Teyla jerked her chin. "Over there."
John turned and saw three male Wraith, about a hun dred and fifty yards away, standing near one of the crumpled darts. The Mirror's light reflected silver off their clothes and hair, and they seemed to be looking around in angry confusion. He didn't think that confusion would last long.
There were dark triangular shapes along the wall of the installation that looked like hatches or passages leading inside, and they had to get under cover. "Come on." As they started away, John pressed the button on the jumper remote, hoping there was just enough emergency power left. The ramp responded sluggishly, moving upward to close, and that was a relief. John wasn't sure why it mattered, why keeping the Wraith out of the empty jumper for a little while longer meant something, but it did. John looked back in time to see the ramp seal itself, and the emergency lights in the jumper's nose flicker and die.
Teyla dropped back to cover their six, with Ronon, still burdened with Zelenka, and Miko and Rodney close behind John. Rodney, holding his P-90 tightly and watching the nearest darts, said, "Yes, I understand being proactive and getting off the platform and away from these Wraith, but what about the Wraith that live here?"
"If you have any suggestions, Rodney, feel free," John hissed. He was trying to maintain a quick jog, but all he could manage was a quick limping hobble, and it wasn't improving his outlook on life at the moment.
"What, do I have to think of everything?" Rodney demanded. He threw a glance back and stopped abruptly. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" he said in outrage.
"Rodney, keep moving!" Then John looked back.
Across the giant length of the Mirror, a big dark shape was lifting off the platform. The shadowy outline was just rising high enough for the Mirror's light to bathe it, and John could see the rough brown hull, the flattened saucer shape that was still weirdly organic, like a giant fungus. "Son of a bitch," John said. This just keeps getting better. It was about half the size of the Daedalus, and there was no telling how many Wraith were aboard.
Teyla gasped. "That is the Wraith scout ship. How could-It was pulled through the Mirror as well?"
"Pulled out of orbit?" Miko said, horrified.
Rodney waved a hand wearily. "Apparently so. Trishen's ship was a completely different conformation and design. That's definitely from our reality. And its shields must have protected it from the power drain that destroyed the jumper's crystals." He rubbed his eyes. "How much worse can this get?"
Light flashed from the lower part of the ship, the distinctive blue-white ripple of the culling beam. John said, "And I think that answers your question." The ship had just beamed something onto the platform, probably drones. "Come on, keep moving." Because it was that or die out here in the next five minutes.
From Ronon's shoulder, Zelenka moaned, "Oh, God."
They were only about sixty yards from the installation when Teyla shouted, "They have seen us!" and opened fire.
John yelled, "Ronon, take point!" and dropped back to her side. Several Wraith were running toward them from the north side of the platform, a dozen or so others from the south, and stunner fire flashed in the dark. John pitched a couple of smoke grenades across the platform, then opened fire.
More Wraith converged on them, but the chemical haze confused their aim just enough, and Ronon turning to pick them off with single shots made them wary. John kept the group moving as fast as he could, and he really hoped the door they were heading toward would open. Rodney was beside him, firing, shouting, "I have the feeling they think we're responsible for this!"
"I don't think that's going to matter, Rodney!" John shouted back.
Then lights flashed in the sky and John looked up to see another ship. At first he thought it was Trishen's shuttle, but realized this conch-shell shape was different, more convoluted, and it was half again as large. It flashed a spotlight over the Mirror platform, picking out the wrecked darts and the moving Wraith. The Wraith stopped, snarling as the light crossed over them, firing up at the ship.
"Hold your fire," John said, and the others stopped shooting. The Wraith were distracted and he wanted that to last as long as possible. "Now run."
With one last sprint, they reached the wall of the installation and one of the big triangular hatchways, set deep into the stone. John said, "Rodney, get the door," as he, Teyla, and Ronon took up guard positions.
"No life signs inside," Miko reported tensely, "But the shielding may be interfering."
"Please open," Rodney was muttering as he pried off the console. "If things could just go well, just this once, I'd really appreciate-"
"Put me down, put me down," Zelenka said with a groan. "I can walk."
Taking the opportunity to reload, John gave Ronon a nod. Zelenka still sounded woozy, but they would be bet ter off if Ronon had both hands free.
Ronon bent down, setting him on his feet. Zelenka staggered but stayed upright and Ronon gave him a careful push, steering him over to Miko and Rodney.
More Wraith were firing up at the Eidolon ship. "Why won't they shoot back?" Ronon said, his voice a frustrated growl.
"Yeah, that would come in handy." John squinted up at the strange ship, gleaming pink and purple in the Mirror's light. "But they're probably talking on the comm." If the Eidolon made some kind of deal with the Wraith… John didn't think they could get more screwed than they already were, but that wouldn't help.
"Perhaps Trishen was not lying about their ships being unarmed," Teyla said, watching the scene uncertainly. "Perhaps-"
Then the Wraith scout ship drifted upward, the whine of its drive adding to the din of the Wraith's weapons and the rushing sound of the Eidolon ship. The scout ship rotated, light pulsed along its sides and John yelled, "Get down!"
He ducked with Teyla and Ronon, and Rodney grabbed Zelenka, pulling him down beside Miko in the slight shelter of the hatch. The blast impact rattled the ground, a flare of heat and light washing over the platform. John looked up to see debris raining down; the Eidolon ship had vanished in the blast.
"What the hell was that?" Rodney said, looking up in horror. "I thought you said they were probably talking!"
"Yeah, well, they didn't like what they heard." John's ears were ringing again, and the Wraith weren't distracted anymore. "Just get the door open!"
"Oh, yes, right, escaping from certain death, it slipped my mind!" Rodney yelled, turning back to the wall console.
John could see the Wraith moving around in the shadows, regrouping. Then Rodney said, "Got it!" and the hatch slid open.
They scrambled through into a big room, a couple of dim lights coming on inside as Ancient technology sensed their presence. Most of the chamber was lost in shadow, but there were low stone partitions and platforms at odd intervals, meant to hold equipment that wasn't there anymore. It looked a lot like an interior room in the installation in their reality, with dark blue stone walls with embossed abstract designs and the blue-green metal strips on the floor. Rodney hit the wall console to shut the hatch, pulling the panel open to rip the crystals out. His mouth twisted grimly, he said, "That's not going to hold them for long-I had to disconnect the security seal to get it to open."
"Crap." John started away from the door, flicking on the P-90's light to check the shadows, thinking, if this is a dead end, it's going to be a literal one. They needed to get further into the building, where they could pick the Wraith off in the endless maze of corridors.
Ronon, already ranging ahead and tall enough to see over the partitions, said, "Over here!"
John caught up with him, flashing the light over another door. It had the embossed panel in the center and no wall console; a security door like the one they had first found in the installation, locked to anyone without the Ancient gene. John reached for the panel.