Entanglement

by Martha Wells

  John hadn't thought it would be anything else. The jumper just felt... dead. "Right. Everybody, check your breathing units. Miko, you're on the life signs detector. Rodney get a P-90. Ronon, can you carry Radek?" John hoped like hell Ronon could carry Radek, because he wasn't leaving anybody behind.

  Ronon spat blood out onto the deck and shoved unsteadily to his feet. He was well on the way to developing two perfect black eyes. "Yeah. Let's go."

  It took time they didn't have to scramble for extra ammo, and to get their breathing gear back on, and John made sure they were stocked up on grenades. They had smoke, flash-bangs, and fragmentation, and that might give them just enough of an extra edge. Miko grabbed the medical kit and Rodney stuffed the tablets and laptops into a couple of supply packs. John checked Miko's sidearm, making sure it was loaded and that she had extra clips in her vest. He knew she was checked out on it on the firing range, but he didn't think she had had to use it in earnest before.

  Once Ronon had Zelenka slung over one shoulder and his energy gun in his free hand, John said, "Are we clear?"

  "Closest life sign is one hundred yards," Miko reported, her eyes wide and bruised in the dim light. "But they are all around us."

  Right, John thought. "Stay together," he reminded them, and nodded to Rodney.

  "Oh here we go." Rodney, his face set in bleak misery, hit the emergency release for the ramp. "Nice working with you all."

  As the ramp started to drop, John saw that the sky was dark, the gas giant eclipsing the sun again. The jumper's hatch was facing the Mirror's frame, the flat dull silver wall of it looming over them, but it was dimly lit by a muted white glow. The light was coming from above, from the Mirror, which was a little freaky. And he hadn't thought enough time had passed for another eclipse but whatever, it would help cover their retreat. "Keep your lights off," he said, and swung down to the pavement, wincing as his weight came down on his right leg.

  Teyla jumped out behind him, P-90 ready. As the others climbed out, John looked cautiously around the side of the jumper. A cold wind moved over the vast stretch of the Mirror platform, stirring dust, cutting right through the material of his shirt. In the ghostly light from the Mirror, he could see a scatter of wrecked darts, some nearly intact and some crumpled smoking wrecks. The jumper was nosed into the dart he had seen through the port, and the long outline of a second dart was sticking out from under this side. Score two for us. There was no movement nearby, and he stepped out to get his bearings on the nearest entrance to the installation.

  And he stopped, staring. "Uh."

  Teyla moved up beside him, then halted in shock. "Colonel, what-How-"

  John's eyes couldn't make sense of it. He stared, but it wasn't an optical illusion or a head injury. The installation was different.

  There were towers evenly spaced along the flat roof, caught in the reflected light from the glowing Mirror. Tall narrow ones, with gracefully angular spires, like the ones on Atlantis.

  John had a really bad feeling about this.

  The others gathered behind him, and Miko said in astonishment, "Dr. McKay, I'm reading a breathable atmosphere now, twenty-one percent oxygen." She added, "Oh, I think we are-I think we must have-This is-

  Rodney dragged his mask down, took a deep breath. He groaned. "Yes, this is...bad. Very, very bad."

  John pulled his mask down too. The air was cold, full of ozone and the acrid scent of the charred darts, but there was plenty of it. As the others pulled their masks off, he asked, "Rodney, where the hell are we?" But he had the sinking feeling that he already knew.

  "The Mirror." Rodney sounded sick. "Something must have activated it before I finished adjusting the pulse array. The accretion disk was still unstable and it created a gravity well and pulled us in. And the darts, everything in range.

  Teyla shook her head uncertainly. "But then we are...in the other reality? Trishen's reality, where there are nothing but Wraith?"

  There was a moment of horrified silence. John bit his lip, searching for a reaction that didn't involve a hysterical scream.

  His voice flat, Ronon said, "You're joking."

  "Yes, yes, I'm kidding, hah hah, it's a hilarious joke!" Rodney snarled. "Face it, we're in another reality. With the Wraith or Eidolon or whatever they call themselves."

  John swallowed down panic and managed to say evenly, "Rodney, is the Mirror still connected to our reality? If we can getup over the frame, can we just jump into it? Or would it-"

  Rodney blinked. "Dissolve us instantly in the crushing gravitational forces the unstable accretion surface may be generating?"

  John eyed him worriedly. "Yeah, that."

  "I have no idea," Rodney admitted, sounding bleak. "But I suspect this Mirror was specifically designed only to be used by spaceships or other vehicles with heavy energy shielding. An unprotected human body wouldn't survive the transition. And if it doesn't activate, that would be worse. I'll have to find a monitoring console."

  Zelenka, slung over Ronon's shoulder, muttered, "My vsichni zemreme."

  Rodney snapped automatically, "Will you stop with the profanity you think we can't understand? Tone and context make it perfectly obvious what you're-Wait, are you conscious?"

  "I wish I was not." Zelenka sounded sorrowful.

  Miko looked up from the life signs detector, saying anxiously, "Colonel, the Wraith are moving. I see signs-

  Teyla jerked her chin. "Over there."

  John turned and saw three male Wraith, about a hun dred and fifty yards away, standing near one of the crumpled darts. The Mirror's light reflected silver off their clothes and hair, and they seemed to be looking around in angry confusion. He didn't think that confusion would last long.

  There were dark triangular shapes along the wall of the installation that looked like hatches or passages leading inside, and they had to get under cover. "Come on." As they started away, John pressed the button on the jumper remote, hoping there was just enough emergency power left. The ramp responded sluggishly, moving upward to close, and that was a relief. John wasn't sure why it mattered, why keeping the Wraith out of the empty jumper for a little while longer meant something, but it did. John looked back in time to see the ramp seal itself, and the emergency lights in the jumper's nose flicker and die.

  Teyla dropped back to cover their six, with Ronon, still burdened with Zelenka, and Miko and Rodney close behind John. Rodney, holding his P-90 tightly and watching the nearest darts, said, "Yes, I understand being proactive and getting off the platform and away from these Wraith, but what about the Wraith that live here?"

  "If you have any suggestions, Rodney, feel free," John hissed. He was trying to maintain a quick jog, but all he could manage was a quick limping hobble, and it wasn't improving his outlook on life at the moment.

  "What, do I have to think of everything?" Rodney demanded. He threw a glance back and stopped abruptly. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" he said in outrage.

  "Rodney, keep moving!" Then John looked back.

  Across the giant length of the Mirror, a big dark shape was lifting off the platform. The shadowy outline was just rising high enough for the Mirror's light to bathe it, and John could see the rough brown hull, the flattened saucer shape that was still weirdly organic, like a giant fungus. "Son of a bitch," John said. This just keeps getting better. It was about half the size of the Daedalus, and there was no telling how many Wraith were aboard.

  Teyla gasped. "That is the Wraith scout ship. How could-It was pulled through the Mirror as well?"

  "Pulled out of orbit?" Miko said, horrified.

  Rodney waved a hand wearily. "Apparently so. Trishen's ship was a completely different conformation and design. That's definitely from our reality. And its shields must have protected it from the power drain that destroyed the jumper's crystals." He rubbed his eyes. "How much worse can this get?"

  Light flashed from the lower part of the ship, the distinctive blue-white ripple of the culling beam. John said, "And I think that
answers your question." The ship had just beamed something onto the platform, probably drones. "Come on, keep moving." Because it was that or die out here in the next five minutes.

  From Ronon's shoulder, Zelenka moaned, "Oh, God."

  They were only about sixty yards from the installation when Teyla shouted, "They have seen us!" and opened fire.

  John yelled, "Ronon, take point!" and dropped back to her side. Several Wraith were running toward them from the north side of the platform, a dozen or so others from the south, and stunner fire flashed in the dark. John pitched a couple of smoke grenades across the platform, then opened fire.

  More Wraith converged on them, but the chemical haze confused their aim just enough, and Ronon turning to pick them off with single shots made them wary. John kept the group moving as fast as he could, and he really hoped the door they were heading toward would open. Rodney was beside him, firing, shouting, "I have the feeling they think we're responsible for this!"

  "I don't think that's going to matter, Rodney!" John shouted back.

  Then lights flashed in the sky and John looked up to see another ship. At first he thought it was Trishen's shuttle, but realized this conch-shell shape was different, more convoluted, and it was half again as large. It flashed a spotlight over the Mirror platform, picking out the wrecked darts and the moving Wraith. The Wraith stopped, snarling as the light crossed over them, firing up at the ship.

  "Hold your fire," John said, and the others stopped shooting. The Wraith were distracted and he wanted that to last as long as possible. "Now run."

  With one last sprint, they reached the wall of the installation and one of the big triangular hatchways, set deep into the stone. John said, "Rodney, get the door," as he, Teyla, and Ronon took up guard positions.

  "No life signs inside," Miko reported tensely, "But the shielding may be interfering."

  "Please open," Rodney was muttering as he pried off the console. "If things could just go well, just this once, I'd really appreciate-"

  "Put me down, put me down," Zelenka said with a groan. "I can walk."

  Taking the opportunity to reload, John gave Ronon a nod. Zelenka still sounded woozy, but they would be bet ter off if Ronon had both hands free.

  Ronon bent down, setting him on his feet. Zelenka staggered but stayed upright and Ronon gave him a careful push, steering him over to Miko and Rodney.

  More Wraith were firing up at the Eidolon ship. "Why won't they shoot back?" Ronon said, his voice a frustrated growl.

  "Yeah, that would come in handy." John squinted up at the strange ship, gleaming pink and purple in the Mirror's light. "But they're probably talking on the comm." If the Eidolon made some kind of deal with the Wraith... John didn't think they could get more screwed than they already were, but that wouldn't help.

  "Perhaps Trishen was not lying about their ships being unarmed," Teyla said, watching the scene uncertainly. "Perhaps-"

  Then the Wraith scout ship drifted upward, the whine of its drive adding to the din of the Wraith's weapons and the rushing sound of the Eidolon ship. The scout ship rotated, light pulsed along its sides and John yelled, "Get down!"

  He ducked with Teyla and Ronon, and Rodney grabbed Zelenka, pulling him down beside Miko in the slight shelter of the hatch. The blast impact rattled the ground, a flare of heat and light washing over the platform. John looked up to see debris raining down; the Eidolon ship had vanished in the blast.

  "What the hell was that?" Rodney said, looking up in horror. "I thought you said they were probably talking!"

  "Yeah, well, they didn't like what they heard." John's ears were ringing again, and the Wraith weren't distracted anymore. "Just get the door open!"

  "Oh, yes, right, escaping from certain death, it slipped my mind!" Rodney yelled, turning back to the wall console.

  John could see the Wraith moving around in the shadows, regrouping. Then Rodney said, "Got it!" and the hatch slid open.

  They scrambled through into a big room, a couple of dim lights coming on inside as Ancient technology sensed their presence. Most of the chamber was lost in shadow, but there were low stone partitions and platforms at odd intervals, meant to hold equipment that wasn't there anymore. It looked a lot like an interior room in the installation in their reality, with dark blue stone walls with embossed abstract designs and the blue-green metal strips on the floor. Rodney hit the wall console to shut the hatch, pulling the panel open to rip the crystals out. His mouth twisted grimly, he said, "That's not going to hold them for long-I had to disconnect the security seal to get it to open."

  "Crap." John started away from the door, flicking on the P-90's light to check the shadows, thinking, if this is a dead end, it's going to be a literal one. They needed to get further into the building, where they could pick the Wraith off in the endless maze of corridors.

  Ronon, already ranging ahead and tall enough to see over the partitions, said, "Over here!"

  John caught up with him, flashing the light over another door. It had the embossed panel in the center and no wall console; a security door like the one they had first found in the installation, locked to anyone without the Ancient gene. John reached for the panel.

  "Wait!" Miko, holding tightly to Zelenka's arm to keep him standing, was studying the detector. "Life signs, eight of them, fifteen yards that direction." She jabbed the detector toward the door for emphasis.

  From behind them, something slammed into the outer hatch with a muted thunk. Rodney flung up his arm helplessly. "Eight versus, what, sixty or seventy? I vote for eight."

  John said, "Here we go," and hit the panel. He ducked under the door as it started to slide up, Teyla and Ronon right behind him.

  It was another big room, softly lit. In the center there were eight people gathered around a console, watching a holographic display of the Mirror platform. They scattered back at the sudden intrusion, some of them crying out in alarm. No, John corrected himself, seeing the dead white skin, the long silver hair, not people. They were Wraith or Eidolon, whatever they called themselves. All males, but some were smaller, slight enough to be teenagers. Instead of the black and silver the Wraith always wore, their clothes had colors, shades of dark red, purple, blue. They were unarmed, and John made a split-second decision. He snapped, "Hold your fire."

  Ronon growled. He didn't lower his weapon, but he didn't shoot. The hatch was sliding shut behind them and Rodney was already pulling the crystals. There was another door on the far side of the room, sealed.

  Beside John, studying the Eidolon with narrowed eyes, Teyla said, "They are like Trishen, I can't sense them."

  The Eidolon were staring in astonished horror, exactly like ... exactly like a bunch of bloody desperate armedto-the-teeth aliens had just burst into the room. In utter astonishment, one of them said, "What are they?"

  John raised his voice, saying harshly, "Just stay back, don't try to stop us, and nobody'11 get hurt."

  Behind him, Rodney said, "You sound like a bank robber."

  John drew breath to tell him to hurry the hell up. Then a muted blast sent Rodney staggering back from the door.

  John caught his arm as he reeled, hauling him away from the shattered hatch as Teyla turned to cover them. They didn't have time to run; they barely made it to the side wall, taking cover behind some metal crates. Ronon shoved Miko and Zelenka down behind him, just as armored drones swarmed into the room.

  Some headed straight for them, others for the Eidolon. John opened fire, dropping three before one reached the first Eidolon. Too shocked to run away, the Eidolon just stared in horror as the drone grabbed him by the throat. The drone didn't hesitate at all, slamming a hand into the Eidolon's chest before a shot from Ronon's energy gun blasted it. Rodney recovered enough to lift his P-90, firing through the hatch with Teyla. Drone bodies were piling up out there, but more stunner fire struck the crates, the walls behind them.

  John reached into his vest for a fragmentation grenade, but just then one of the older Eidolon rushed to
ward the hatch, slamming some device onto the wall beside it. A drone grabbed him, pinning him next to it and slamming a hand into his chest to feed. John fired a burst into its back, but the creature was oblivious to the bullets striking its body, to anything but its prey. The device lit up, then light rippled across the hatchway. The drones on the other side trying to push through the opening slammed into the light, staggering back as if they had hit a solid wall. Force shield, John thought, concentrating his fire on the drones still in the room. It was a portable force shield, like the one Trishen had used in her ship to hold them prisoner.

  The remaining drones in the room finally fell, Ronon dropping the last one with a shot to the chest.

  Teyla shook her head, sitting back with a gasp of relief. "I cannot believe we are still alive."

  "When did you become a pessimist?" John stood, scanning the fallen drones cautiously.

  "About five minutes ago," Teyla said grimly.

  John didn't see any blinking self-destruct things on the drones' armor. Maybe they had been so distracted by the close proximity of dinner that they hadn't thought to activate them. Or they had been told not to, because the Wraith wanted at least a couple of humans alive to question.

  Ronon stepped out from around the crates, looking over the fallen drones, shooting one that wasn't quite dead enough. John said, "Ronon, watch the other door." He gave Teyla a nod, and she shifted to cover the Eidolon now. Three of them were down, one stunned and two fed on, and the others were still huddled on the opposite side of the room.

  John twisted around to check the rest of his team, gritting his teeth as his injured ribs protested the motion. Miko and Radek, crouched back against the wall, looked shell-shocked and sick. Rodney, more used to certain death, didn't look so good either. John asked, "Everybody okay?"

  "Oh, we're fine," Rodney said, making a helpless gesture and rubbing his forehead. "Kusanagi, life signs? How surrounded are we?"