by Jo Graham
*No shit,* Rodney said. It was absolutely black. He could see nothing. *Where are we? Why’re you talking mind to mind ?*
*I thought until we knew where we were and what was happening it was best not to speak aloud,* Ember said. *As to the rest, I know no more than you. I woke only shortly before you did.* He moved. Rodney could hear the creak of his leather tunic in the darkness. *Jackson lies over there. He is unconscious.*
*Teyla? Ronon?*
*I have not found them yet.*
*Wraith,* Rodney thought.
Ember’s mind was cool, considering. *If so, it is another hive,* he said at last. *And I do not know the technology.*
*And I should believe you?* Rodney asked. *I’ve seen Wraith mind games, remember?*
He heard the creak of leather again, and Ember’s hand found his arm, sliding down to touch palm to palm. *Do I deceive you?*
Open, clear
—
there was no deceit there. Ember was telling the truth. Which of course didn’t mean that there wasn’t another hive in this. Ember wouldn’t necessarily know.
There was a familiar moan, and Rodney whipped around, eyes searching the darkness fruitlessly. “Teyla?” For once he wished he had his Wraith vision back.
The sound of Ember moving, and then Teyla’s voice, mumbling as though she came out from under anesthetic. “Rodney?”
*He is here,* Ember said mind to mind, *And so am I. We have been stunned and we do not know where we are.*
*Where are Ronon and Dr. Jackson?*
Rodney put out one hand in the dark. That was Teyla’s foot. OK, that was Ember’s thigh where he knelt beside her.
*Jackson is unconscious over there,* Ember said.
*Hang on,* Rodney said. He pressed the little button for the LEDs that lit the face of his watch. In the absolute darkness the tiny light seemed incredibly bright, but it was just bright enough to make out the general forms of his companions. He turned away, trying to direct the light around. There was another darker lump beyond Teyla. Rodney scrambled over. “Ronon?” He let go of the light, fumbling to find his friend’s carotid artery. There was the pulse, slow and steady. *He’s alive,* he said to Teyla and Ember. *But he’s out cold.*
*So is Dr. Jackson,* Ember replied.
Teyla sat up, Ember steadying her. Her voice sounded a little stronger. *We have greater resistance to whatever was used than they did.*
*I am fully Wraith,* Ember said. *And then Rodney. And then you.*
*Which does suggest this isn’t a Wraith thing,* Rodney said. *If it’s least effective on Wraith.*
*Or that it is,* Teyla said darkly. *Like the device we found on the planet that caused half our people to kill each other.*
*The one you were immune to,* Rodney said. *And Sheppard shot me.*
*That one,* Teyla said and felt in the pockets of her BDUs, producing a little LED flashlight on a clip. Teyla turned it on, the light seeming unbearably bright after complete darkness.
Ember got to his feet. *I am more interested in finding out where we are.*
*I do not know,* Teyla said. *But we were not carried here. See?* There were no marks in the dust of the floor around where she lay other than where Rodney and Ember had disturbed it.
*Beaming technology,* Rodney said. *So if not Wraith, Asgard.*
*Vanir,* Ember said, his mental tone agreement. *What you call Asgard.*
Rodney got to his feet, trying to illuminate the space around them with his watch, which wasn’t much use. It just wasn’t bright enough for human vision, but maybe it was enough for Wraith. *Ember, what do you see?*
The Wraith got to his feet. *We are in a small room,* he said. *There is an archway over there with another chamber beyond it. I see no furnishings or equipment of any kind, though there are marks on the walls where there might have been such in the past.*
*A typical abandoned Ancient installation,* Rodney said with more confidence than he felt.
*No locked doors?* Rodney could hear the rise in Teyla’s mental tone. *That suggests we are not prisoners.* She got to her feet slowly. *I do not see that Ronon and Dr. Jackson are in any imminent danger here. Let us see if we can find a way back to the jumper. Then we can return with the first aid kit and a stretcher if need be.*
With Ember in the lead, since his vision was best, they went through the arch into the room on the other side, Teyla walking right behind Ember with her hand on his back and Rodney behind her with his hand on hers like some kids’ game. It was a much larger room with multiple doors like the ones in Atlantis all sitting in the open position, though there was no furniture and equipment remaining. There were also no windows, as presumably they were still underground .
*Open. Close. Lights on,* Rodney thought. Nothing happened.
*There is a lighting fixture over here,* Ember said.
*Rodney,* Teyla began.
*I know. On. On. On.* Rodney thought at it. Again nothing. He went over and touched it, hands roving over the very familiar fixture.
*Will this help?* Teyla shone her flashlight so that he could see the fixture a little.
*There’s no power,* Rodney said. *That’s the problem.*
*There was power to launch drones before,* Ember said.
*Well, either that was the last power in the ZPM,* Rodney began.
*Or they have taken the ZPM,* Teyla concluded grimly.
*Yeah.* Rodney blew out a long breath.
*Here is a stairwell down,* Ember said. *Toward the main levels?*
*Worth a try,* Rodney said.
They trooped down the flight and through another hall. Nothing stirred. There was no sound. The air was fresh enough, but there was no soft breath of ventilation.
*The fans have stopped,* Ember said. *The air is good enough for now, but it won’t remain so.*
*Ah ha!* Rodney exclaimed. There was a familiar set of doors ahead, the usual markings for a technical center, and here there were signs of activity. The floor had been wiped clean except in the corners by the passage of large items, and the doors were not quite fully open. Inside, tables stood emptied of their terminals, scrapes and marks showing where they had been recently removed. Even worse, there was the podium to one side, the hexagonal carriage in the upright position and empty.
*They took the ZPM,* Teyla said. *And who knows what else?*
SGA-22 Unascended
INTERLUDE
“Lorvine,” Elizabeth said. “What world is that?” Dekaas had found her a long sleeved white knit shirt that was warmer for shipboard than the clothes of the Mazatla, and that felt more right to her, more like something she used to wear. With the baggy gray pants she’d acquired, looking in a mirror she recognized herself. Her hair was growing longer than she’d worn it in a while, but she looked like herself. Pale, yes
—
one would expect that on shipboard. But she looked like herself.
“It’s a mining world,” Dekaas said. “Or rather, it’s a nearly deserted world that has some minor mining operations. The atmosphere itself is toxic, but at some point in the past someone moved their Ring underground. The population is never very large
—
a few hundred at most
—
living in the mines themselves in fairly deplorable conditions. But the ores are worth a great deal, and there are always people who find it worth it to work the seams. We trade there from time to time for raw metals.”
“What do they get?” Elizabeth asked. She was finding herself fascinated by the shadow economy of Pegasus, by the complex interactions that took place out of sight of all governments. Or perhaps in the absence of all governments was a better term.
“Food mostly,” Dekaas said. “We just picked up food on Mazatla, so I expect the captain thinks Lorvine is a logical next stop.”
“Aren’t they worried about the Wraith?”
Dekaas shrugged. “The mines are too far underground for a hive ship to be a problem, and the Ring is in too enclosed a space for Dar
ts. Sometimes some parties on foot come through the Ring, but not often. It’s not a large population, and Wraith biotechnology doesn’t depend on metal ores. It’s not actually a big problem. The Wraith don’t want Lorvine.”
Elizabeth nodded. “That’s fascinating.”
He looked at her sharply. “You have a great deal of interest in how people live.”
“I do.” Elizabeth considered. “Atelia said that on Sateda she was training to be a scholar who studies other cultures. Perhaps I was a scholar too.”
“That could be,” Dekaas said. “And a Wraith connection does not preclude Sateda for your origin. Sateda fell ten years ago. You might have been captured then and only recently released.”
“That’s true,” she agreed. It was possible, though nothing about that felt familiar. “Well, if I can dial Sateda from Lorvine, I will go to Sateda.”
Elizabeth wondered how the Traveler ship intended to transfer people to the mining colony if it was underground, but she did not have to wonder long. It was no more than a few days before they arrived, the Durant settling onto a surface bare and devoid of any visible technology except a landing beacon. Through the windows she could see nothing but a sandy gray surface obscured by great clouds of dust kicked up by the ship’s landing. There was the same grinding sound forward she had heard before and the plastic tube snaked out, mating to an airlock door half-obscured on the surface.
“Very clever,” she said with a nod. “Also very defensible.”
Dekaas had joined her at the mess windows, a medical pack slung over his shoulder. “Very,” he said. “A hive ship could blow it up, but what would be the point?”
Elizabeth glanced at the bag. “You’re going down?”
“To see if they have any injured who need treating.” He shrugged. “It’s my trade and my skill. I barter for my work, like anyone.”
“I’ll help you carry your things,” she said.
This time crossing through the transparent tube wasn’t difficult at all, not with the planet outside and gravity pulling her firmly down. It wasn’t like free fall at all. On the other side of the planet’s airlock doors was a wide platform with a metal cage around it that slowly descended into the depths, a few lights here and there not really illuminating the shaft.
“This part always makes me a little uncomfortable,” Dekaas said with a smile as they stood among the other traders going down.
“I think I’ve seen something like this before,” Elizabeth said. This wasn’t at all alarming.
The caverns below were no more well lit, raw stone walls with openings from one chamber to another. A crowd had gathered around the bottom of the shaft, and Dekaas stiffened. More than one of them was bandaged, mostly with filthy pieces of cloth around their heads or limbs, some with arms in slings. “What happened here?” he asked loudly.
A big woman with cropped gray hair lifted her hand in greeting. “Dekaas! I’ve got work for you and more.”
He stepped out of the cage as soon as it rested, Elizabeth behind him. “Ho, Fenna! Did you have a cave in or an accident with explosives?” he asked concernedly.
“Neither.” Fenna spat on the dusty floor. “This was the work of the accursed Genii.”
“The Genii?” Elizabeth said.
Fenna nodded. “A day and a half ago they came through the Ring. They took all the prepared ore at gunpoint
—
told us we were part of their cooperative economic system. Anybody who resisted got it. Mostly people bashed with gunstocks, pistol whipped, things like that, but they did shoot two. One of them’s dead.” She spat again, apparently at the recitation of the Genii’s crimes. “It was the work of a full quarter, and now every bit of it’s gone. And a dozen wounded to boot. It was that she-wolf Sora.”
“I’ve heard of her,” Dekaas said. “She’s bad news. Where are your worst wounded?”
“Right this way,” Fenna said. “We’ve done the best we can for them. But Dekaas, in terms of payment…” She swallowed as if it pained her to say that they didn’t have anything left to pay him with.
“Consider it a debt,” Dekaas said. “Elizabeth, if you wouldn’t mind helping me? I could use another pair of hands.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth said. “I won’t leave when there’s work to be done.” She followed Fenna and Dekaas to the makeshift aid station.
SGA-22 Unascended
CHAPTER TWELVE
It took quite some time for Teyla, Ember and Rodney to find their way out to the jumper, following one passage and then another by process of elimination. By the time they had returned with flashlights and first aid kits, Ronon and Daniel Jackson were awake. Teyla helped Ronon to his feet while Rodney steadied Daniel. Ember watched, his hands at his sides, as if wanting to make sure no one misinterpreted his touch.
“It was the Asgard,” Teyla said to Daniel. “That is the logical conclusion. They stunned us and then took the ZPM and whatever else they wanted.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes. “But what was it?” he wondered aloud. “And was it sheer coincidence that they turned up here at the same time we did? I mean, they’ve had thousands of years to loot this planet. They did it today? Coincidentally?”
“That doesn’t seem likely,” Ember agreed.
“Whatever was here, they took it,” Rodney said.
“I need to examine the room,” Daniel said. “There may be something left.”
“There is not,” Teyla said. “There are no instruments left at all.”
Daniel shrugged. “Sometimes people drop things. Or there’s writing on surfaces. Or they lose some small attached part. There are lots of things you wouldn’t have seen in the dark.”
“That is true,” Teyla said. She took a deep breath. “It will only take a few minutes to search the room, and we are already here. Let us do it. Rodney, you and Ronon go back to the jumper and radio Atlantis and tell John what happened. I will go with Ember and Dr. Jackson.”
Together, they descended to the stripped room, which seemed no more promising to Teyla on second glance than on first. She and Ember watched while Daniel examined the floor, crawled under the tables and desks, and inspected the empty mounting brackets on the walls.
“There was some kind of device here,” Daniel said at last, pointing to a blank expanse of floor in front of two tables, five empty brackets behind it. “About two meters tall and one meter wide. It took a lot of power. These are multiple heavy duty power couplings.”
Ember’s brows rose. “And that means that something was connected there. What was it?”
Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it did. But I do know there was something that took a lot of power and that you couldn’t go near when it was operating.” He pointed to a small line of Ancient symbols on the floor. “Caution Induction Zone. Whatever was being induced, you needed to stand back from it.”
Teyla remembered something. “This looks like an installation in Atlantis,” she said.
Daniel turned around. “What? Where? I’ve never seen it.”
“Elizabeth insisted that we seal the room,” she said. “We found it years ago, and it proved incredibly dangerous. It was a device to help one Ascend. Rodney was nearly killed as a result of it.”
“Ah.” Daniel looked about, turning in place as though trying to visualize things that were no longer there. “That makes sense. That makes complete sense of these.” He pointed to a tiny row of symbols along one of the tables. “This says Reintegration Unit. This isn’t for Ascension. It’s for a device that causes someone to unascend.” He stopped, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “No, that forces them to unascend.”
Ember frowned. “Can that happen?”
“You mean can someone unascend? Of course,” Daniel said.
“No,” Teyla said. “Is it possible to affect someone who is Ascended? I have never heard of any such thing.” The very idea was deeply disturbing.
Daniel nodded. “Yes. I mean, we know that it is. Merlin
—
the Ancient Merlin
—
projected his consciousness into my brain once so that I would understand how to make a device that would destroy the Ori, and they’re Ascended beings. So yes, you can theoretically have a device that could force an Ascended being to return to corporeal form. I have no idea how you would do it, but it could be done.”
“And this device,” Teyla gestured to the blank space before them, “Might have done that?”
“It’s possible,” Daniel said.
“And now the Asgard have it and we do not,” Teyla said. “That is not a good development.”
“The real question,” Daniel said, “Is why they want it.”
“I don’t like stuff we don’t know,” John said. He looked around the conference table at the familiar faces of his team plus Daniel Jackson. At least he didn’t have to have Ember the Wraith in the debriefing. “Why would the Asgard come to that planet at the same time as us? Why did they stun everyone? What did they take and why?”
“They followed us,” Rodney said, his fists clenched.
“How?”
“I don’t know how!” Rodney sputtered, “But I know they did. Come on. They just happened to show up at the same time? Not likely. They could have visited that planet anytime in the last thousand years. No, they followed us. And that’s why they just stunned us.”
“We’re the stalking horse,” Daniel said. “We run the risks, we turn off the Ancient defenses, and then they take the stuff.” Which did make sense. It wasn’t anything John liked, but it sure made sense.
“But why do they want it?” Teyla was frowning. “To force the Ancestors to unascend is…” She paused as if looking for a bad enough word. “Obscene.”
“Maybe they want knowledge one of them has,” Daniel said.
“And now they’ve got the device,” Rodney said. “And there’s nothing we can do about it.”
There was a long moment of gloomy silence as everyone considered this.
“Wait a second,” Ronon rumbled, leaning back in his chair. “There’s one thing we know about Ancient devices that goes for every single one we’ve ever found. It doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. Just because they’ve got it doesn’t mean they can do what they wanted it for. And they can’t use it without the ATA gene anyway, right?”