STARGATE ATLANTIS: Lost Queen (SGX-04)

by Melissa Scott

  “So you do not belong to any particular hive,” the Young Queen said.

  He paused again, but could see no way the information could help her. “In the old days, storymakers traveled freely among the hives. All queens held their hands over us, and we were not part of any feud, however sisterly, and no matter what our lineage was. In later years, I spent much of my time on the hive of Moonwhite’s mother, and was counted among her favorites.”

  “Which means you knew this missing queen when she was a child,” the Young Queen said.

  “I did.” Salt bent his head again.

  “Is that why you came?”

  Before Salt could decide how to answer that, Everlasting called from the middle of the meadow. “Here! Another marker.”

  Salt moved toward him, the Young Queen at his side, to see Everlasting pointing to a pile of stones. A flat slab had been broken into thirds and the parts piled on top of each other, and a directional symbol had been cut into the uppermost surface. The lines were jagged and uneven: was it just the difficulty of using the tool for an unfamiliar purpose, or did that betray sickness and failing strength?

  That triggered a memory, faint and wavering, and Salt stopped, closing his eyes as he tried to focus on the image. Many years ago, so many years ago — Edge had been alive then, but he had not been with her hive, she had sent him to amuse a sister queen of Night with whom she sought an alliance. And there Salt had heard a tale, a queen healed seemingly by magic, and when he doubted, Twilight Shadow had sent him with one of her clevermen to see the place where it had happened.

  “This way,” Blaze said aloud. *Among those trees.*

  Trees that stood stripped of all but a few leaves, their branches bare and twisted, their outlines oddly blurred.

  *Stop!* Salt caught Blaze’s arm, pulling him to a stop. “Stop, no one move.”

  He heard the clicks as the Marines cocked their weapons, and Sheppard said, with a creditable assumption of annoyance, “What the hell?”

  “This is iratus country,” Salt said. “Those trees are webbed for their hunting.”

  “No, no, no, no, no,” McKay said. “We’re not going to deal with any of those things again.”

  “Tell me you’re kidding me.” Sheppard was looking profoundly unhappy.

  Salt cocked his head. “Why would I joke?”

  “Never mind.” Sheppard shook his head. “You’re telling me there’s an iratus colony somewhere nearby.”

  “I think so,” Salt said.

  *It makes sense,* Forge began, then shook his head and repeated the words aloud. “If she were desperate — the bite of an iratus queen can cure many diseases.”

  “I didn’t think that was exactly guaranteed,” Sheppard said.

  Forge gave Blaze an apologetic glance. “It is an act of last resort, yes, and it is not always successful. But if she had fed recently —”

  “You said she didn’t attack the village,” Ronon pointed out.

  Everlasting bared teeth at him. “Every man of hers would be proud to give his life.”

  “So you’re saying she just ate her people,” Ronon said.

  “We don’t know,” Forge said firmly, overriding both Blaze and Sheppard. “But if she was ill, and there are iratus here, it would explain why she chose this path.”

  “I don’t intend for any of us to get anywhere near an iratus nest,” Sheppard said. “That’s not happening.”

  “If our queen is there,” Blaze said, “she will need our help.”

  “Did you hear what I said?” Sheppard asked. “We’re not getting near them.”

  Salt took a careful breath. “No one wants to risk their attack, not even Wraith. But — I am a storymaker. I can…” He shook his head, unable to find a word that matched the exercise of his art. “I can subdue them, keep them still and harmless. We must try.”

  “We will stand between you and the nest,” Forge said. “Wraith are somewhat less vulnerable to their bite.”

  “We cannot leave the queen unaccounted for,” the Young Queen said.

  Sheppard sighed. “All right. We’ll look for the nest, and see if your queen is there. If she is — we’ll see. But in the meantime, everybody stays well back from those things.”

  “Yes,” Everlasting said, and Salt nodded.

  “That is all we can ask.”

  Everlasting studied the fine sheets of webbing that hung between the bare trees. It was an iratus web, all right, the fine, almost invisible sheets that they spun when hunting. At each corner, and twice more at seemingly random points, the silk was thicker and twisted into a nub; he shifted to his left and caught the tell-tale glint of messenger threads running into the underbrush.

  *There.*

  *I see them,* Blaze answered, moving carefully to the right. *And — yes, two more heading into the rocks.*

  Everlasting looked where the other consort indicated, and followed the messenger into a shadowed crevice. He hissed softly. *I’d guess the hunter was there.*

  *There might be another under the leaves,* Blaze answered.

  Everlasting nodded. *Maybe.* He shifted again, trying to follow the path of the gossamer strands. *How do you want to take them?*

  *If we destroy the trap, we’ll bring the nest out to see what’s happened,* Blaze said, *but I don’t see another way around. Unless we went over the slope, above the hunter?*

  Everlasting considered, the thrill of the hunt rising in his blood. It had been a long time since he’d last hunted anything — their last Cullings had been unopposed, chasing screaming humans into the Darts’ culling beams, hardly a challenge, never mind sport. *Yes. And if you went that way, you could collapse that crevice as you passed.*

  *I?* Blaze’s amusement flickered over him, and Everlasting smiled.

  *Unless you would prefer to deal with the one in the leaves.*

  *All of which will still bring out the nest if you make a mistake,* Forge said. *Unless Salt can weave them to stillness from a distance?*

  The storymaker shook his head. *I can only act on those I see.*

  “Hey, how about an update?” Sheppard asked, and Everlasting damped down his enjoyment.

  “We are working out the best way to pass this trap.”

  “What about just going around it?” Ronon asked.

  “There will be four or five watchers in this web,* Everlasting answered. “If we can kill them, there’s a chance we won’t bring the entire nest out even if we disturb the web. And there will be more webs closer to the nest.”

  “Lovely,” Sheppard muttered.

  *There is something odd here,* Salt said. *These webs — the silk is old.*

  *Surely not,* Blaze said, and Everlasting frowned. Everyone knew that iratus bugs renewed their webs with the day’s dawn, mending tears and frayed edges when the rising sun would quickly harden the strands of silk. And yet… He moved closer, until he could almost touch the first thin sheet. Like the messenger threads, it was hard to see unless you found just the right angle, but when you did — Salt was right, there were long tears in the center of the sheet, as though the wind had caught it and the iratus had not yet repaired it. There had been no wind on their climb up the mountain. Only the messenger lines looked solid.

  *Salt is right,* he said, and looked at the Young Queen. “There is something strange about this trap. The iratus have not maintained it.”

  “And what does that mean?” Sheppard asked.

  Everlasting glanced at the others, and received only mental shrugs in answer. “We don’t know.”

  “But you still think there’s an active nest further up the hill,” Sheppard said.

  *I think it’s likely,* Salt said, and Everlasting nodded.

  “Yes. And if our queen is there —”

  *We cannot leave her,* Blaze said.

  Forge laid a hand on his sleeve, urging caution. Everlasting went on, carefully, “We must find it, yes. But we must not rush in without precautions.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Sheppar
d asked.

  Everlasting ignored him, studying the layout of the webs. The outermost sheet was the most damaged, as he would have expected, held together by the sturdier weave of the edges and the attachment points for the messenger lines. The central portion had split into four long panels, and when he blew on the nearest, the silk belled, but did not tear further. He fanned it with his off hand, creating a wind strong enough to move two of the messenger lines that led to the crevice, but nothing happened.

  *That is odd,* Blaze said.

  *Very.* Everlasting shifted his position, trying to reach another part of the web, and Ronon caught him by the shoulder.

  “Hold on.”

  In the same moment, McKay said sharply, “What are you trying to do, get us all eaten?”

  “There is something wrong with this web,” Everlasting said. “I am not sure it is even watched —”

  “What’s wrong with it is that it’s full of iratus bugs,” Sheppard said.

  “But I’m not sure it is,” Everlasting said. “This web is torn, and so are the ones within. Iratus mend their webs every day. It’s possible this is abandoned.”

  “But not for very long,” the Young Queen said.

  Everlasting dipped his head in agreement. “No, not long.”

  *So — nothing in the crevice?* Blaze asked, then shook his head and repeated the words aloud.

  “I don’t think so.” Everlasting looked at Ronon. “Take your hand off me, and I will see if there are still hunters beneath the leaves.”

  “Sheppard?” Ronon didn’t move, and Sheppard bit his lip.

  “Yeah, let him try. Casey, if any bugs come out — shoot them.”

  *Is that a good idea?* Forge asked, and Everlasting shrugged.

  *It should kill them. If there are any there.* Ronon released him, and he moved further along the line of the web, angling himself so that he was able to reach the section where the messenger lines led beneath the leaves. He blew on it first, and got no reaction, then waved his hand. This time, the messenger moved enough to disturb the leaves, and there was an answering movement from beneath.

  “Look out!” McKay exclaimed, and in the same moment a pair of iratus bugs emerged from under the leaves, forelegs probing the soft ground.

  Casey and Sheppard brought up their weapons at the same moment, and fired a long burst into the leaves. The bugs disintegrated under the hail of bullets, leaving nothing but a few fragments of carapace on the churned ground.

  “Oh, that’s nice,” McKay said, in the sudden silence.

  “Rodney,” the Young Queen said.

  “Well, really, that’s like taking high explosive to a spider —”

  “They were slow,” Salt said. “Too slow.”

  Everlasting nodded, scanning the hill above the webs. There was no sign of further reaction, nothing to indicate that they had disturbed the nest, or even that the nest was reacting at all to the death of two of its drones. “They should have responded by now. If they are going to.”

  *If the queen is in the hive — if the iratus queen is concentrating on her,* Forge said, *the others should be absorbed by that as well.*

  *You’re sure of that?* Blaze demanded.

  *No,* Forge answered. *No, I’m not. But that’s my best guess.* He shaded his eyes to peer up the hill. *There’s another web there, between those two low trees, and I think another one beyond it.*

  Sheppard cleared his throat. “Ok, we’ve killed two iratus bugs —”

  “Out of what are probably thousands in a nest,” McKay interjected. “What? You think I’m underestimating how really disturbing this is likely to be?”

  “I’d say this was about the last word in disturbing,” Sheppard answered, “but we don’t have a lot of choice.” He looked at Everlasting. “What’s your plan?”

  “The nest is likely to be in a cave above us,” Everlasting said, scanning the slope. “If Forge is right, and the iratus are occupied queen to queen, it is possible that we can go around the sentry webs — this one, and those up there.” He pointed to a scrape of bare rock. “If we climb that, I think we will be able to see the nest.”

  Sheppard bit his lip again. “You’re not even sure the nest is up there.”

  “There is certainly a nest,” Everlasting answered. “But, no, I don’t know exactly where it is, nor will we until we climb higher.”

  “Ok.” Sheppard took a breath. “Hernandez, you and I will go with the Wraith. Ronon, McKay, Teyla, Casey. You’ll stay here. If anything goes wrong, pile in with full firepower.”

  “I believe I should accompany you,” the Young Queen said, but Sheppard met her stare squarely.

  “You can keep an eye on things from down here, can’t you? I don’t want to take any more people up there than absolutely necessary.”

  There was a moment of silence, and then she nodded. “I can do so, though not, of course, as well. As you wish.”

  Sheppard nodded. “All right. So we go around these webs, and up that rock, and then?”

  “Then we will see,” Everlasting answered. He didn’t dare look at Blaze, who looked grimmer than ever. If it were his own queen, if Light Breaking lay at death’s door, hostage to the legendary powers of an iratus queen — no, he couldn’t bear the idea any more than Blaze could. He gathered the other Wraith with a glance. “Let’s go.”

  They made their way cautiously up the slope, skirting the webs and the remains of the two iratus bugs, and then scrambling awkwardly up the steep slab of rock that jutted out of the ground, showing bands of dark stone in a pale matrix. It led to another, and then a broader, less tilted stretch, and Everlasting lifted his hand in warning. Blaze stopped instantly, a step behind and two arms-lengths to his left. The others, Forge and Salt and the two humans, straggled to a halt behind them. Above them, the slope evened out enough that a handful of stunted trees clung to the slope, their branches clogged with shreds of silk, and beyond them a shadowed opening led into the hill. A boot protruded from beneath the nearest tree, the familiar black shape of a blade’s gear. Blaze hissed at the sight, and Everlasting lifted his hand again.

  *Wait. We must consider our approach.*

  He felt Blaze’s agreement like banked fire. *Below the trees. There are no webs there.*

  *And also our line of escape should the nest swarm,* Everlasting said, as though the other hadn’t answered.

  Below him, Salt stirred. *I believe I can hold them. I can feel them now.*

  *And our queen?* Blaze’s tone was sharply afraid.

  *No.*

  *Which means nothing,* Everlasting said. He looked over his shoulder at the waiting humans. “We must get closer.”

  Sheppard gave a short nod. “I’m seeing a body up there.”

  “So do we all.” Everlasting considered the slope, shaping a mental picture for the others: to reach the cave, skirt the edge of the stones, being careful not to slip down into the webs that filmed the shrubs at its lower edge.

  *I will try to reach the injured,* Forge said, and Everlasting nodded.

  *Salt will weave the hive to stasis if he can, and then we will see what we find. If we rouse the nest…* He pictured their best escape route, across bare stone and along the curve of the hill. It was not ideal, the footing poor and the line steep, but surely the Lanteans’ weapons would hold back the iratus long enough to make good their escape.

  *Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,* Forge muttered.

  Everlasting ignored him, and spoke aloud, wishing that there were some easier way to convey his plan to the humans. “We will track along the edge of the rock until we can see the cave, and Salt will — stun them. If anything goes wrong, we will retreat the way we came, and then back along this ridge. If you cover us with your weapons, there is a chance we will all get away.”

  “You’re not making me feel real good about those odds,” Sheppard said.

  “It’s the hunt we have,” Everlasting answered, and to his surprise the Lantean gave a wry grin.

  “Yeah.
Do me a favor and don’t upset those things, ok?”

  “We will do our best,” Everlasting answered, and started up the slope.

  He took his time on the approach, stopping often to check for the fine-spun bands of webbing that the iratus used to warn the nest of intruders. Twice they had to work their way around those traps, stepping carefully from stone to stone, but at last they topped the band of stone and could see the cave clearly. It was an iratus nest, all right, sheets of webbing blanketing the entrance, and the thin veils did nothing to hide the heavy shape of egg sacs suspended from the ceiling. Three blades lay beneath the trees, shriveled to husks; a fourth lay closer to the entrance, his eyes closed and his features sharp with injury. His coat was ripped in a dozen places, but from the look of things, he had begun to heal.

  Blaze’s expression was taut with fear. *Moonwhite.*

  It was barely the breath of a thought, but Everlasting caught the other consort by the arm.

  *Let Salt work.*

  The storymaker moved to his left along the edge of the level area, testing his footing as he went. Satisfied, he faced the cave opening and held out both hands, palms up, the familiar gesture of a maker beginning his tale. Everlasting felt mist rise, a common prologue, but instead of the clean scent of water, it was filled with the taste of resin, the heavy smoke of burning athorn. There was an answering hum from the nest, a stirring as though all the iratus rubbed carapace against carapace, and Everlasting braced himself to flee. Blaze caught his breath, and Everlasting heard the sharp clicking as the Lanteans readied their weapons. There was a rustle from the leaves beside the injured blade, a ripple of movement that might have been an iratus bug moving to attack. Everlasting braced himself to leap and grab — they had no other weapons that would be effective, and the wounded man was in the Lanteans’ line of fire — but there was no further movement.

  *Softly,* Forge said, his thought a mere thread among the smoke, as though he hadn’t meant to speak at all.

  Salt did not move, the smoke thickening around them, and slowly the sound subsided. Blaze drew breath, every muscle tensing, and then subsided. Everlasting admired his control. The illusion of resin was stronger, the air darkening as though it were the day’s end; the quality of the light was like water dragging at his limbs, lulling him toward sleep.