"Ali, I see." Zelenka nodded, then clutched his head and winced in pain.
"Oh yes, Dr. McKay," Miko said, lifting her brows in comprehension.
"The energy drones?" John stared at him. He wasn't keen on the Eidolon getting a look at those. "Can't you just-"
"No, just shut up and trust me," Rodney whispered.
Then Kethel said, "The alien ship is accepting our communication."
"What?" John said, startled. "What are you telling them?"
Kethel gave him a glare. "Our vessels can't get close enough to lift your ship off the platform without being fired on."
John had thought the Eidolon meant to do something else to get the jumper off the platform. He didn't have a clue what that something else could be, but he hadn't thought it involved just asking the Wraith for it. "And they're just going to let you have it."
His skepticism must have crossed the cultural and species barrier just fine, because the Queen looked at him, her eyes a flat black. "They killed seven of our line when they destroyed our survey ship, which was unarmed and gave them no provocation, and three others when they invaded this installation. I do not wish them to have control of this Quantum Mirror, anymore than you do. I am prepared to negotiate for what I need to destroy them, nothing further. And I have no compunction against lying to them."
"Okay," John said slowly. That was sort of reassuring, except for what the Queen hadn't said. She hadn't commented on how the Eidolon in the control room had died, or what the Wraith were likely to do to any they caught. She wasn 't surprised, John thought, realizing what else had struck him as wrong. Just like the other Eidolon who had witnessed it. Nobody asked, nobody said `what the hell is that?' Maybe it was just a cultural miscommunication thing, maybe Trishen had told them what she had sensed from the Wraith back home, but John didn't think so. It was confirmation of what he had suspected about Trishen: The Eidolon might not need to feed on other sentient beings, but they weren't unfamiliar with the concept. Though he didn't have any intention of asking about it just at the moment. He said, "You sure they're going to listen to you?"
The Queen didn't answer. She stepped around the console, moving to the open area in front of the windows.
Trishen shifted closer to them, her arms folded and her shoulders hunched a little anxiously. "The holovid will only pick up the area immediately around her. They won't be able to see you."
"Oh, that's very reassuring," Rodney said in a sour undertone.
The blue glow of a holo-projection formed in the air a few steps in front of the Queen. Then a male Wraith appeared in it.
John tensed, tightening his hold on the P-90; he had been prepared for a hologram, and the image was translucent, but somehow that didn't matter much. Teyla stirred uneasily and Ronon shifted position, his hand flexing on his gun's grip. Rodney muttered, "This could go very badly."
The Wraith started to say, "You will comply with our orders-"
The Queen said, "Quiet." Her voice reverberated harshly, and John would have sworn she got taller. "Where is your mistress, or is she afraid to face me, even over this distance?"
The Wraith froze. In a different tone, it said, "She is not with us."
"Then return to her. Leave this place the way you came.
The Wraith hissed, recovering a little. "That is impossible."
"I can make it possible."
The Wraith hesitated again. John thought, it didn't know that. It thought it was a possibility, but it wasn't sure. The Wraith might have thought the Mirror's activation was an accident. Or something we did. Then the Wraith said, "We want the humans. They are of our feeding grounds, they belong to us. Return them and we will leave you."
John felt Rodney shift uncomfortably beside him. Teyla gave him a look, pressing her lips together. This was the part John was most worried about too.
But the Queen said, "You have destroyed one of my ships."
The Wraith hissed, open-mouthed, barring its teeth. The Queen lowered her chin, staring him down. Finally the Wraith said, "What do you want?"
She said, "The humans' ship."
It snarled. "Impossible."
"Then we have no further reason to speak."
It glared at her. The Queen gave the impression that she could stand there all day without blinking. Oh, this is just great, John thought incredulously. The Eidolon didn't have a card to play, except their Queen's ability to bluff the Wraith into temporary submission. And he had the feeling that if there had been a Wraith Queen aboard that ship, then things would be going a lot worse right now. Finally the Wraith said, "How do we know you have the humans?"
The Queen didn't move, but Trishen started, then turned to them urgently, whispering, "She wants one of you to come forward, to look as if you are a prisoner-"
John flicked a look at Teyla, saw they had both had the same thought. The Eidolon have a mental communication thing going, just like the Wraith. But that didn't change the fact that the Wraith needed to know that the Eidolon had something they wanted. Keeping his voice low, he told Trishen, "I'll do it." He unclipped his P-90 and pulled the 9mm out of his holster, handing both off to Miko and Radek. Teyla and Rodney looked like they wanted to object-everybody looked like they wanted to object-but if the Wraith got the idea there was a temporary human-Eidolon alliance, this plan was over before it had gotten started.
John stepped past Trishen to where Kethel was waiting uncertainly. John whispered, "Drag me over there and throw me down."
The Eidolon grabbed his arm and an instant later John hit the floor at the Queen's feet. He landed on his bad knee and went sprawling, unable to choke back a yelp. Not that hard, he thought, bracing on his forearm, unsteadily levering himself up a little. He heard a muffled protest and a scuffle behind him, and snuck a look under his arm. Teyla had stepped in front of Ronon, having planted an elbow in his chest to stop an instinctive surge forward. Rodney looked like he was holding back a loud objection, and Miko and Radek both had expressions of startled sympathy.
John pushed up a little more, pressing a hand to his side as a cracked rib protested the movement. He squinted up at the holographic Wraith. It stared down at him, its face twisted into an avid expression.
The Queen said, "You see."
The Wraith didn't take its eyes off John. The Queen shifted and the hem of her skirts brushed John's arm; his instinctive flinch away from her was completely genuine. It must have looked convincing, because the Wraith said, "If I allow you to take the ship, you will return them to us.
"You will not interfere when I take the ship, and we will speak further." She lifted a hand, and the hologram vanished.
John breathed out in relief. The Queen stepped away immediately, turning to face the consoles. You're welcome, John thought sourly. He shoved himself into a sitting position, trying to get his good leg under him so he could stand.
Then somebody said, "Did I injure you?"
John looked up, startled, to see Kethel looming over him. For a moment he thought the Eidolon was being sarcastic. But Kethel kept staring at him like he actually expected an answer.
Then Teyla and Rodney and the others reached them. Ronon grabbed John's arm and hauled him to his feet, sneering at Kethel. Addressing everybody, John said, "Relax, I'm fine." Kethel seemed almost embarrassed, and the Queen was very clearly not acknowledging this little exchange. John almost wondered if this was some odd alien courtesy, that she was trying not to make Kethel's mistake worse by drawing attention to it.
Still facing away from them, the Queen said, "Are these creatures… Are all the Wraith like that one?"
John wasn't sure what she meant, if she was asking about the Wraith's appearance or violent tendencies. Rodney answered her, lifting his chin to say, "Actually, that one seemed a little more amenable to reason than usual."