"Don't mock me, you lab hack," Rodney snapped back, angry and afraid all at once, "at least I'm smart enough to know that letting Wraith run wild on your homeworld is a recipe for annihilation!"
"They do not run wild," said Erony, trying to calm the tense atmosphere, "we have tamed them. They are completely under our control."
"Tame?" McKay spluttered. "I'm sorry, but are we talking about the same beings here? Pale faces, teeth and claws, sucking the life out of you through their hands, living off human misery? And you expect us to believe you've taught them to roll over, play dead, and do back-flips?"
Daus shifted in his seat. "Calm yourself, Dr. McKay. You're disturbing the other guests. My dear Erony is quite correct. The Hounds that you see down there, in my palace, or elsewhere… Teyla Emmagan was so eager to know what befell the Wraith taken on the ice moon, and now she does. This is the fate of the Wraith captured alive by our hunt splinters, on dozens of worlds beyond the Great Circlet. We bring them back to Halcyon and teach them discipline, we break them of their free will."
"How can you control them?" asked Teyla.
Minister Muruw touched a finger to his neck. "The Hounds wear a tore about their throat, a choke-collar. It can be adjusted by a trainer to starve them of air and cause them pain. We prevent them from feeding, and instill a service-reward regimen. They obey, and they live. They disobey, and they die. They soon learn to submit."
"And you use them like, what, shock troops?" said Rodney. "That's so twisted its almost clever. No one would ever want to fight hungry, mad Wraith, would they?"
The next question formed in Teyla's mind, and she was almost too afraid to ask it, for fear of what the answer might be. "What do they feed upon?"
"Enemy soldiers on the battlefield, prisoners of war or criminals. Sometimes each other, if they are desperate enough." Kelfer sniffed. "Admittedly, their ongoing well-being is not of great concern to us. They are considered as a military resource, and those that die are regularly replaced by captures from our hunt sorties."
McKay advanced on Daus, but Linnian blocked his path. "Listen to me, you can't treat these things like pet Dobermans, pretending they're house-trained! They are intelligent, ruthless beings! They were smart enough to wipe out the Ancients and you can bet they are smarter than you!"
The Magnate's eyes narrowed. "We have owned Hounds for hundreds of years, Dr. McKay. In all that time, we have remained their masters. Believe me, you have nothing to fear." He smiled again and stifled a mock yawn. "But now, I grow weary and I feel this day's war has become a poor amusement for all. I rule that this match is null. The honor debt of both parties is satisfied, and the battle is at an end." Mingled gasps of disbelief and relief rose in the gallery.
"All that for no result?" said Hill quietly. "Bloody hell."
Daus continued speaking. "Kelfer, we must see to our guest's request to view the dolmen in the coming days, yes? You will liaise with my daughter to see this comes to pass." The Magnate rose, and the assembled nobles bowed. Daus left the room, never seeing that the Atlantis team stayed standing, fighting down the churn of emotions that each of them felt.
The return journey to the capital city took place in grim silence. Sheppard made a curt throat-cutting gesture to the rest of the team as they boarded the gyro-flyer to take them back. Despite a few attempts to start small-talk conversations with them, Erony's adjutant Linnian got nothing but monosyllabic answers. It was only when they were back in the guest quarters that they spoke freely-and even then, only after the colonel had ordered them to check every shady corner for spy holes or possible listening devices.
The Atlantis team sat in a tight circle, heads bowed and voices low. Sheppard briefed Mason and the others in blunt, quick terms, outlining what had taken place out at the war zone. Now and then, Teyla would add a point. Mason said nothing, but once or twice he sucked air in through his teeth. It was the most animated Sheppard had ever seen the dour SAS soldier.
"These toffs are off their heads if they think they can keep the bozos on a chain," said Corporal Clarke. "I mean, you've seen that bunch of chinless wonders. They'll get eaten alive when the Wraith turn up looking for their mates."
"The question is," said Mason, "why hasn't that happened already? His lordship said they they've been at this for what, hundreds of years?"
"True, but you have to remember that the majority of the Wraith have been dormant," noted McKay, flicking a look at Sheppard, "although that's changed recently thanks to certain people."
"Are you ever gonna let me forget about that?" said the colonel tersely. "I don't keep reminding you about that planet you blew up." He puffed out a breath. "Mason's right, though. You have to wonder why the Wraith haven't culled this place into the dirt, and I'm pretty damn sure it's not because the Halcyons are the great warriors they brag they are."
"Location," said Rodney. "Halcyon is a long way off the galactic axis. I'm willing to bet that only reason the Wraith aren't here is because they haven't got around to it yet. There are plenty of rich, cull-able planets much closer to the main concentrations of Wraith activity in the Pegasus Galaxy. But it's only a matter of time. Could be weeks, years, decades… But sooner or later, they'll pop in for a snack."
"So what do we do in the meantime?" said Ronon. "Daus and his nobles are treating us like something to amuse themselves with. I don't think we're going to get anything out of them Atlantis can use."
Mason spoke again. "They may have a rod up their backsides and be in love with the sound of their own voices, but let's not forget, if this city is anything to go by, then Halcyon must have a huge standing army. If we did have a treaty with 'em, they could end up as a strong ally…"
Teyla nodded. "That is true, but could we ever find common ground with them? We share the fight against the Wraith, yes, but their morality is callous and ruthless. I find it difficult to believe that Dr. Weir would be willing to make a pact with someone like Daus."
"There's no getting around it, Staff," added Hill, "the big man, he's a dictator. I joined up to put blokes like him out of a job, not to make friends with them."
Bishop chimed in. "Isn't there anyone else on this planet we could talk to? Get a different point of view?"
"Nice idea, if Daus would let us," said Rodney. "I get the impression he's a bit of a control freak, don't you?"
"Lord Daus rules Halcyon through superior military might," Teyla noted. "Lady Erony's adjutant Linnian took great pains to emphasize this point to me. His clan, the Fourth Dynast, has the largest number of Hounds of all the noble houses on Halcyon. This is how his family have stayed in power for so long."
Ronon snorted derisively. "No wonder he didn't like hearing what McKay wanted to tell him."
Sheppard glanced at his watch, studying the display that showed what the Stargate teams had taken to calling AMT — Atlantis Mean Time. "Look, we're due to touch base with Atlantis soon for our regular sit-rep. Before I talk to Weir, I want to have a handle on this place, from all sides."
"What are you proposing?" asked Teyla.
John got up and walked toward the balcony. He pointed at the streets and buildings beyond the walls of the High Palace. "There's a whole city out there that we haven't seen yet. Everyone we've talked to so far has been rich folks, or the people in their pockets. I think we should hear what the man on the street has to say about life on Halcyon, don't you?"
"Daus will never let you out unescorted," said McKay. "I had three riflemen trailing me the whole time I was with Erony and Kelfer, and we never even left the palace."
"I wasn't thinking about asking permission." Sheppard gave Ronon a crooked smile. "You up for walk?"
Hill frowned. "Boss, you won't get ten feet dressed in our gear. You're gonna need some sort of cover."