Stargate Atlantis: Redeeming Qualities
The Puddle Jumper bucked under another blast from the Wraith mothership. It was all a slightly innocuous effect. More like riding slowly in a car over a potholed road than being pounded by an immense energy weapon capable of destroying a city. Without the shields, they would already be space dust, a little detail that didn't escape the attention of a panicked Rodney McKay.
"May Day. May Day. We're under attack." He screamed into communications.
"ETA is twenty-seven minutes."
Lights flickered as another shot impacted the shields and Rodney's eyes rolled around as if expecting to see a new uninterrupted view of the stars. His voice rose a pitch as he turned to his companion.
"Can't you ETA it a bit sooner?
Like twenty-six minutes and fifty-nine seconds sooner?"
Colonel Samatha Carter ran her eyes over the Heads Up Display as though it would give her an option that didn't exist.
"The Hive ship has the planet covered. I can't get us back to the gate."
She remained calm despite seeing the same danger McKay did.
"What about heading for the Apollo?"
"The Hive weapons will have a clear shot as soon as I move away from it. Harder for them to target us closer in. It's throwing their shots off."
"Just a simple recon mission you said. A pleasant little planet. Those were your words."
"It would have been if the Wraith hadn't shown up." Sam started to regret asking McKay along.
"They always show up. That's what Wraith do. Show up and start killing people."
His attention was back on his Tactical Display.
"Oh no." His voice trembled.
"No no no.
There's Darts coming right at us."
"I see them."
Sam banked sharply right and hugged the hull of the Hive ship that had dropped out of hyperdrive right on top of them. Three Darts closed around them forcing Sam into a tight circle. Each was marked out as a red dot on the display.
Pulse energy weapons buffeted the Puddle Jumper again and again.
"Shields are down."
"See what you can do to get them back up."
"Like what? The circuits are fried."
"We need shields, Rodney."
"Oh really. Well perhaps you'd like to ask them to stop shooting at us for a few hours and I'll see what I can...
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
They have us in a tractor beam." Rodney's voice was full of panic.
Sam didn't have time to respond. She concentrated on trying to shake it, right up until the hull of the Wraith ship closed around them like the mouth of a giant prehistoric predator. It was over.
"Sorry, Rodney."
"Oh no. They're going to eat us aren't they."
Sam saw him turn his eyes toward her with his mouth hanging wide. A cold sweat tricked from his forehead. She couldn't say they wouldn't. But she didn't intend to offer herself up as the main course. She was already moving.
"Load up."
Sam was out of her seat snatching a P90 sub-machine gun and spare ammo.
"Only take two clips. We'll need to move fast."
It was at times like this she missed her BDUs with all the little storage pockets. The Atlantis Team outfits were ideal for comfort in the city. Not so in a firefight.
Rodney followed Sam's lead and crouched by the hatch. In his mind, it was a suicide mission. Moving anywhere didn't seem likely. When the hatch was forced open they would be surrounded. But surrendering wasn't an option when it was certain they'd be on the lunch menu.
"I hope I give them food poisoning." He muttered.
The lights flickered again and Jumper finally died. Sam readied herself. The Wraith would have the hatch forced open any moment.
Sam tossed a grenade at the first crack in the door. The blast rang in their ears like deafening thunder. Then the hatch dropped, exposing them to a second wave of waiting Wraith.
Rodney was as precise with his shooting as any soldier, taking down several of the bone-masked Warriors rushing toward them. Sam opened up with her P90 joining the cacophony of rapid fire, but her eyes were searching out their leaders. The Wraith that who be controlling the drones psychically.
Rodney was off the ramp, using the Jumper for cover.
Sam found her target and fired. The black-clad figure staggered back. It snarled, its full attention turning to her. For a moment she hesitated, seeing the holes in its flesh already healing. She raised her weapon to her eyeline again.
"Sam," Rodney shouted.
Sam saw it. The long sharp stem of a stun rifle swinging towards her. Before she could bring her weapon to bear on the immediate threat a blue electrifying beam caught her a glancing blow and she stumbled, dazed.
"Rodney."
A hand gripped her ankle and she fell with a hard thud. She saw Rodney running. He looked back and his stride slowed. Indecision gripped him as he saw her wide blue eyes and the quivering lips of a mouth open in shock.
Sam felt weak from the stun and struggled to focus. She swallowed deep, duty and training kicking in.
"Keep going." She ordered as the full weight of a Wraith pinned her legs and she knew she was lost.
She saw Rodney disappear as the Wraith pulled her upright with one hand, delivering her into the rough grasp of two Warriors.
The Wraith snarled as the effect of the stun weapon finally overcame her.
Sam felt groggy, like a hangover. It reminded her of one of the drinking sessions watching movies at Jack's home with Daniel and Teal'c back in the days of SG1. Thankfully the light was dull when she opened her eyes. To her disappointment, she wasn't met with a view of O'Neill's living room. Nor did she feel as comfortable as waking on his couch and there was no Daniel fussing around her with black coffee.
"Urh." She groaned.
It took a moment to focus on her surroundings, but it was instantly familiar. Wraith. Faint lights, pinpoints on control panels, and a pervasive glow of background lightning from panels in the living walls. Wispy smoke drifted over the floor giving a creepy gothic look to her surroundings. It looked old, incredibly old. And as her head began to clear she became aware of her own situation.
Sam was held in a glutinous wall, her hands and feet enclosed by the fleshy substance, stretching her into the shape of a star. She glanced down at herself to confirm what she already knew. She was naked.
"Oh please."
She lifted her head and let out a slow deep breath of despair. She couldn't be sure McKay had evaded his pursuers but if by some outside chance, Rodney did come and rescue her it would be like a wet dream for him.
She decided she should rely on her own resources. Not that she saw many at this particular moment. For now, all she could do was wait.
Sam didn't have to wait long. The sound of boots approaching echoed in the cavernous ship. Not so heavy. These were smaller strides. Those of a female. A shape came into view. A Wraith Queen, tall and slender in a flowing black dress. The sharp elongated features of her face had the confidence of age and power.
"I know you.
You are the leader of the Atlantans."
She looked as though she was sniffing the air and finding it distasteful. Her finger, a sharp fingernail to be more precise, traced a line from Sam's throat, between her tits and down her belly. Stopping just above a vulva that twitched and swelled with confused embarrassment and unwanted arousal at the touch.
"Can't say I know you."
"I am Queen Eternal Ending."
"Catchy."
The Wraith raised her feeding hand for her to look at. Sam focused on the long fingernails before letting her eyes slide to the palm where the feeding organ sat ominously. A slit lined with tiny suckers that would grip her chest, while the mouth sucked the life force from her. Sam knew the mechanics. She knew the dried husk she would become at the end of the process.
"You fear death." The voice reverberated with menace.
"I smell it in you."
Sam raised her eyes to the Wraith Queen. Her silver hair hung dankly at the sides of a sunken blue-tinged face and flowed down her back like a foaming river where it contrasted with the black of her clothing. The creature repulsed her but she didn't show it.
