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

hesitated, looking at the chair at the end of the table. By rights it was John’s place, but he was missing. Leaving it empty was perhaps too stark. Sam slid into the chair at the end as Colonel Hocken and Ronon came in.
    Ronon sat down beside Teyla. “What’s going on?”
    “Todd has called,” she said. “He told us where he thinks John is.”
    Ronon blew out a long breath. “Another of Todd’s deals,” he said.
    “Yes. And we do not know what it portends.”
    Jennifer and Carson came in together, sitting down beside Radek across from her, while Hocken took the seat on the other side of Ronon, leaning forward expectantly in her crisp flight suit.
    “We’ve had a communication from Todd,” Sam said, and hit the playback to the wall screen to let it speak for itself. When the transmission finished there was a long silence.
    “We go get him,” Ronon said. He put his hands on the table and looked at Hocken, who was frowning. “That’s what we do.”
    Sam’s brow creased. “How?”
    “What do you mean?” Ronon asked.
    “I’m not saying we shouldn’t,” Sam said, one finger tapping on the table. “What I’m asking is how. The
Hammond
isn’t capable of hyperspace travel and won’t be for six or seven days at least. The 302s have no hyperspace capability, and there is no Stargate near the coordinates Todd gave us. It’s the same problem with a puddle jumper. We don’t have any way to get there.”
    “
Daedalus
,” Radek said. “We could recall
Daedalus
. Colonel Caldwell—”
    “The
Daedalus
left three days ago,” Sam said. “Right now it’s between galaxies and out of communications. Even if we could recall Daedalus, it will take Daedalus at least three days to get back here. By that time Colonel Sheppard may be dead or traded to Queen Death. And if you’ve got a way of reaching the
Daedalus
while she’s in hyperspace, let me know. That’s the scientific coup of the century.”
    “We can’t just do nothing,” Ronon said.
    “We could try to contact the Travelers,” Jennifer said. She looked across at Teyla appealingly. “They like Colonel Sheppard. They loaned him a ship before.”
    “I’m comfortable with trying that,” Sam said. “The problem is that the last time we did that it took weeks for them to get the message. We can’t count on their help in time.”
    “There’s no other ship that’s hyperdrive equipped?” Hocken asked. “What about that warship the Genii have?”
    “I’ll try flying the damned thing,” Carson said, putting his hands on the table. “No promises, now. But I’ll give it a turn.”
    Time, Teyla thought. Time. Time to contact Ladon Radim, to hope that he could be persuaded, as unlikely as that seemed. Time to get the ship here and then get there. Time was slipping through her fingers like a fistful of water.
    “Thank you, Carson,” Sam said. “I think it’s worthwhile to ask the Genii. I don’t know that they’ll cooperate. Or what they’ll want in return.” She looked at Ronon
    “Sateda,” he said.
    “Maybe.” Sam steepled her hands in front of her mouth. “That’s a pretty stiff price.”
    Teyla closed her eyes. A ship. There must be a ship. Some way of reaching the coordinates in time, before the Wraith… Her eyes sprung open. “There is another ship,” she said. “Another ship here in Atlantis.”
    Sam blinked. “What other ship?”
    “The Wraith cruiser,” Teyla said. She looked down the table at Mel Hocken. “You took out the life support and made a hull breach. But its hyperdrive was intact, was it not?”
    “Yes, so?” Hocken looked confused. “It’s a Wraith ship. Nobody can fly it. It’s adrift in a decaying orbit.”
    Sam had been here two years ago, and she sat bolt upright in her chair, a smile breaking over her face. “Nobody except Teyla.”
    “I can fly it,” Teyla said with a voice that sounded more confident than she was. “I have flown a hive ship before. I can use the interfaces. If the hull breach