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HONOR
EPISODE 61
A short one... but...
I stared at him for a moment, bemused, but then with a little flip in my stomach, I slowly unfastened the tunic on his chest, parted it and I touched with my lips that warm spot underneath which his heart beat. He became very still, his heart suddenly fluttering, as I bit the soft skin smelling of distant worlds. There was a soft shudder and a small guttural sigh and then he stepped back. He fastened back his tunic, straightened up, bowed his head to me and then marched out, the doors opening and then closing behind him.
###
Sleep did not come to me; it had not come to me since I watched the Amber Wraith walk away down the Atlantis corridor, Lothar and the Marines in his wake. As I stood on the terrace of my quarters looking at the night sky studded with the shimmer of distant stars, that image of his straight back and broad shoulders, the white hair cascading down the golden black of the leather and the clipped step, was imprinted in my mind against the blackness of the sky.
The sorrow within was so deep that there could be no tears, no sobs, no tearing of mourning vestments… I was empty. I did not understand how I have come to this; when and how I had allowed myself to come to this. When did I cross that invisible line beyond which there was no return?
I stared at the sky, my hands gripping the rail, the feel of the Wraith’ hand still on mine, like a wound or a burn that lingered; except it was not pain but forlorn tingling. I counted the stars up there, this seventh night without sleep and as I counted and formed star patterns and constellations in the heavens, I fell down the chasm of my decision; or perhaps soared to the very top of the sky.
I took my compad and touched it. Colonel Santos, on his ship, answered first.
“Colonel,” I said, “you’re awake.”
“Night and day don’t really mean much.”
“Can you come down for a chat?”
“When?”
“Now. As soon as you can get here.”
“One hour.”
“Thank you. In my quarters.”
“Yes.”
Next I summoned Doctor Bernard and Doctor Janson.
A little over an hour later, Santos, Bernard and Janson were seated in the comfortable circle of armchairs in my sitting room, facing the long table with books and the night veiling the world outside the open terrace doors. I poured everyone a glass of wine—a rare Tokaji I had brought with me from Earth long before. The fortified wine that had been aged, in succession, in five oak barrels, clung to the sides of the crystal glass like oil and it was like velvet on the tongue.
Bernard closed his eyes with pleasure as he sipped it and Janson narrowed her eyes with equal delight. Santos nodded with appreciation then his eyes looked at me with suspicion. “What is wrong?”
“Or what is right?” Janson asked. “I don’t suppose you would waste a wine like this on ‘wrong.’”
“You don’t know Doctor Vries like I do, Jenn,” Colonel Santos rumbled. “She’s dulling the pain of her next blow.”
“I agree,” Bernard said and put down the glass.
“Nothing is wrong,” I said and sat down, with my back to the night and black ocean. “Nothing is right, either.” I set down the glass of wine, a golden drop still left on the bottom. “I have a question for each one of you. I want your most honest, brutal answer; the answer the goes deepest inside you.” I took in a breath. “Colonel Santos, with all the military might we’ve put in this and with all the losses of life—and they are not insignificant—both on our side and on the side of the humans in Pegasus; and yes, let’s count the losses among the Wraith—are the humans of the Pegasus safer since we’ve arrived?”
Santos turned the glass in his hands. “No.” He put the glass down. “With the Wraith roaming around without—shall we say, sleep—they are even more exposed.”
“Doctor Bernard,” I turned to my chief scientist, “Have we made things better for the Pegasus—human and Wraith alike—and for Earth, or worse, with our scientific discoveries?”
Bernard was hesitating. “It’s a two part answer. First, we’ve made things worse. We’ve stirred things up and unbalanced the natural course of things. We awoke the Wraith, and now, with our presence, they won’t go back to sleep. However, without our arrival on Atlantis, which happened to be in the Pegasus, we could not have acquired all this technology.”
“Couldn’t we continue to acquire this technology if Atlantis was no longer in the Pegasus?”
A long silence fell in the room.
I looked at Janson. “From a medical point of view, other than we’ve discovered a species that does not die and has no diseases as we know them, what have we gained?”
She answered without hesitation. “Nothing. And we will learn nothing until we capture Wraith and use them for… well, research.”
“Would you?”
“There is no need to even ask such a question.” She looked suddenly angry. “Never. And you would never allow it even it were not me here. They are…” She shook her head is if to remove some abhorrent image from her mind. “No, never.”
“But someone could come in my place and in your place and they might not have such misgivings or principles. Someone like Feng for instance. I’ve seen what his device did. And, it has happened before, if you recall. They did experiment on a Wraith. That was wrong. What will prevent someone else from doing that again?”
The deep silence returned. Then Bernard spoke: “What are you thinking, Elena?”
“One more question,” I said. “And think well—you, Santos, as a military man and you, Bernard as a man versed in the theories of probability of the universe. How long, do you think, before the Wraith get the address for Earth and when they do…”
Bernard breathed through his nose sounding like a seal. “The more time passes, the more things mix, the more events accumulate, the probability increases. It is only a matter of time before the Wraith find the address for Earth. They’re not stupid. And they’re cunning.”
“No kidding…” Janson murmured and there me a side glance. Then she asked my next question: “And if they do, and they do show up above Earth, what happens then, Colonel?”
“Hell happens,” the Colonel answered. “Not an option. I’d rather that I did everything possible they didn’t get it.”
“Exactly,” I said: “I need the three of you with me on Earth, in front of the IAC to testify and provide data and information. Truthful, honest and no punches pulled testimony, without the private agenda and motives of a scientist and military man. Please think about it, until you truly see my point. And if after all the thinking, you don’t, I’ll accept that.”
Bernard made another seal sound. “I need to think about it and see if I come to the same conclusion, shedding my own desire to discover things, regardless of what they mean, or what they create or cause.”
“I don’t need time to think,” Janson intervened. “I’ve been thinking about it. Although, like Doctor Bernard… my scientist’s heart would break.”
Santos was silent.
“I still want you to think, for as long as you need. And then, let me have the answer.”
Bernard stood up. “So, we will think.”
“We will think.”
Santos stirred. “I think an analysis of benefits versus risks of Earth exposure to attack from space would be very conclusive to the IAC and all the powers that may be.” He grinned. “None of them are scientific minds so they are not driven by the great desire for knowledge. Actually, they prefer ignorance. Ignorance is quickly frightened. I think we need to use a little fear.”
As they headed for the door and they palmed it open, I said: “None of you seems to show any consternation or knee-jerk reaction.”
Janson mused: “It was inevitable.”
Bernard added, from beyond the threshold: “It was always believed that it would be the decision of the Atlantis leader.”
Bernard had been right; and of course, I was aware of that—it was always understood, and expected, that it would be the decision of the Atlantis leader. It became MY decision.\
The IAC, the military and the President accepted my decision after only two days of testimony from me and my team. I have to say that I had calculated correctly—Atlantis had been a thorn in the side of the military and the politicians for a while and it was only the fervor and clamor of the scientists that had kept them from rudely giving a direct order. My proposal was eagerly welcomed.
And so it was that one month after our return from Earth, as dawn rose over the planet of Atlantis, the city lifted from the ocean, a great tidal wave in its wake and as the massive waves rippled away and faded and the last drop of water flowed over the edges of the embankments, it left the atmosphere and entered the blackness of space, a luminous, fantastic vision against the panoply of stars.
Like an honor guard, hive ships of the alliance lined on either side, silent, black cutouts in the heavens, a few lights flickering to mark their existence. Only one hiveship, the most massive, flashed its lights of red and amber as the hyperspace window blinked and Atlantis disappeared into it. Then the hiveships blinked and flickered into their own hyperspace and melted away, once again the masters of Pegasus. A strange peace fell, as all motion stopped. The space of the sky was empty.
However, when the planet moved in its orbit and withdrew its shadow, and the distant sun’s aura shivered at the edges, the burst of rays revealed one hive ship still suspended in the space above the Atlantis planet. It was the largest of the ships, the one which had blinked its lights in a vague salute. It now glowed in the fire of the sun with a dark, amber smolder. It seemed to watch and track the small, silver transporter emerging from the sun’s growing light. As it approached, the hive ship bay doors opened and a cloud of darts emerged, swarming around, leading the small pinpoint of silver towards the gaping opening in the underbelly of the ship.
THIS IS NOT THE END!!!!!!!
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!
EPISODE 61
A short one... but...
Spoiler:
I stared at him for a moment, bemused, but then with a little flip in my stomach, I slowly unfastened the tunic on his chest, parted it and I touched with my lips that warm spot underneath which his heart beat. He became very still, his heart suddenly fluttering, as I bit the soft skin smelling of distant worlds. There was a soft shudder and a small guttural sigh and then he stepped back. He fastened back his tunic, straightened up, bowed his head to me and then marched out, the doors opening and then closing behind him.
###
Sleep did not come to me; it had not come to me since I watched the Amber Wraith walk away down the Atlantis corridor, Lothar and the Marines in his wake. As I stood on the terrace of my quarters looking at the night sky studded with the shimmer of distant stars, that image of his straight back and broad shoulders, the white hair cascading down the golden black of the leather and the clipped step, was imprinted in my mind against the blackness of the sky.
The sorrow within was so deep that there could be no tears, no sobs, no tearing of mourning vestments… I was empty. I did not understand how I have come to this; when and how I had allowed myself to come to this. When did I cross that invisible line beyond which there was no return?
I stared at the sky, my hands gripping the rail, the feel of the Wraith’ hand still on mine, like a wound or a burn that lingered; except it was not pain but forlorn tingling. I counted the stars up there, this seventh night without sleep and as I counted and formed star patterns and constellations in the heavens, I fell down the chasm of my decision; or perhaps soared to the very top of the sky.
I took my compad and touched it. Colonel Santos, on his ship, answered first.
“Colonel,” I said, “you’re awake.”
“Night and day don’t really mean much.”
“Can you come down for a chat?”
“When?”
“Now. As soon as you can get here.”
“One hour.”
“Thank you. In my quarters.”
“Yes.”
Next I summoned Doctor Bernard and Doctor Janson.
A little over an hour later, Santos, Bernard and Janson were seated in the comfortable circle of armchairs in my sitting room, facing the long table with books and the night veiling the world outside the open terrace doors. I poured everyone a glass of wine—a rare Tokaji I had brought with me from Earth long before. The fortified wine that had been aged, in succession, in five oak barrels, clung to the sides of the crystal glass like oil and it was like velvet on the tongue.
Bernard closed his eyes with pleasure as he sipped it and Janson narrowed her eyes with equal delight. Santos nodded with appreciation then his eyes looked at me with suspicion. “What is wrong?”
“Or what is right?” Janson asked. “I don’t suppose you would waste a wine like this on ‘wrong.’”
“You don’t know Doctor Vries like I do, Jenn,” Colonel Santos rumbled. “She’s dulling the pain of her next blow.”
“I agree,” Bernard said and put down the glass.
“Nothing is wrong,” I said and sat down, with my back to the night and black ocean. “Nothing is right, either.” I set down the glass of wine, a golden drop still left on the bottom. “I have a question for each one of you. I want your most honest, brutal answer; the answer the goes deepest inside you.” I took in a breath. “Colonel Santos, with all the military might we’ve put in this and with all the losses of life—and they are not insignificant—both on our side and on the side of the humans in Pegasus; and yes, let’s count the losses among the Wraith—are the humans of the Pegasus safer since we’ve arrived?”
Santos turned the glass in his hands. “No.” He put the glass down. “With the Wraith roaming around without—shall we say, sleep—they are even more exposed.”
“Doctor Bernard,” I turned to my chief scientist, “Have we made things better for the Pegasus—human and Wraith alike—and for Earth, or worse, with our scientific discoveries?”
Bernard was hesitating. “It’s a two part answer. First, we’ve made things worse. We’ve stirred things up and unbalanced the natural course of things. We awoke the Wraith, and now, with our presence, they won’t go back to sleep. However, without our arrival on Atlantis, which happened to be in the Pegasus, we could not have acquired all this technology.”
“Couldn’t we continue to acquire this technology if Atlantis was no longer in the Pegasus?”
A long silence fell in the room.
I looked at Janson. “From a medical point of view, other than we’ve discovered a species that does not die and has no diseases as we know them, what have we gained?”
She answered without hesitation. “Nothing. And we will learn nothing until we capture Wraith and use them for… well, research.”
“Would you?”
“There is no need to even ask such a question.” She looked suddenly angry. “Never. And you would never allow it even it were not me here. They are…” She shook her head is if to remove some abhorrent image from her mind. “No, never.”
“But someone could come in my place and in your place and they might not have such misgivings or principles. Someone like Feng for instance. I’ve seen what his device did. And, it has happened before, if you recall. They did experiment on a Wraith. That was wrong. What will prevent someone else from doing that again?”
The deep silence returned. Then Bernard spoke: “What are you thinking, Elena?”
“One more question,” I said. “And think well—you, Santos, as a military man and you, Bernard as a man versed in the theories of probability of the universe. How long, do you think, before the Wraith get the address for Earth and when they do…”
Bernard breathed through his nose sounding like a seal. “The more time passes, the more things mix, the more events accumulate, the probability increases. It is only a matter of time before the Wraith find the address for Earth. They’re not stupid. And they’re cunning.”
“No kidding…” Janson murmured and there me a side glance. Then she asked my next question: “And if they do, and they do show up above Earth, what happens then, Colonel?”
“Hell happens,” the Colonel answered. “Not an option. I’d rather that I did everything possible they didn’t get it.”
“Exactly,” I said: “I need the three of you with me on Earth, in front of the IAC to testify and provide data and information. Truthful, honest and no punches pulled testimony, without the private agenda and motives of a scientist and military man. Please think about it, until you truly see my point. And if after all the thinking, you don’t, I’ll accept that.”
Bernard made another seal sound. “I need to think about it and see if I come to the same conclusion, shedding my own desire to discover things, regardless of what they mean, or what they create or cause.”
“I don’t need time to think,” Janson intervened. “I’ve been thinking about it. Although, like Doctor Bernard… my scientist’s heart would break.”
Santos was silent.
“I still want you to think, for as long as you need. And then, let me have the answer.”
Bernard stood up. “So, we will think.”
“We will think.”
Santos stirred. “I think an analysis of benefits versus risks of Earth exposure to attack from space would be very conclusive to the IAC and all the powers that may be.” He grinned. “None of them are scientific minds so they are not driven by the great desire for knowledge. Actually, they prefer ignorance. Ignorance is quickly frightened. I think we need to use a little fear.”
As they headed for the door and they palmed it open, I said: “None of you seems to show any consternation or knee-jerk reaction.”
Janson mused: “It was inevitable.”
Bernard added, from beyond the threshold: “It was always believed that it would be the decision of the Atlantis leader.”
Bernard had been right; and of course, I was aware of that—it was always understood, and expected, that it would be the decision of the Atlantis leader. It became MY decision.\
The IAC, the military and the President accepted my decision after only two days of testimony from me and my team. I have to say that I had calculated correctly—Atlantis had been a thorn in the side of the military and the politicians for a while and it was only the fervor and clamor of the scientists that had kept them from rudely giving a direct order. My proposal was eagerly welcomed.
And so it was that one month after our return from Earth, as dawn rose over the planet of Atlantis, the city lifted from the ocean, a great tidal wave in its wake and as the massive waves rippled away and faded and the last drop of water flowed over the edges of the embankments, it left the atmosphere and entered the blackness of space, a luminous, fantastic vision against the panoply of stars.
Like an honor guard, hive ships of the alliance lined on either side, silent, black cutouts in the heavens, a few lights flickering to mark their existence. Only one hiveship, the most massive, flashed its lights of red and amber as the hyperspace window blinked and Atlantis disappeared into it. Then the hiveships blinked and flickered into their own hyperspace and melted away, once again the masters of Pegasus. A strange peace fell, as all motion stopped. The space of the sky was empty.
However, when the planet moved in its orbit and withdrew its shadow, and the distant sun’s aura shivered at the edges, the burst of rays revealed one hive ship still suspended in the space above the Atlantis planet. It was the largest of the ships, the one which had blinked its lights in a vague salute. It now glowed in the fire of the sun with a dark, amber smolder. It seemed to watch and track the small, silver transporter emerging from the sun’s growing light. As it approached, the hive ship bay doors opened and a cloud of darts emerged, swarming around, leading the small pinpoint of silver towards the gaping opening in the underbelly of the ship.
THIS IS NOT THE END!!!!!!!
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!
Good chapter, hon. You keep wringing us dry and we'll love ya even more.
Little innocent me? 
.
sneaky Amber Wraith naughty Amber Wraith .... 
Poor you he nicked your raisins. 
And all of it was totally unexpected. (Also very vivid, like watching a TV.
)
I have a feeling those two are far from finished.
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