Consciousness returned with a jerk.
The survivor flung open his eyes, but before he could realize where he was, the Wraith commander was already on his feet. And only now did he understand that he was no longer on the planet where he had spent long years. Moreover, all his protection had been removed, leaving him only in his everyday leather suit. And the multiple gaps and holes in the chest area suggested the reason why he had lost consciousness in that battle.
He was not on the small Lantean ship he had seen—the room he was in was too spacious. And it had a very characteristic interior, so it was impossible to think of anything else.
He was in a cell of Lantean design. A spacious cube with metal bars and energy barriers between them was located in a spacious room, the perimeter of which was sunk in darkness, creating a oppressive impression.
"Ah," came a voice from the darkness dominating the corners of the spacious dungeon. "Finally awake."
The survivor cast a swift glance at the man who had emerged from the shadows.
"You!" the survivor's hoarse bass roared when he saw the young man who had lured him into a trap on the desert planet, all too familiar to him. "I'll kill you and suck out your life!"
"Yeah," the man grinned crookedly, pacing around the cage. In his hands, he held some red fruit, slicing small pieces from it with a small knife. "We've tried that already. As a result, I'm here," he pointed to the space beyond the dungeon, "and you're there. My name is Mikhail, by the way."
The survivor bared his teeth when the human casually pointed out that the Wraith was in captivity. Concentrating, the commander directed all his mental power at the human's mind.
It was time for the young Lantean to experience fear before his future killer! Now he would scream in fear, paranoidally looking around, bringing the survivor pleasure from human panic and terror.
A magnificent entertainment for Wraith... Only, for some reason, nothing was happening. The human remained relaxed, not reacting to the extraneous rustles, sounds, semi-transparent shadows projected into his mind, attacking from the darkness... Nothing at all!
This was disconcerting.
"Come on," the human grimaced. "I've already seen a couple of times how Wraith induce hallucinations on their victims. Impressive, but not as effective the second time."
"You couldn't survive even one encounter with a Wraith!" the survivor did not believe.
"Koschei," the Lantean looked at the prisoner with sympathy. "You saw for yourself what our encounter turned into. And the first time, I made a hole in a Wraith the size of a Teletubby head."
"How?!"
"Lantean pulse blaster," the man turned so the prisoner could see the familiar weapon on his thigh. "Timeless classic. No matter how much regeneration reserve a Wraith has, it can't regrow half its body. Especially if you shoot it in the head."
"What do you want, human?!" the survivor asked. "Why are you holding me captive?"
"Straight to the bargaining stage?" the human feigned surprise on his face. "What about anger, denial, and all that?"
"Why are you stalling?" the Wraith asked.
"I'm just messing with your head," the human shrugged. "Heard anything about establishing personal contact?"
"Your tactics won't work on me," the survivor stated proudly.
"Well, I have plenty of time," the human shrugged. "Koschei... By the way, tell me—do you have a real name?"
"I don't care what you call me, human," the survivor said irritably.
"Then I dub you Koschei," the Lantean announced. "You have something in common. Neither of you dies easily, and you both keep your egg close. Only our Koschei's egg had a needle, and yours explodes."
With these words, the human pulled an oval object made of dull material from his pocket.
"Recognize it?" the Lantean inquired. "Found it during the search of your crashed ship's crew remains. Thanks, by the way. Not a bad sample of technology. Can be used as a grenade or a mine. We'll find it useful. Found about a dozen, but how long until we replicate them? Especially since it's entirely mechanical, not organic like your people prefer. Remnants of former glory, eh, Koschei?"
Wraith grenade.
"I don't negotiate with food!"
"A pity," the human wagged his finger. "I negotiated with this apple," he showed the fruit, "that it would be tasty and nutritious. And the apple helped as best it could. Well, to be honest, not me, but our trading partners. But that's beside the point. I think you get what I mean."
"Understood," the survivor narrowed his eyes. "You want to incline me to cooperation."
"Better cooperation than bent over, believe me," the human said. "And in the latter case, that position would precede a subsequent colonoscopy. You see, we have enough samples of your blood, but internal organs—now that's something we'd like to study."
The survivor dubbed Koschei glanced at his limbs. He spotted the injection mark on his right arm almost immediately.
"Why do you need my blood, human?!" he asked slowly with suspicion in his voice. Biological material could be used in hundreds of ways—and not all beneficial. Especially against a blood enemy.
"Oh, I see you've found a path to constructive dialogue," the human smirked. "Shall we play question-answer? I ask first, you answer, then you can ask. Maybe, if I like your cooperation, you'll get an answer too."
"I won't betray my race's secrets!" Koschei declared.
"We already know a hundred of your secrets without you," the human shrugged. "After all, we've had ten thousand years to figure out your race's technology."
Koschei froze, digesting the information.
"Ten thousand years?" he asked cautiously.
"Plus or minus," the human admitted. "Depends on which planets' orbits to take as reference. But I think you get the point: you slept a very long time. And none of your race needed you. I'm sure they saw your ship crash on Lantea-2."
"What's Lantea-2?" Koschei asked. He guessed which planet was meant but stalled to process the information in his mind.
"The Lantean system has only two planets," the human enlightened. As if the Wraith didn't know! "We're currently at the bottom of Lantea, the first planet from the local star. And the desert planet where you crashed deserves the name Lantea-2, in my opinion. What do you think?"
"Not inventive," the Wraith replied.
"I'm not chasing uniqueness," the human admitted. "But it's simpler than 'sandy planet where the transport ship with the failed commander crashed in view of the entire fleet, and no one even sent rescuers.' Looks like your own didn't like you much..."
"You speak of what you don't know, human," Koschei laughed. "My ship was shot down far from the fleet. We thought we'd destroyed all Lantean combat satellites. But one survived and ambushed my transport. I nearly destroyed it, but didn't make it."
"By the way, yes," the man said as if remembering something. "We first thought your fighters did it. But when we inspected the ship, we saw it only had small guns, like on Darts. And your story cleared up several gaps: why no one came for you, why the satellite wasn't fully destroyed, and why no one picked up your emergency beacon. Thanks, you solved the mystery."
"Is that all you want from me, human?" the Wraith asked. He decided not to mention that he assembled the emergency beacon from various parts and connected it only years after being on Lantea-2.
"Just the beginning, Koschei," the Lantean admitted. "As you see, you're the first Wraith in ten thousand years to end up in Atlantis..."
"So that's where we are," Koschei realized.
The Wraith continued to keep silent. He had already guessed the human needed something from him. Otherwise, Koschei would already be dead.
"You may have broken the Lanteans, but it didn't lead to final victory," Mikhail continued. "As you see, we're here, we survived, we calmly fly around our home star system. While your people didn't bother much with your disappearance."
"They'll come as soon as they learn you've crawled out from under the ocean," Koschei stated confidently. "And then nothing will stop them from finishing what they started! This time they'll be ready for all surprises! And they'll know how you defend, what resources you have... You can't win! Surrender to my mercy and I'll spare the most useful of you!"
"Wow!" Mikhail laughed. "No shortage of self-importance, little Koschei. But your offer sucks, I don't like it, and I won't participate. But," the human raised his index finger. "I have a counteroffer. Heard of the two chairs option?"
"No," the Wraith admitted.
"And your mother surely doesn't either," the Lantean nodded to his thoughts. "And with your regeneration, whether it's spades or... another option. Anyway," he looked into the survivor's eyes without fear. "Option one. We keep you here and slowly take you apart for parts. You'll serve science in studying Wraith physiology and abilities. Not voluntarily, of course, but..."
"You can't force me!" the Wraith stated confidently.
"Before making such statements, in your place I'd think about how we got you from Lantea-2 to Atlantis without you waking up," Mikhail said in a saccharine voice. "Hint—Wraith stunners had nothing to do with it."
Koschei ignored the taunt. And it took great effort. Though he understood the human was deliberately irritating him, that Koschei had slipped, but the Wraith could hardly control his temper.
"Second chair," Mikhail continued. "You voluntarily cooperate with us. When asked something—you answer. When requested something—you do it."
"And why should I?" the Wraith wondered. "Torture is nothing to me. I'll endure any pain. And when my brethren come, they'll yield to me the right to deprive you of life."
"Even if they come, it won't save you," the human said. "They couldn't break through our defenses ten years ago. And they can't now."
"You can comfort yourself with that hope!" the Wraith laughed. "When I free myself..."
"You can only leave here if I decide you're trustworthy and pose no danger to us," Mikhail interrupted him. "In all other cases, dear life-sucker, the maximum you face is leaving this cell dead. Or off to experiments."
"That's what you think!"
"I know it," Mikhail assured him. "I'm sure you're hoping on your mental tricks. Even more, you've surely sensed a Wraith among us..."
Koschei bared his teeth.
"Hurry to disappoint you," the human feigned concern on his face. "That's not a Wraith. Just a woman with your DNA."
"Impossible! Abomination!" Koschei grimaced.
"That's what your kin thought when they learned one of you decided to implant Wraith genes in humans," the Lantean reported. "Thought it'd make humans tastier. They didn't get tastier, but other Wraith got angry at the renegade and destroyed him. Some he experimented on survived. And now they can sense Wraith. A little time, and we'll train our friend to maintain mental contact with you. And then what's in your skull will be at our disposal. And you won't be needed."
"It'll take you centuries for that!" Koschei declared. But he wasn't sure of his words' truth.
"Really?" Mikhail smiled. "Reminder, little Koschei. We built Stargates. We created flying cities. We had a hand in your emergence. And now, after ten thousand years, we have no particular pity for Wraith. If you interfere—and you will—we'll just destroy you!"
"Interesting how you'll do that, human?" Koschei swiftly approached the bars opposite which Mikhail stood. But his actions didn't cause fear in the human. He didn't even flinch. "There used to be thousands of you. Dozens of races served you. Hundreds of ships fought us. And we won! And now," he triumphantly looked at his interlocutor, "there are fewer than ten of you in the whole city! Six humans! Three females! Your forces are simply ridiculous! One cruiser is enough to capture you!"
"Sure about that? That there are only six of us. We shield a significant part of the city, after all."
"You can't hide from our mind's power!" the Wraith declared. "No shields will help! I know how many of you there are! And I know that as soon as my brethren come here, I'll tell them everything I learned about you. Even if you kill me, the Wraith who feeds on you will know I did it for my people! Atlantis will fall!"