The return to the control room of the Taranian outpost was marked by several immediate facts.
Fact one—there were about thirty guards here, packed in like sardines.
Fact two—Kiryk, Teyla, and Chaya were currently standing pressed against the control room's observation glass.
Fact three—the first two were holding "Alashi" weapons.
Fact four—about a dozen guards standing opposite them also held firearms.
Fact five—a piercing siren was wailing in the air. It sounded very much like Atlantis's self-destruct sequence.
"What is going on here?" Norina Pero inquired, her eyes searching for anyone capable of giving an answer.
"I'd like to know that as well," I admitted, spotting in the crowd the person who least fit the category of an armed guard. "Chancellor Lycus, won't you be so kind as to explain...?"
The ruler of Taranis cast a venomous look at me. And then, addressing the guards accompanying me and his lead scientist, he barked:
"Seize him!"
Oh... things were really that far gone.
Both guards placed their hands on my shoulders and began to push down... Out of the corner of my eye, I even saw pistols aimed at me.
"And?" I inquired of the guards. "Is forcing me to my knees working out for you?"
Judging by the vein bulging on the forehead of one of the thugs and the beads of sweat on the other, they were trying their best.
"You ought to give it up," I advised. "Go be plowmen instead..."
"Misha," Chaya called out to me. "They tried to seize me...!"
"And I thought, Chancellor, that we could reach an agreement," I sighed.
"Knock him out!" Lycus ordered. "He's their leader!"
One of the guards raised his pistol to strike me with the butt of the gun on the back of my head. He took a proper swing and...
In the next second, his howl rang out—the weapon had ricocheted right into his face with the slide frame.
"Well, the kid was on his way to success," I commented, taking the second guard's hand. He was still holding it on my shoulder, staring dumbfoundedly at what had happened to his comrade. And within moments, writhing in pain, he collapsed to his knees, dropping his weapon.
In our youth, we had a game—squeezing each other's hands during a handshake to see who could last longer. In two out of five cases, I managed to win—there were tougher guys than me in the yard.
"W-what did you do?" Lycus stammered.
"Shook his hand," I replied. "It's a custom of ours—showing that we mean no harm to our interlocutor. If I recall, when we met, Chancellor, you didn't shake my hand..."
"I don't know how you're doing this, but if even one of my people is harmed, I will order your people killed!" Lycus warned.
"Just like that?" I inquired. The charge in my personal shield would last quite a while. Even if they all decided to shoot at me. "Perhaps you'll tell us what's going on here?"
"I'd like to know that too," the lead scientist with the youthful mannerisms chimed in.
"Your woman did something to our database!" Lycus pointed toward the main monitor, which was covered in flickering red symbols. "I ordered her detained for sabotage!"
"Liar!" Chaya shouted, looking at me. "He intended to kidnap me so I would teach them how to work with our technology!"
"I said you would stay as our guest!" Lycus countered. "And after that, we would have let you go!"
"You wanted me to be your hostage!" On the dark-skinned girl's face was a mixture of fury and a grimace of disgust. "And when I ran out of your office, you ordered me seized by any means! If I hadn't reached my friends, I don't know what would have happened!"
Ah... Now it was clear how all three of them ended up here. Honestly, the local guards' reaction time was even worse than I thought.
But that only played into our hands.
"It's the least you can do in exchange for the insults you hurled at my people!" Lycus fumed.
"Is this true?" I clarified with Chaya.
"Yes!" she said. "I only told him that turning on buttons that are already marked for turning on is not at all difficult!"
"You compared us to animals!"
"And who else plans to take hostage those who came to them with peaceful intentions?" Teyla inquired.
"I think the term 'terrorism' is more appropriate here," I concluded, piecing it together. "Chaya, did you do everything as agreed?"
"Yes," she replied. "The generator is outputting five hundred percent power and is working at its limit..."
"What?" the Chancellor gasped. "Y-you planned all this in advance!?"
"And did you think," I wagged a finger at a guard who decided to step between me and the Chancellor, "that we came here unprepared? No, dear Chancellor, we took precautions. For some reason, I got the feeling that as soon as you learned of the Ancients' return, your jackass sense of self-importance would override any level of adequacy and mutual cooperation."
"You too have decided to insult me!?" the Chancellor exclaimed. "I won't forget this, Mikhail!"
"Go ahead," I shrugged, pulling an energy pistol from a hidden holster. Aiming it to the side, I pulled the trigger. In the next second, a massive box resembling a Taranian computer turned into smoking, melted pieces of scrap metal. "The next person who tries to threaten me or my people will get to see a hole in their body. But only for a couple of seconds."
"And why only a couple?" Norina asked quietly.
"Because then he'll be dead, you fool!" the Chancellor exploded.
"Well, you're right there, Lycus," passing the guards, I pushed a couple aside and stood right in front of the Taranian leader. My weapon's emitter crystal was aimed right at his stomach. "Come on, Chancellor! Just give me a reason! I'll gladly fry your guts!"
"You're acting like bandits!" he hissed.
"Look who's talking," Kiryk huffed.
"We came to take back what's ours," I clarified. "And, I'll have you note—the contingency plan, in which we set the geothermal generator to run wild, thereby bringing the supervolcano to an active state and turning your planet into a subsidiary of a thermonuclear desert in a post-apocalyptic winter version with ash clouds in the atmosphere in a couple of minutes, was developed precisely in case you suddenly wanted to 'host' one of us."
"You planned all this beforehand!" Lycus hissed.
"Oh, tell me that the idea to seize one of the Ancients in your hospitable embrace wasn't born yesterday, when we contacted you via the gate and the communication system," I nodded toward the main screen.
After Chaya had opened up on the balcony, it took twenty-four hours to think through the diplomatic process. Not that I immediately intended to pick a fight, but I understood that such an outcome was possible.
In the events I knew, the Chancellor was quite the unyielding jackass. And, to be honest, I was exactly planning to simulate a supervolcano eruption to clear all the locals out of here and take Taranis for myself. Along with the outpost, dock, and ship.
In the event that a peaceful agreement couldn't be reached, of course.
And I honestly believed we would succeed.
Kiryk and Alvar insisted on the abstract backup plan. The latter, by the way, remained on Atlantis. And he's ready to bring heavily armed Athosians here at any moment. That will happen in about two hours if we don't return. In full force, naturally.
"I'm acting in the interest of my people!" Lycus declared.
"You're an idiot who thinks he understands what he's doing," Chaya spat. "You ordered the siren turned off, which warned that the pressure in the magma chamber was increasing! You ordered the shields strengthened, which are not designed for constant operation! And the Wraith were only flying past! Fifty light-years from Taranis!"
"And...?" Norina spoke up.
"A light-year is the distance light travels in one year," I explained. "The speed of light is a little less than three hundred million meters per second. Or three hundred thousand kilometers. Your kilometer is a thousand meters, just like ours, right?"
"Oh," the lead specialist's eyes went round. "That means... it turns out the Wraith flew past us at a distance of..."
And she trailed off. Well, yeah, you can't calculate that fast in your head.
"I can imagine what he would have done if a real threat had appeared," Kiryk smirked. "Aside from crapping himself."
"You are insulting us again!" Lycus held his head high. Or thought he was. "You must be punished for this!"
"Would you like me to kill you all here, and not even break a sweat?" I offered an alternative. "After all, there's a punishment for taking a hostage too. And since the order for it was given by the head of an entire nation, all their representatives should suffer, shouldn't they? I think it's worth waiting a while until the eruption occurs and your entire people perish."
"What!?" Lycus took a step back. "I... I..."
"Magnetic coil from a buoy!" Chaya spat, pressing a couple of keys on her scanner.
Characteristically, not a single person present even flinched. Though her movements were quite provocative. On the other hand, the local guards had already seen that they couldn't harm me. As I had hoped, they got the picture that I wasn't the only one who might have protection.
The siren fell silent.
However, the red warning labels and symbols on the monitor remained.
"Did you stop the cataclysm?" the Chancellor inquired softly.
"No, I just turned off the siren," Chaya said coldly. "The generator will only return to normal when Mikhail gives me the order."
"Do it!" the Chancellor shrieked, looking at me.
"And why would I?" I inquired. "You decided to imprison or kill us all here. And you didn't give a thought to the consequences. Why should I meet you halfway, Chancellor?"
"I agree to your proposal," he said quickly. "You can have access to our outpost and inspect the ship..."
"No."
Teyla looked at me in surprise. Come on, does she really not know what to do in such a situation? Some leader of her people she is.
"But that's exactly what you wanted!?" the Chancellor was surprised. "You spoke of it when you came here and..."
"When we came here, you weren't taking my comrades prisoner," I reminded him. "You weren't pointing weapons at them, threatening them, and so on down the list. I recall you also mentioned compensation..."
Lycus licked his lips.
"You can take the ship," he "conceded." "You will not be obstructed in leaving Taranis."
"Getting warmer," I prompted.
"What?" the Chancellor was surprised.
"I'm saying, your planet is getting warmer with every bit of nonsense you utter," I explained.
"Are these terms not satisfactory to you?" the Chancellor was at a loss.
"Chaya," I addressed the girl. "Tell me where I'm wrong. This outpost wasn't created for nothing, was it?"
"If you mean, is it not scientific, then no," Chaya said. "Military purpose."
"So it was created to service the hangar inside the complex," I continued to develop my thought.
"It's not a hangar, it's a dry dock," the girl corrected me. "Designed for repairing large ships. It was built during the final period of the war when Atlantis was already underwater. And she no longer had the capability to receive combat ships."
Well now. You can land *Aurora*-class warships on Atlantis? Remarkable revelations. And with extra ears listening.
But, basically, it makes sense. The Wraith surely didn't destroy all the Ancient ships by the end of the siege. And since the remaining starships couldn't break through the Wraith fleet, they had to be repaired somewhere.
So the Lanteans quickly built a dock where the Wraith hadn't been yet. Judging by the lead scientist's story, they had never even heard of the Wraith. I think that's true—otherwise the life-eaters would have taken an interest in the Ancient buildings.
It's hard to imagine what they could have done if they'd managed to figure out the technology of this outpost! Or get an Ancient ship! At the very least, an Ancient gene isn't required to operate the outpost, so the Wraith could also... Oh, bloody hell...
I suspect that the other ships hanging around the galaxy were abandoned for precisely this reason—there was simply nowhere to take them for repairs. Atlantis is underwater, other outposts or bases are destroyed, and the only dock on Taranis contains a significantly (as I recall from the series' events) damaged battleship, the *Hippaforalkus*...
And how many other outposts like Taranis might there be across the galaxy?
"Let's summarize," I said. "This outpost is an Ancient military base. Designed to service Ancient warships. We are the Ancients. So... what conclusion follows from that, Chancellor?"
"That you won't blow up the planet!" he narrowed his eyes. "You need this place! Just as we do!"
"You don't need it at all," I corrected him delicately. "You haven't evolved enough yet to work with this type of technology. Perhaps one day... but certainly not in your lifetime and not under your rule. Am I being clear?"
"Do you want my people to overthrow me?" he hissed.
"Do you want to see a supervolcano eruption from the front row?" I inquired.
"Are you giving me an ultimatum, Mikhail?" The man, who even in my former life would have been old enough to be my father, tried to pull himself together.
My father... I think if I'd had a father like that, I'd have smothered him in his sleep with a pillow.
"That's right, Chancellor," I confirmed. "An ultimatum. You resign from your post. This outpost, the ship *Hippaforalkus*, as well as all the technology on Taranis belonging to our ancestors, passes into our gratuitous disposal. Any settlements and any approach by your people to the outpost closer than one hundred and fifty kilometers are unacceptable. Do that—and we will be very disappointed. I hope that's understood, lead scientist?"
"Four, seven, three, zero..." Norina murmured. Noticing everyone looking at her, she started. "What did you say, Mikhail?"
Lord God, what did I do to deserve this...
I had to repeat it.
"Yes, of course," she looked around absently. "And... why are you telling me this?"
"Because he wants to see you at the head of our nation, you fool," Lycus hissed, looking at the woman with a hateful gaze.
"Oh!" the lady trying to look young actually beamed. "Mikhail, I'm so glad! We must urgently discuss all the details in private! Over dinner tonight, for example!"
Teyla coughed. A flicker of panic crossed Kiryk's face. And I wanted to pull the trigger of the blaster. Only to point it at a certain lady's head...
"A supervolcano is about to explode under your feet, and you're talking about a date?" Chaya grimaced.
"What?" Pero started. "Supervolcano? Where?"
"Have you been listening to us at all?" Teyla inquired.
"Yes, of course," Norina said absently. "And calculating the distance between us and the Wraith ship that flew past..."
Ah, you bitch... If it wouldn't spoil the moment, I'd definitely have facepalmed. It seems my idea to install a puppet government here smells slightly (just a tiny bit) like giving a nuclear suitcase to a monkey. Open and with "Press Here!" written on a big red button...
Anyway, we'll deal with that later.
"The people of Taranis will not forgive you for this," Lycus promised me.
"I think they will forgive us when we tell them what happened here and offer proper apologies," I promised. "Chaya, how long until the supervolcano starts erupting?"
"Three hours," she announced. "The pressure in the magma chamber has already reached its maximum. Destruction is beginning..."
"Sufficient information," I assured, looking at the Chancellor. "And now—you have an hour to clear out of the territory. Pack your things and take your lackeys. The complex will be sealed. And, may the Ascended forbid, if we find even one hidden bastard in it—I will personally find you, Lycus, and make you answer for yet another deception. Is that clear?"
"Our people have already begun traveling through the gate!" he persisted. "If you take the complex for yourselves, how will they do that?"
"And that is none of your concern, Chancellor," I noted, looking at Norina Pero, who was standing next to me with glowing eyes. "Get out of here. Everyone except Mrs. Pero."
"Miss," she squeaked, taking a step aside to let the guards heading for the exit pass her.
Am I surprised that at her age she's still a "Miss"? No, not particularly.
But the fact that Taranian forms of address are from my homeland... I think it's worth learning more about these people.
But not from this clinger.
* * *
When all four emerged from the gate, Alvar could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Another fifteen minutes and I would have headed for the Athosians," he reminded them, looking at his comrades.
Mikhail was thoughtful, as was Chaya, Kiryk was brisk, but Teyla...
"You were actually going to blow up their world!" Emmagan spat, looking at Mikhail and Chaya with anger. The Ancients exchanged looks, then both burst out laughing simultaneously. "Is the life of an entire people, the existence of a planet where the Wraith don't visit, a joke to you?"
"Well, I see you don't do things by halves," Jensen whistled, exchanging glances with Kiryk. "They really wanted to blow up the planet?"
"At least that's what they said," the latter said uncertainly, looking at the laughing pair. "But now I'm not so sure..."
"I thought they were going to shoot me before you came," Chaya said through her laughter.
"I thought they were going to kill all three of you," Mikhail smoothed his hair with his hands. "You saw that the Chancellor almost popped from anger. Honestly, I thought he wouldn't buy it..."
"Did you sell something there?" Alvar didn't understand.
Kiryk briefly outlined the negotiations that had taken place.
Jensen, having listened to the end, delivered an untranslatable verbal construction with a hint of admiration and shock, which had both a derogatory and an excessively expressive connotation on his home planet.
"Threatening to blow up a planet to take a ship and a bunch of corridors over a supervolcano ready to explode?" Alvar clarified, looking at the now-finished laughing Chaya and Mikhail. "Ancients, you are out of your minds!"
"That's exactly what I wanted to say!" Teyla supported. "You reproached the Chancellor for terrorism, but you yourselves were ready for mass casualties! Killing an entire planet! The entire population of Taranis!"
"They're certainly jerks," Kiryk muttered, "but... yeah, this doesn't seem funny to me now."
"Breathe," Mikhail advised. "Kiryk, you yourself advised preparing a backup plan."
"Yes," he cast a glance at Alvar. "A couple of hundred armed Athosians and Jensen as commander... how's that for an option?"
"My people would have come to bring me back!" Teyla stated heatedly.
"Sure," Mikhail nodded. "And with a personal protective field," he pulled back the edge of his jacket and demonstrated a green-glowing crystal attached to his t-shirt, "I had nothing to fear at all. The only risk was Chaya reaching you two in time. So everyone would be in one place..."
"I wasn't in much danger either," the girl said shyly, also pushing aside the edge of her jacket. A device similar to Misha's could be seen there. Except it glowed with a rich blue light. "Assembled it in my spare time... Not as powerful as Mikhail's, but still... it's better in some ways."
"It only stretches in a five-meter radius," Mikhail waved his hand. "Insurance for Kiryk and Teyla if the Taranians started shooting."
"I could use a shield too," Kiryk stated.
"Agreed," Jensen supported.
"How does that justify your actions to blow up someone else's world?" Emmagan asked.
"There's not going to be any explosion," Chaya sighed. "When we entered the outpost, I connected to its internal network. I changed a number of demonstration and warning labels. And when I realized we had no chance at all except for imprisonment, I activated the setup."
"The siren was screaming like crazy," Kiryk admitted.
Teyla looked at both Ancients incredulously.
"So you weren't going to blow up their generator?" she asked.
"No," Mikhail smirked.
"If Alvar hadn't succeeded, then the second program would have activated, and in five hours the generator really would have run wild," Chaya said.
"Wait," Misha turned pale. "Did you really want to blow up an entire planet?"
"Just a backup," Chaya spread her hands. "For the very, very most extreme case. But first, all the doors in the complex would have opened for Alvar and the Athosians to enter. And all exits except the central one would have been blocked."
"So no one could get out," Mikhail realized.
"Well, yeah," Chaya shrugged. "And anyway, I set up voice control there, so at any moment everything could have been canceled... Or the reactor detonated and the complex blown up."
In the ensuing silence, the event horizon of Atlantis's Stargate dissolved with a roar.
And then Chaya's laughter rang out. For some reason, it made the others laugh too. Only the former laughed because she was having fun. The others—from nerves.
"You should have seen your faces," the Ancient said after finishing her laugh. "Of course there was no plan within a plan. I wasn't going to blow anything up."
"Whew," Mikhail, Kiryk, and Alvar exhaled all at once.
"What a sense of humor you have," Mikhail said, adjusting the t-shirt collar that was choking him.
"Never do that again," Alvar asked. "I thought I'd go gray."
"I need a drink," Kiryk stated.
"Let's go," Teyla said, casting a disapproving look at Chaya. "I have a jug of strong Athosian wine in my cabin."
"I'm with you," Alvar said, shaking his head and catching up with the pair. "I think we'll need something stronger than wine..."
"Then we'll get a second jug," Teyla said decisively. "I just want to forget this day."
"Agreed," Kiryk supported morosely.
"I'm sorry!" Chaya's voice drifted after them. "It was a joke..."
"To the Wraith with such jokes," Alvar muttered as the trio disappeared around the corner. "I don't even want to know how the other Ancients will joke when they appear here."
"We can always take refuge on New Athos, right?" Kiryk asked Teyla.
"I'm not sure anymore," she said quietly as Mikhail ran up to them. "Misha, we're not offended, but..."
"To hell with offenses," he muttered. "Let's go get plastered. I think my first gray hairs have appeared."