One of the work stations toward the back of the maintenance bay had the comm equipment, and Kethel was using it to set up the contact with the Wraith ship. He was wearing a weird organic headset device, frequently using it to speak to the Eidolon ships in orbit. John, Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon watched from a short distance. Miko and Radek were in the jumper, ostensibly so they could run a few last diagnostics on the repair. John also wanted Miko in there as a little extra insurance. She and Rodney hadn't removed all the drones, and if the Eidolon changed their minds about cooperation at the last moment, the armed jumper would be a powerful deterrent.
Standing nearby, Trishen shifted uneasily, saying, "This is my fault. If they hadn't activated the Mirror again to get me back, none of this would have happened."
John folded his arms, keeping his eyes on the displays that Kethel was manipulating. One held a real-time image of the Wraith scout ship where it hovered above the platform. He was starting to get used to Trishen's voice, but it was easier to talk to her if he didn't look at her. He said, "We're not in any position to point fingers." He didn't really care whose fault this was or wasn't at this point; as long as they could get back home and permanently disable their Mirror, he was fine with it.
Rodney was standing next to John, arms folded, rocking back and forth on his heels impatiently. "Besides," he said, "This is a far more effective method of destroying the Mirror in our reality. And by far more effective, I mean incredibly dangerous."
John and Teyla exchanged a bewildered look, and John frowned at him, asking, "What? I thought when we got back we'd still have to destroy the array."
Rodney shook his head at the ceiling, as if asking it to witness what he had to deal with. He said pointedly, "The two Mirrors are still connected, that's what caused that minor discharge, and yes, compared to what's coming, that was minor. As long as that connection lasts, they are the same Mirror. Actually, they're always the same Mirror, all the Mirrors are the same Mirror, but that's too complicated to explain to you. But right now, because of the connection and the continued destabilization, they're more one than usual."
Teyla eyed him worriedly. "You are saying that when this Mirror destroys itself-"
Rodney waved an impatient hand. "The singularities are sharing the same reality. It's good for us in that the destination can't be reset, so there's no possibility of losing the connection for our reality. It's bad for us in that when this Mirror goes, the other one will go, except there is no other one, they're both one. It's a form of quantum entanglement."
John just stared at him, brow furrowed. Maybe he was missing the point here, but this sounded bad. "Rodney-"
Kethel said, "They are accepting the transmission." The Queen stepped smoothly into position in front of the communications console.
John tensed, shifting his grip slightly on his P-90. Teyla had her arms folded over her weapon, outwardly casual, but like John she was holding it so her finger was near the trigger. Ronon was watching the other Eidolon, who were all gathered near Kethel.
A moment later the hologram appeared in a haze of blue static. It resolved into a male Wraith, possibly the same one that the Queen had spoken to earlier. It bared its teeth, demanding, "Why did you refuse to speak with us?"
She inclined her head and, with a faint trace of amusement in her voice, said, "I had nothing to say." Before the Wraith could react, she added, "I have decided to comply with your request. One of my ships will move into position above this structure, to beam the humans to you. Lower your shield and send coordinates."
This was the other part that John was worried about. From what the Eidolon had said, their transporter was more similar to the Asgard beam than it was to the Wraith culling beam. A quick test had shown that it couldn't get through the Wraith's shielding, anymore than the Asgard beam could. Since the Daedalus had destroyed a few hiveships by beaming aboard nuclear warheads, all the Wraith they had encountered had been extra careful about making preventative adjustments to their shields.
The Wraith stared at her, unblinking. Then it said, "Send them outside, we will take them."
"If I open a passage in or out of this facility, you will attack."
It hissed at her. "We have an agreement."
There was something in the Queen's tone that suggested she was talking to a somewhat backward child. "Then lower your shield and send the coordinates."
The Wraith snarled. The Queen stepped out of pick-up range, and Kethel cut the transmission, the hologram disappearing in an angry flash of light. The Queen eyed the spot where it had been, as if an afterimage of the Wraith's form still lingered. All emotion gone from her voice again, she said, "They will comply. Their limitations make their actions easy to predict."
"Yeah, that's what we've noticed," John said, and thought, so far so good.
Rodney grimaced, saying in a low voice, "They'll give us coordinates for a hold area. If we could get the device closer to the main drive, it would be more effective, but what's she supposed to say? `Oh, give me the coordinates to your weapons and shield control compartment too; no reason, just curious."'
Since Rodney's idea of a low voice wasn't all that low, Trishen heard him anyway. She said, "We can get those coordinates with a sensor sweep."
Rodney's eyes lit up. "Wait, your sensors can get past their hull plating?"
She nodded, explaining, "One of the ships in orbit has special equipment for scanning ruins and underground structures left behind by the Creators. Once the Wraith shield is down, its sensors should be able to get a partial schematic."
Kethel looked up from his control board, telling the Queen, "We're received the information, and they have lowered their shield."
Trishen went forward to one of the consoles, picking up another headset and speaking quickly into it. After a moment, she set it aside, saying in relief, "Yes, it worked. They've managed to get the data."
A schematic started to form above the console, next to the real-time view of the scout ship. It rotated, offering alternate views, but there wasn't much detail, just blots and blurs of energy, dark spaces apparently indicating large compartments.
Rodney nodded. "Good, good. We're going to want to beam it right here." He pointed to a spot on the schematic, one of the brightest red blots. "Right where all these highoutput energy signatures are, the drive, shield generators, and weapons."
Kethel looked at the Queen, and she gave him a nod. "Beam the device."
With everybody else, John looked at the bomb where it sat near the jumper, but he kept one eye on Trishen. All the Eidolon had been careful to keep a non-threatening distance, but she was standing only a few paces away, close enough for easy conversation. If the Eidolon were going to screw them and send them instead of the explosive to the Wraith, it would be now. And if that happened, John intended to take Trishen with them.
A haze of light sparkled around the bomb, and it vanished with an audible pop. Okay, still not screwed, John thought, the tension in his shoulders relaxing just a little. He heard Teyla exhale in relief, and saw Ronon shift his stance slightly; he hadn't been the only one tensing for a last-second double cross.
"Give it a minute," Rodney muttered, his gaze on the overlapping images of the Wraith ship.
Kethel put a hand on his headset, apparently listening to a communication from the ship that had done the beaming. "Confirmed arrival." He pointed at the schematic of the scout ship. "It should be in what we believe to be the main engine compartment."
"Perfect." Rodney pulled something the size of a radio base-unit out of his vest pocket. It looked like it had started life as some other kind of handheld control device, but had recently undergone some major alterations. There was a small readout screen with Ancient characters and a couple of touchpads. "Signal is good. And here we go." Rodney pressed a touchpad.