Down the hall, just beyond the juncture, a blast door irised shut, cutting all but two of the Wraith off from them. “Great!” John began, just as another irised shut between them and Ronon.
Cadman lunged out, P90 spitting, sending the two drones still on their side of the door spinning. She came up with her face tight, looking suddenly like Carter. “Now what?”
“Ronon?” John yelled into the radio.
“I’ve got a clear side corridor,” Ronon said back. “But I can’t get through this door. I think it’s a pressure door.”
In case the dart bay depressurized. It made sense that the corridors around it could be sealed against vacuum. They weren’t going to get anywhere trying to shoot through that. “Radek?”
Radek looked up from the knot of fibers and shook his head, his glasses on the end of his nose. “I do not know what any of these go to. I am guessing.”
“Ok.” What he needed was Teyla, who could talk to the ship. But she wasn’t here. Time for plan B. “Ronon, you and Keller go aft to the labs and go after Rodney. Keller’s got the sedative, so you can stun him and she can keep him out. As soon as you’ve got him, have the Hammond beam you out.”
“Got it.” Ronon didn’t sound particularly worried. “Where are you going, Sheppard?”
“Forward to the power hub where Zelenka said it was most likely they’ve got the ZPM. Don’t wait for us, clear? As soon as you get Rodney, beam out.” John put his hand on Radek’s shoulder. “Ok, leave those alone. Let’s get to the power hub.” Teyla would be with Todd. Like Ronon, she’d find her own way out.
*This way,* Guide said, moving unerringly through the dim corridors of the hive ship. About them alarms blared, the high pitched wail for pilots to the dart bay and the almost subsonic rumble of general quarters. Once or twice drones hurried into them, but none tried to hinder them. Steelflower was a queen, and to attack her without specific orders unthinkable. The merest touch of her mind on theirs assured it.
*Where do we go?* she asked.
*You wanted McKay,* he said.
*Wait.* Steelflower put a hand to his wrist, drew him back. *That is where the team goes, where they go already. I would find Death.*
She felt his surprise, though it did not show in his face. *You seek her out?*
*That is the only way this will end,* Steelflower said. *The only way. You know that, Guide. Queen to queen.*
His mouth opened and shut, as though he wished to say something aloud, but Guide did not, and he felt her will hard as iron against him, a fragile flower, yes, but wrought of steel. *Then we will go this way,* he said. *To her chambers.*
“Come on.” Ronon led Jennifer through the maze of corridors that wound upon each other, twisting around until she had no idea where she was. But at least people had stopped shooting at them.
“Why aren’t they after us?” she asked as Ronon slipped through yet another junction, pausing to look in all directions.
“After Sheppard,” Ronon said. “Or Teyla.” He looked back at her. “We get Rodney. That’s the plan. They can take care of themselves.”
“Ok.” Maybe it was just the stress that caused the world to suddenly wobble in front of her eyes, and Jennifer paused, grabbing the wall. Her stomach rose. No. Absolutely not. She was not going to act like some green kid in front of Ronon. She’d been on missions before. She was not going to do this.
“You ok?” Ronon looked back over his shoulder frowning.
“Fine,” Jennifer said. Step where the floor is, not where you see it pitching. Keep moving. It will all settle down in a minute. It’s just nerves. Squaring her jaw, Jennifer followed Ronon through the maze.
It was only at the doors to her chambers that drones hindered them, four with pikes coming forward to bar the way into Death’s chambers. “What business have you?” the blade who was the doorwarden asked, coming forward to speak with Steelflower. His name was Green, and Guide knew him only slightly, but before he could so much as phrase a polite question Steelflower’s mind was on him.
*Open the doors,* she said, her mind voice echoing in Guide’s own mind. *And tell these drones to stand aside.*
He resisted. Of course he did. But only a moment before he fell to his knees, his head bent, forehead almost touching the hem of her emerald coat, and a frisson ran through Guide. She was strong, almost too strong in her urgency. He should have known she was of Osprey. The mind touch, the flavor of it, was too familiar for it to be anything else. He should have known. This was brighter than Alabaster when he had last seen her, a child still, bright almost as Snow. Perhaps brighter, some traitor part of him said. She was stronger. Snow’s mind had been versatile, clever as a cleverman, her thoughts whirling about like snow on the wind, this way and that as they danced in the air. Steelflower was all discipline. Her will did not waver.
*She is not here.* Steelflower spoke in his thoughts, releasing Green as though opening her hand. *Death is not aboard this ship, and has not been these many sleeps. It is a trap.*
*So be it,* Guide said, and let his satisfaction show through. He had thought it was. He had told her it was a plot to kill Steelflower. Let her know his wisdom!
*We will take the ZPM,* she said. *That at least we can do. And then we will find our way off.*
*As soon as the shields drop, our men will have us out,* Guide said, ready with a means as a proper consort should be. *They will lock on to the transmitters we wear, and they will do their part. We have only to wait for the Lanteans to drop the shields.*
*That should present little difficulty,* Steelflower said coolly. *But I would not have them bring us away empty handed. Show me where the power room is.*
The Hammond twisted, turning almost end over end as it dodged through a cloud of Wraith Darts, shields flaring blue almost to opacity with the volume of fire taken.
“Forward shield at 70 %,” Major Franklin said, “Holding steady, ma’am.”
Sam Carter leaned forward in her seat, trying not to sway around with the weaving and bobbing targets outside. It was a side effect of the inertial dampeners — when you could feel nothing of your motion there was a true disconnect with the visual data. Past a certain point it was confusing. The body tried to compensate by moving in concert with the visual stimuli, even when it wasn’t necessary.
But that was a scientist’s impression, not a starship captain’s. “Any change in the other hive ship?” she asked. She absolutely didn’t flinch as the refuse of a breaking up Dart collided with the forward shield, shearing off harmlessly a few meters from the bridge viewport.
“Negative. They’re just sitting there, ma’am.”
Which was Todd in a nutshell, Sam thought. The Hammond and Queen Death’s ship could go at it while he stood back waiting for a winner. And the last thing she could do was give them a run to provoke them, not with her hands full with the other hive ship.
“Leave them be,” Sam said. “Concentrate on the Darts. Once their cover is gone we can open them up.”
Alarms screamed in the corridors of the hive ship, but John thought the resistance was actually lighter than it had been. Three teams on the loose were at least splitting the defenders, not to mention whatever havoc the Hammond was wreaking. Three of the big guys were guarding the power room, but a nice one-two play from him and Cadman put them down, enough bullets in them to sink them in deep water. Cadman wasn’t sparing with the ammo.
“Ok,” John said, making one more quick check around the room. “Cadman, we’ll cover. Radek, get that ZPM out.” He ducked around one of the festooned pillars that sheltered the consoles from the door, Cadman behind the one on the other side. They had overlapping fields of fire this way, but he could see further down the hall to the right.