"Previously on stargate Atlantis... you're going to need a name." "How does "mike" sound?" "The retrovirus works." "Just look at the guy." "I'm returning to what..." "I... am." "Not only has our dear lieutenant rejoined the wraith, but he's taken with him the knowledge that Atlantis still exists." "We have detected a hive ship heading towards Atlantis." "I think we can assume it's Michael." "Your retrovirus will allow us to feed off enemy wraith." "Receiving transmission." "What is, exactly?" "Everything you've ever wanted to know about wraith technology but were afraid to ask." "Once we get in range, we can beam a canister into the CO2 chamber, and boom, one hive ship de-wraith-ified." "There's been a... change in plans." "Two hive ships bearing down on our position, sir." "One of them is the friendly." "The queen wants you to witness the fruits of your labor." "Within the hive ship's schematics was a worm-like computer virus." "What did they get?" "The location of every world in our database." " With some 302s, save us some time." " Do it." "Shields are at 60%!" "I've got incoming." " Dagger 3 and 4, try to keep these darts off our six." " Roger that." "Half the bogies are pursuing daggers 3 and 4." "We've got the other half hot on our tail." "I'm taking fire." "I've lost a generator." "Stand by to break left on my mark." "Mark!" "Fox 4." "We're in the clear." "Continue to target." "Shields are under 20%." "Colonel Sheppard, get your flight back to the ship." "We need to jump out of here as soon as possible." "Two minutes and I can shut down their hyperdrives." "Unless you can shut down their weapons, it's not going to do us much good." "Damn it." "Dagger 2, I could use some cover on my attack run to the target hyperdrive." "Roger that, leader." "I'm on my way." "The remaining darts are returning to the hives." "Can you go to max thrust?" "Negative." " Head back to the Daedalus." " Roger that." "The hives are opening hyperspace windows." "Why the hell did they do that?" "Three of our 302s are returning to Daedalus, sir." " Sheppard?" " His fighter isn't one of them." "The only contacts I have on screen are wreckage." " What about his locator beacon?" " Nothing, sir." "He's just gone." "Understood." "Okay." "This is new." "Colonel Caldwell." "What's the status of the repairs?" "Ongoing." "We lost a few key personnel in the attack." "Yes, we did." "I'm sorry." "So am I, but this isn't the time to mourn them." "I've just briefed general landry." "We're to check in in an hour and advise him of our response to this." "I've got a broken ship and serious casualties." "I don't know what sort of response you have in mind, but" " I want you to redeploy immediately." " Excuse me?" "As long as they're still in striking distance, we have to at least try." "You know we can't intercept them in hyperspace." "Radek?" "Obviously they've upgraded their ftl drives using the information they were able to steal from our database." " The aurora mission reports- - obviously." "However, their ships are organic in nature." "They will need to make brief pauses to recover from the effects of hyperspace radiation." "Where and when?" " Uh, it will take some time to calculate." " Go." " Okay." "Look, dr." "Weir, I want to go after these bastards as much as you do, but the Daedalus is in no position to fight right now." "Our shields are severely depleted." "Several decks are inaccessible." "Even if we could catch up with them, I don't know how long we'd last." "Which is why I'm committing the Orion as well." "It was recalled the moment the wraith computer virus was revealed." "It's in no better shape than Daedalus." "It will fly, and by the time you reach the hive ships," " it should also be able to fight." " And if it isn't?" "Currently, stargate command has no vessels capable of engaging the hive ships before they reach earth." "They cannot be allowed to get that far, Steven." "You know what you're asking me to do." "I do." "There are still repairs that need to be made." "Do what you have to do." "They couldn't have." "Even if they somehow deduced the location of earth, they still wouldn't be able to get there, not unless they... they downloaded something along with the hive ship plans, something like spyware." "It's like when I stupidly downloaded por- music." "When I downloaded music." "I asked them to do it." "I did this." "I'm responsible for the destruction of my own planet." "If anybody was going to do it, it'd be you." "Thank you." "Thank you so much for that." "Stop worrying about it now." "Just focus." "What is there to focus on?" "I'm stuck in a cocoon." " Getting out of here." " Oh, right." "Of course." "Now, why didn't i think of that?" "Of course." "Okay, here goes." "Um, nope." "Still can't move." "I'm pretty sure they're struggle-proof, big guy." "Okay, can't sit here forever." "Hit 'em while they're in hyperspace, and they'll never know what happened." "Is that even possible?" "There is no reason to believe that their hyperspace field is any different from ours, and we can't launch 302s from the Daedalus while in hyperspace." "I'm talking about maneuvering within the field, not passing through it." "What do you think?" " Hmm?" " What?" "Colonel?" " Yes." " He's not listening." "I've got to pay more attention to those guys." "Yes, "Michael"?" "You should have told me that we were going to betray the atlantians." " Are you feeling sympathy for them?" " No... but I don't understand why I wasn't told." "I told you of their plan because I believed it was a viable way of" "You're only alive, because you may prove to be useful, but I fear, Michael, that the lingering stench of what they've transformed you into... will never fade." "In approximately one hour, the wraith will drop out of hyperspace... here." "It's just outside of the pegasus galaxy." "There they will pause for 15 hours." "If Daedalus and Orion break orbit on our current schedule, they should be able to reach those coordinates in just under 14 hours, best possible speed." "Narrow window." " It's the only window, sir." " Understood." "Now, the international oversight advisory want you to brief them on this matter." "When would you like me to dial in again?" "You misunderstand me." "I mean in person, and I mean right now." " The president himself" " I can't just leave, not now." "I'm afraid that's not up to you." " There is far too much going on here- - doctor... you've done all you're going to do for now." "I need you to step through that gate." "They're waiting for you in my briefing room." "Dr. Weir?" "I see." "Teyla... we are waiting several teams to return from their missions." "Once that happens," "I'd like to suspend all gate travel till this whole thing is over." "Of course." "And I'll need you to dial in once the Daedalus is ready to leave." "I know what to do, Elizabeth." "Of course you do." " I will see you when you return." " Thank you." " Welcome back to earth." " Thank you, general." " It's wonderful to be here." " I can see that." "You know, I considered disobeying your order." "There wouldn't have been too much you could do about it." "You made the right decision in coming." "We're in the middle of a crisis, general." " This is absolutely- - don't bite my head off, Elizabeth." "The recall order didn't come from me." "Who it came from doesn't matter." "What if I told you it came from the president?" "I wouldn't believe you." "And you'd be right, but in a couple of weeks, there could be aliens on our doorstep determined to feed on the human race." "The president had no choice but to accede to the I.O.A.'S demand that you be brought back to explain yourself." "So, what do they really want?" "To point fingers, cover their asses..." "I am honestly not sure how I will respond to that, sir." "They're bureaucrats, Elizabeth." "You'll have 'em for breakfast." "There is work I must attend to." "Stand aside." "Am I to sit quietly in my quarters?" "You know, these things are actually quite comfortable." "Surprisingly warm, takes all the pressure off the spine..." "I suppose they're as good a place as any to witness the end of humanity as we know it." "You're wasting your energy talking." "Okay, let's say a magic fairy comes down and grants you one wish, and we break out?" "Then what, huh?" "We're still on a hive, we're still traveling through hyperspace, probably in the massive void between our two galaxies, where there aren't even planets, let alone stargates." "What then, huh?" "Do we fly home on the wings of imagination?" "Is that what we do, Ronon?" "You can sit here and die if you like, but I'm not giving up." " Oh, fine." "I will." " Fine!" "Okay." "Time to do some damage." "Ronon, Rodney, can you hear me?" "Rodney?" "I know this is a long shot, but if you can hear me, please respond." "I need to know your location." "Guys?" "Colonel Sheppard?" "Is that you?" " Who's this?" " You know me as Michael." "Sorry..." "I got the wrong number." "Ronon and dr." "McKay are still alive." "What are you going to do with them?" "If you want them to live, listen to me." "But if your friends are in pursuit, you need to disable these ships in order for them to reach us." "If you really want to help, why don't you just do that?" " They would know." " Aren't you "they"?" "Please believe me when I say I was as deceived as you were." "Oh, I don't know." "I was pretty deceived." "It seems, colonel, that because of what you did to me, the wraith no longer see me as one of their own." "Oh, that's why you want to help, because you don't feel welcome." "We don't have time to discuss this." "Sure we do." "I've got... a good three hours of air left." " Where are you?" " Oh, wouldn't you like to know." "I need to know what level you're on so I can guide you from there." "You mean trust you." " Are you in a position not to?" " Oh..." "I've got you right where I want you." "I doubt I will be allowed to live much longer, and yet I very much want to continue living." "If you want to survive as I do, then I suggest you tell me where you are." "I'm outside the hive in a 302 about to blast your ship." "You still want to help?" "Targeting the ventral hyperdrive generators would be most effective." "Yeah, that's what I was thinking." "Then I suggest you act now before you are discovered." "The leader of the hive presented a scenario which made it seem we were under a time constraint." "to be the problem solving, we distributed a file." "And played right into their hands." "Yes." "In fairness, dr." "Weir kept us informed of every action they took along the way." "And we supported her recommendations, I know... but clearly, we were not in possession of all of the facts." "Obviously, neither were we, ambassador." "So, what measures have you taken to prevent the wraith from reaching earth?" "I was coordinating a strike against the hive ships when you recalled me." "With what?" " With everything we've got." " Is that wise?" "General landry has informed me that in light of fleet resources committed to fighting the ori, the weapons platform in Antarctica, powered by a pair of mark ii generators, would be earth's only defense." "Now, I believe it would be far better to stop them while they're still within reach of Atlantis." "Wouldn't it have been more prudent to send the zpm back to earth on the Daedalus, ensuring successful operation of the antarctic weapons platform when the wraith arrive?" "The Daedalus suffered severe damage during the first battle." "A long journey at full power was out of the question... and there is no way of knowing how much faster the wraith ships have become." "You would risk the lives of everyone aboard those ships in order to undo your mistake?" "Daedalus is in orbit above Atlantis, performing emergency repairs." "There is still time to beam the zpm aboard." "But either plan will require Daedalus to break orbit within the next hour." "Then if you'll excuse us, we need some time to discuss our options." "I have instructed Atlantis to contact the sgc when both Daedalus and Orion are ready to leave." "If you would like to overturn my standing orders at that time, go right ahead... but you will have to fire me first." "I wonder what they'll do to us." "Feed on us, probably." "I mean, that'S..." "that's what they do." " It's not going to come to that." " Maybe." "Earth'll probably mount some kind of defense... in which case,I imagine death would be instantaneous... unless we're trapped on a deck with a fire or something." "Then we'd be burned alive." "Oh... burned alive or suffocate." "I wonder which would be worse, being life-sucked by the wraith or burned alive." "I honestly couldn't consider two worse options." "Stop talking." "Okay, you know what?" "Make me." "What are you doing?" "Where did you get that?" "I was trying to get my hands free so I could get to it." "Would it have killed you to tell me?" "Maybe I would have if you'd shut up for more than a minute." "What?" "don't just stand there." "Cut me loose." "Only if you put an end to all this "we're gonna die, there's no hope" talk." "Well, now there is hope." "Ready." "Kinda little help?" "Oh, it's freezing out here." " Would you prefer to go back in?" " No." " So now what?" " What?" " How do we get out of here?" " Well, I don't..." " what?" " You said no more death talk." " McKay..." " We find a way out of cocoon, so what?" "We're still stuck on the ship, and there's no way off it without..." " well, in any survivable way." " You'll think of something." " It's not a question of- - you'll think of something." "Fine." "Can we at least go somewhere else?" "Can you get this off me?" "It's down my back." " It's down my back." " Just... so, what do they want to do?" "They're still arguing about it." "Of course they are." "Incoming wormhole." "This is Atlantis." "We have a scheduled check-in with dr." "Weir." "Stand by, Atlantis." "They haven't reached a decision." "and They don't want to, mr." "Woolsey, because if they agree or disagree with me then they have to take some sort of responsibility." "No, they'd rather have someone to blame." "If I give this order, either way they have a scapegoat if something goes wrong." "It's all part the game." "Ma'am?" "Teyla..." "Yes, Elizabeth." "Tell colonel Caldwell to proceed with the mission as planed and godspeed." "I will tell him." "Hermiod, what's our status?" "Shields are at full strength." "I have re-routed all non-essential power in order to ensure power levels for a longer period." "I want all operable missile tubes loaded with mark iii tactical warheads." "That'll be every one of our nukes, sir." "I'm well aware." "Secondly, I want to disable all firing safeties to enable the launch of every one of our missiles the moment we exit hyperspace." " I'm not even sure that's possible." " Make it possible, please." "Yes, sir." "Major lorne, we're approaching our t-zero." "Zelenka says she'll fly, sir, but as of right now, that's about all she can do." "You'll have 13 hours en route to get your weapons and shields online but we need to leave right now to make this window." "Are you go or no-go?" "We're go, sir." "Very well." "On my mark." "Three, two, one..." "mark." "Are you sure McKay and Ronon are nowhere near the area I'm about to light up?" "I'm certain." "Good luck." "Thanks." "It'll be a walk in the park." "A very scary park... filled with monsters who are trying to kill me." " I don't understand." " Never mind." "Operation "this will most likely end badly" is a go." "Target is destroyed." "Disable the second hive as quickly as possible." "Their fighters will be already headed your way." "Okay, how about some of this help you were talking about?" "I told you to target the hyperdrive." "I already knew that." "There is nothing I can do." "Like hell there isn'T." "Call off the darts." "They won't listen to me." "This is not helpful, Michael." "Dr. Weir... what can I do for you, mr." "Woolsey?" "The ambassadors have finished convening." "Oh, good timing." "Uh, yes." "They'd like to continue debriefing you now." "Yeah, I bet they would." "Excuse me?" "No." "I'm not going to sit there and have them rake me over the coals about every decision I've made these past two years that they don't agree with in hindsight." "Dr. Weir, you know I have the greatest respect for you but as far as the I.O.A. Is concerned you're not exactly the employee of the month right now." "If the wraith make it to earth, then keeping my job will be the least of my concerns." "And if your plan succeeds?" "Then I expect to keep my job, yes because I did what they, apparently, are incapable of doing." "I made a decision." "The fact is, at this point, there really is nothing more we can do but wait and see what happens." "But give them my best." "We have been walking around here for the better part of a day and I haven't seen one exit sign." "Sooner or later, I'm going to have to eat something." "I think I have a plan." " You?" "Really?" " You know a lot about these ships, right?" "Well, maybe." "Why?" "If I can get you to a control pane" " how much damage could you do?" " What do you mean?" "Could you overload the engines and blow up the ship?" "How is that an escape plan?" " I never said it was an escape plan." " How is it a plan?" "You're the one who says there's no way out." "If we're already dead, I say we take 'em with us." "I suppose I'd rather die as a hero than as a meal." " So you can do it?" " Yeah, probably." "Now you're talking." "You should not be here." "She asked me to question the prisoner." "If you'd prefer to discuss it with her... release him." "I will take him from here." " You had me worried there." " You've slowed them down... at least for a little while." "We need to get to a transport ship and hope your friends find us." "After we free Ronon and McKay." "We're headed toward them now." "Now... that's what I call help." "Exiting hyperspace in 10 seconds." "Launch the moment the target is acquired. don't wait for my order." "Five, four, three..." " Missiles are on way." " Dart activity?" "Quite a number of them, sir." "They're moving to intercept our missiles." "Now would be a good time, Orion." "What the hell?" "One of your ships has launched an attack." "Their first strike inflicted serious damage on this hive." "Good." "The other hive was undamaged, but your vessel is continuing to engage." "Are you going to go through the whole play-by-play, or are we going to get out of here?" "This way." "This ship's engaged in battle." " With who?" " Doesn't matter." " It matters to us - why?" "because if it's our guys, then our chances of survival just went back above zero, albeit fractionally." "If it's our guys, all the more reason to damage this ship and help them to win the battle." "Now, move it." "One missile got through, sir." "One of the wraith ships suffered serious damage but the other one is..." "Sir, the Orion has arrived." " The other hive is moving to intercept." " They launched their weapons?" "Negative, sir." "Open a secure channel." "Major lorne, now would be a good time to open fire." "Yes, sir." "I was just thinking the same thing." "I gave the order, but nothing happened." "Zelenka!" "I'm trying..." "We're having a little difficulty transferring power from shields to weapons." "There's a hive bearing down on your position." "Yes, sir, I see that." "Stand by." "Doc, you're killing us." "I have it." "I have it." "Firing drones." "Sir, remaining hive is shifting their attack to the Orion." "Move to intercept." "Orion has no shields." "We're not going to make it there in time, sir." "Where are they?" "I'm sorry." " They must have been taken for feeding." " No, no." "These were cut from the inside." "They escaped." "Then they could be anywhere on this ship." " Well, that's a start." " Why?" "What could their objective possibly be?" "If I know Ronon, they're somewhere where they can do as much damage as they can where and how to do that, so... there's a control station this way." "One more shot, Zelenka!" "That's all I'm asking!" "I just cannot give you what I do not have!" "There's too much damage!" " We need to abandon ship!" " hi!" "listen to me" "We sacrificed our shield capability for that first salvo." "This ship is going to blow any moment, major." "Colonel Caldwell, I'm afraid we've done everything we can on our end." "We request immediate beam-out to Daedalus." "Get 'em over here!" "Their operating system is a mess." "Thank goodness I remember dos." "Trust me, that was hilarious." "Have you done it yet?" "Look, this ship has been seriously damaged." "It's hard for me to find something to overload." "Let Mikey try it." "He's helping us." "Where did you come from?" "I managed to latch on to the hull of the hive before it went into hyperspace." " Nice move." " Saw it in a movie once." "We've got to get to the Daedalus." "The Daedalus is here?" "First we need to get to the transport." "Why should I trust you?" "Because I'm trusting you." "Because I said so." " I don't like this." " You got a better idea?" "We take the ship on our own and leave him here." "He's the reason I'm alive right now." "Besides, I don't think that's even possible." "It took me days to crack the wraith dart interface" " and this ship is a whole lot bigger." " I don't like it." "Yeah, I get it, you hate the wraith." "Him in particular." "Is there anything you can do to boost the radio signal?" "I want to reach the Daedalus as soon as possible." "I could try." "hang on!" "They'll most likely open fire on us the second we leave the bay." "Oh, great." "The day just gets better and better." " Sorry, sir." "Did our best." " Nothing to apologize for." "Bring all rail guns to bear on the main dart bays." "Hold fire till I give the order." "Channel every ounce of power to the forward shield until then." "I have a contact, sir." "A single wraith ship, possibly a transport, just left the hive and is on a course for us." "It's broadcasting a comm on our frequencies." "What the hell do they want?" "Maybe they want to surrender." "Not likely." "Let's hear it." "This is colonel John Sheppard, authentication code alpha seven tango three." " Please respond." " Open a channel." "Colonel Sheppard, we'd written you off." "don't get all emotional on me now." "Look, I've got McKay, Ronon, and Michael aboard a wraith transport" " Michael?" " Yes, sir, and he's got a plan you'll like but it probably won't be long before they start shooting at us." "The hive just opened fire on the transport." "Beam them directly to the bridge." "Colonel." "You said something about a plan?" "I have disabled their jamming code, but it's only a matter of time before they realize." "All you have to do is send over a nuke." "We deployed all of our warheads in the first attack." "The hive is launching darts." "Open up on those bays, all batteries!" "Cap that off!" "Report!" "The plan worked, sir." "The concentrated fire on the bays created a number of secondary explosions." "They've stopped firing." "Nice work, colonel." "Fortunately, a draw is a win for our side." "Ship status?" "Shields completely depleted, and we're venting atmosphere." "Seal off all affected decks." "Yes, sir, but that last blast took out our life support and the back-ups aren't responding." "As of right now, we're shallow-breathing." " Meaning?" " Meaning... that in a little under nine hours, we're all going to suffocate." "As long as we don't have to worry about shields and weapons we may be able to cannibalize parts from some of our other systems in order to create, at the very least, a CO2 filtration system." "By the time we got something like that up and running, the CO2 levels will overwhelm any makeshift scrubbers we'd be able to concoct." "It's worth a try." "Yes, yeah, but regardless, we need more electricians and welders than are technically certified on the ship's roster." "Anyone, and I mean anyone, who took shop needs to report to us." "There are teams assembling on every deck." "Good, good." "Ah, now we're talking." "How many more of these do we have?" "20 in total." "How many people on board?" "In and around the 200 mark." "So, I guess buddy-breathing our way through this one is out of the question." " I'm afraid so, sir, yes." " Okay they're reserved for people working on getting life-support operational." "We need those people as clear-headed as possible." " And by "those people"..." " yes, I will be one of them." " How many levels are inaccessible?" " Seven." "We need to find out if there are pockets of breathable atmosphere in there." "We may be able to squeeze another hour or so out of regions" " that have been sealed off." " We can't exactly transfer the o2" " where we need it." " Yes" " but we could be..." " we can access key panels that have been closed off to us." "Let's get Sheppard in a 302." "He can eyeball it from outside." "I'll take this." "These sections are completely open to space, Rodney." "There aren't even pockets you could beam into." "What about an E.V.A.?" "Space suits were stored in those sections." "All right." "I'm heading back." "Copy that." " Have you tried routing the power..." " yes, yes, yes." "We have tried everything." "Subspace communications?" "We are floating between two galaxies, radek." "Atlantis has no ship to send, and even if we were somehow able to repair the array and get a message back to earth, it would still take them weeks to get a rescue here." "I wasn't thinking of rescue." "I was thinking simply of telling them that we stopped the wraith, and perhaps letting someone know the sacrifice that we've done." "Well, a noble sentiment but I would prefer to dedicate my last breath of air to getting more air." "Wait a second." "The only breathable air within light years is on the wraith ship." "There are also wraith aboard that wraith ship, doctor." "So we take 'em." "Beam an assault team in." "You would be far outnumbered." "Well, we're dead here." "I'll take my chances." "I admire your courage, colonel but you would be dead there surely as here." "Unless we send over the gas." "Yes, yes, yes." "That could work." "The retrovirus gas would make them virtually harmless." " Do we still have it on board?" " Yes, we do, and now that Michael's disabled their jamming codes... we finish the plan we started." "We beam over the gas and wait." "We wait long enough, they won't even want to put up a fight." "Because they'll be humans with no memories." "I might actually survive this." "We're almost out of breathable air now, and the retrovirus takes a minimum 10 hours to run its course." "We rotate the crew in and out of the 302s." "If this works, can you fly the hive ship?" "I could." " What are you say" " Get us within beaming range of the hive." "Yes, sir." " Anything?" " No." "No contacts yet." "Our tests of the mark two generator and the chair in Antarctica are promising." ""Promising. "" "That doesn't sound very promising." "We are fairly confident, that the ancient weapon will take care of the hive ships but doing so will probably require the last of our drones and there goes our secret weapon." "We'd really rather not have to do that." "How'd it go with the I.O.A.?" "Oh, you know." "I mean... does anyone ever come out of an I.O.A. Deposition saying, "that went well"?" "No, I don't suppose they do." "It was what it was." "Well, at least most of the time you're a galaxy away." "That woolsey guy is here almost every other week." "I think they're going to ask me to step down." "Well, if they're just going to ask, you can always say no." "I messed this one up, general... yeah, you did." "And I lost some of the best people I've ever- but you proceeded with the blessing of the I.O.A.," "And stargate command, as I recall." "Somehow, that doesn't seem to help much." ""Success is not final." "Failure is not fatal." "It's the courage to continue that counts. "" "And I think you've got that in spades." "Churchill?" "Yeah... except for that last part about you." "That was all me." " Get some sleep, Elizabeth." " Yes, sir." "Our CO2 levels... are getting dangerous, sir." "The gas has barely had a chance to run its course." "We don't have much of a choice." "We've got to go now." "Some of them are dead." "Looks like they killed each other." "What's happened?" "It's all right." "Find a holding area and start marshaling the survivors there." "The queen's chamber should be that way." "Hello?" "You all right?" "It's okay." "You're going to be all right now." "It didn't work on her." "Beckett wondered if the females would be immune." "So you might have mentioned, before she almost killed me, Rodney." "I only thought of it now." "Colonel Sheppard, so far we haven't run into a single wraith, sir." "Understood." "Sheppard to Daedalus." " Go ahead." " You can start sending people over, sir." "They're all human, and the air is good." "I think we're out of the woods." "TO BE CONTINUED"