STARGATE ATLANTIS: The Furies (Book 4 in the Legacy series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

can be repaired and the systems restored, I can fly it.”
    “We will have to see how bad it is,” Radek said. “But unless it is very bad indeed, it will be much easier to seal off compartments and isolate the breach than it is to rebuild the
Hammond’s
Asgard drive. That is not easy.” He looked at Sam.
    “No,” she said, “it’s not.”
    “I will have to go aboard and see,” Radek said. “But unless it is very bad it should be possible in a day or two, working around the clock.”
    “So we go get Sheppard in the Wraith cruiser,” Ronon said. “Sweet.”
    “It’s a cruiser,” Sam said. “No dart bays. No place to put 302s. And you can’t shoot it out with a hive ship. This isn’t that kind of mission.” She looked at Teyla. “If it is a mission. Let’s get Dr. Zelenka up there to see what kind of shape the cruiser is in, and then we’ll talk about it.” She looked down the table, making eye contact with Carson, Ronon and Jennifer in turn. “We can’t strip Atlantis of our defenses. This might be a trap. Todd has played us before.”
    “Yeah,” Ronon said grimly.
    “What if this is a ruse to lure you and our air cover away, to get our teams out in the field while they attack again?” She shook her head. “We can’t risk it. With Major Lorne unable to walk at present, and our shield inoperable, you’re not going anywhere.”
    “Teyla can’t do this alone,” Ronon said. “Sheppard…”
    “Ronon.” Sam said quietly, and to Teyla’s surprise he stopped, his hands closing in frustration. “Let’s see where we are after Dr. Zelenka has a look at the ship. If it’s not repairable, it’s all an academic question.”
    “Then I had best get going,” Radek said, getting to his feet. “Carson, will you take me up in a jumper? And I will want a team together. We will need suits. Teyla, will you come?”
    “Most assuredly,” Teyla said.
    Of course they could not strip Atlantis’ defenses. It might be a trap. She did not think it was, did not feel it in her bones, but the one they called Todd had never been entirely honest, even when she had played his Queen to assist him in his plan. When she had been Steelflower.
    And in that moment an idea blossomed.
    Ronon and Jennifer walked out together, he bending his head to speak with her, Radek bustling around them in conversation with Hocken about comparative ship technology. Teyla rose to follow them, then stopped.
    Sam closed her laptop, looking uncomfortable. “Teyla, you know if there’s a way to make this work…” she began.
    “There is a way,” she said, and though cold dread settled in her stomach she spoke on. “A way that is certain, and risks no lives except my own.”
    Sam frowned. “What’s that?”
    “Dr. Keller can transform me once again into Steelflower,” she said. Teyla lifted her chin. “She is…I was…Todd’s Queen, a person of note. I cannot even begin to tell you what it means among the Wraith to be queen. I cannot explain how it feels, how a queen holds sway. What the mental bonds feel like. But if this Waterlight who has John is young and untried, I can push her. I can compel her men. I can make them release John to me.”
    “And if they see through you?”
    “No one did before,” Teyla said. “And I was many days among them. Why should they in the course of a single meeting or two, when I come with my own cruiser? I can demand their compliance if nothing else.”
    “If they don’t buy it?”
    Teyla took a step closer. “It is only my own life at risk.”
    Sam’s eyes were very blue, and met hers frankly. “That’s not nothing.”
    “If it were General O’Neill, would not you do it?” she asked.
    Sam’s gaze slid away, and she smiled ruefully, as though shaking her head at herself. “I have,” she said. She picked up the laptop and looked at Teyla. “Ok. If Dr. Keller is comfortable with the procedure and the ship is flyable.” She smiled again. “It’s not like I can order you not to,