hold water.”
“Yes, sir,” Winston said with a martyred expression.
“Because if we do end up with a gate team put in danger because of potentially defective supplies, Colonel Sheppard will start asking questions about whether these potentially defective supplies were tested before they were issued. And I’ll have answers for him. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Ronon stood in the doorway of Eva’s office, not sure whether there was any point in being there or not. “Are you busy?”
“No,” she said. “But you can make an appointment if you want.”
He shrugged. “I thought I’d come see if you were busy.”
“I’m not busy,” she said, shifting in her chair to brace her injured leg more comfortably. “Come in and sit down. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Ronon sat down. “I think you ought to tell Sheppard and Teyla not to trust the Wraith so much.”
“I’m not sure that’s exactly my job,” Eva said after a momentary pause.
“You said you gave people advice.”
“When they ask for it. How about you tell me why you’re worried about them trusting the Wraith too much?”
“Because we’ve got a Wraith in the city again.”
Eva nodded. “And you don’t like it.”
“It’s dangerous. So maybe they can help us find some old relics of the Asgard. So what. That’s not worth having them here. Having people get used to them, like they’re supposed to be here.”
“You’re afraid that people won’t be on their guard if something dangerous happens.”
“Sheppard probably will be. I don’t know about Teyla.”
“Teyla’s never struck me as a careless kind of person. Does she strike you that way?”