Maybe it was a legitimate question under the circumstances, but John didn't like giving the answer. It might be the only bargaining point they had. Trying to stall, he said, "Our ship is damaged, or we'd be in it right now."
She tilted her head, obviously picking up on what he hadn't said. "But if it was repaired, could it destroy the Wraith ship?"
John countered, "That depends. Can you activate the Mirror and send us back?"
She inclined her head. "Yes. We were able to activate it successfully once, we should be able to do so again."
John felt the others stir behind him, and he lifted his brows, exchanging a startled look with Rodney. He hadn't been expecting that concession; he was torn between more suspicion and relief at the first glimpse of an actual way out of this.
Trishen spread her hands, saying, "We had an alliance. We can still cooperate."
John felt he had to point out, "You know, every time you want to cooperate, we almost get killed."
Trishen gestured in helpless exasperation. "Yes, but it's not my fault!"
"We don't have a choice," Rodney whispered harshly. "If they have the right Ancient crystals, the jumper is repairable."
Teyla nodded. "I dislike this as much as you, but we must take the chance."
"Yeah, I know." John didn't see any other option. He looked at the Eidolon Queen, still watching them impassively. "Our ship is armed, but those weapons are only powerful enough to destroy the darts, the small fighters that are wrecked all over the platform. The scout ship has shields to protect it that we can't get through."
The Queen accepted that without argument. "I appreciate your candor." She looked thoughtful. "But there is a way?"
Rodney said briskly, "Yes, there's a way. But we'll need unimpeded access to our ship, some materials to repair it, the Quantum Mirror, and your beaming technology." He hesitated. "The Wraith shields may be configured to prevent anything from being beamed aboard. We'll also need a way to get around that."
The Queen just nodded. "I think I can provide that."
Chapter ten
The Queen said, "There is a monitoring area nearby. We will continue this there." She touched a control on her wristband, and the force shield across the door disappeared.
"Well, that sounds… best," Rodney said, as she headed for the door, with Trishen and three of the males in tow. He added to John, "I suppose we should follow her."
"I suppose we don't have a choice." John lowered the P-90 as she passed.
Ronon dropped back to warily cover their six and they followed the Queen down the corridor, the other Eidolon trailing them at a careful distance. One of the males with the Queen spoke to her, his voice low and urgent. John had trouble reading his expression, but it was probably suspicious.
That didn't bother John; the suspicion, at least, felt normal under the circumstances, and he knew how to react to it. It was everything else he wasn't sure about.
"I don't like this," Ronon said, a growl under his voice.
Rodney snorted derisively, looking back at him to say, "No, really? Because the rest of us have always hoped something like this would happen."
Beside John, Teyla whispered, "They have not asked for our weapons. Even with the best of intentions toward an alliance, we would not let aliens walk our corridors armed."
"Yeah." That one was bothering John, too. He didn't know if it was meant to be a sign of confidence or a trap, or what.
Rodney muttered, "Thanks, yes, I needed something else to worry about."
Behind them, Zelenka whispered, "But what does that mean?"
"We don't know," John told him.
One of the other males with the Queen slowed to walk even with them, looking at them with open curiosity. It was a younger one with more human features, which for some reason creeped John out even more. Then the Eidolon asked Teyla, "Are you all the same species?"
"We are," she said, perfectly composed, though John could see the tension in her shoulders.
John rolled his eyes. He supposed it wasn't meant to be insulting. The Eidolon were like the Wraith; all the adult males here were close to the same height and build, with barely any noticeable variation in skin or hair color. But he still wanted to take it that way.
The Eidolon looked them over again, as if trying to decide if Teyla was serious. He asked, "Do they need medical attention?"
Ronon had black eyes and vivid discolored bruises on his face. Zelenka, leaning on Miko's arm, won the prize for most obvious concussion, and the cut on his forehead had bled through the quick bandaging job. John's knee was stiffening up again, his side hurt with every quick movement, and he and Teyla still had the bruises from their first encounter with the Wraith. But he didn't want any help from the Eidolon, no more than what it took to get them home. Especially help that involved physical contact. He said, "No, thanks."
The Eidolon looked from Teyla to John, startled and uncertain. "You are the leader?"
John flicked a narrow-eyed look at him. "Yes."
The Eidolon shook his head slightly, his white hair shimmering with the movement. "Our leaders are all female. It is…odd to see females in a subordinate role."
John gritted his teeth. "They're not subordinates."
Rodney frowned, pointing out, "Well, technically, as far as rank and pay grade go-"
John glared at him. "Yeah, technically, but not like he means.
Teyla broke in hastily, saying, "The leader of our… community is female. Colonel Sheppard speaks for her here."
Trishen dropped back, saying uneasily, "Edane, go back with the others."
Edane protested, "But I was only curious-"
"Perhaps there will be time for questions later," she told him.
John lifted a brow, exchanging a sour look with Rodney, thinking, Hell, I hope not. And he wasn't sure if Trishen had chased the young male off because she was afraid they would freak out and kill him, or because he might reveal something.
Two turns of the corridor and a security door took them into a large control room, lit by overheads and lights in the square pillars. There was a row of observation windows across the far wall, looking out onto the Mirror platform. A bank of consoles stood in the center, a couple of different holographic displays floating in the air above them. The Queen went straight to the consoles, passing her hand over a touchpad, and the windows turned to an opaque milky crystal.
One of the older males, the one who had been making the objections to their presence on the way here, had followed the Queen to the control board. Apparently the group skeptic, he said, "If this fails, they will attack in force, and we haven't had time to evacuate more than a few of our people."
Trishen turned to him impatiently. "Kethel, they will attack in force anyway. And you yourself said that our ships won't arrive for days; we have no choice."
The Queen didn't acknowledge either of them. Apparently the others were allowed to argue, but she wasn't under any obligation to even pretend to listen. She turned to regard John steadily. "First I will try to secure your ship. I assume you have materials aboard it that you can use to build some sort of destructive device, to be beamed aboard the Wraith vessel?"
John met her gaze steadily. "That's the idea."
Rodney added, "I may need more materials from you." He strained his neck to see the control station without going any closer to the Queen. "I won't be certain until I can evaluate what we already have."
"If we have the necessary materials, we will provide them." The Queen turned back to the console. She nodded to Kethel, who reluctantly began to hit the touchpads.
Zelenka leaned in between John and Rodney to whisper, "Rodney, there is enough C-4 for this?"
Rodney gave him an annoyed look. "Of course not. But combined with the energy drones-"