Chapter 209

Wraith Orbital Outpost

In the throne room of the orbital outpost, a new occupant now resided in the seat of power of the Wraith. An amused expression on his face, the Harbinger sat as the now humbled Primary briefed her new leader on the recent ambush by the Tauri and Asgard vessels. His amus.e.m.e.nt enraged her, but she was too fearful of him to let it show.

"These constant losing skirmishes if allowed to continue will greatly diminish our fleet strength." Primary explained.

"Our? I believe you mean my fleet strength, don't you?" Harbinger asked lightly.

"Yes my Lord." Primary replied in a frightened whisper.

"Do go on with whatever point you were trying badly to convey." Harbinger replied with a fiendish grin.

"I see only one way to prevent these constant attacks upon us. As we did ten thousand years ago, we must gather our strength in full and lay siege to Atlantis. Only then will we be free to navigate the galaxy without fear of ambush." Primary explained.

"Perhaps you simply misspoke, but I see many flaws in your statement. You began with I see. By now, you should be aware of the fact that what you see or think matters little. You followed this with as we did. That again is a mistake. Did you conceive or even lead the siege? No, you did not. Our strength? You press the limits of my good will towards you. Look around you. Everything you cast your eyes upon exists to serve my will. Once the Tauri nuisance it dealt with, then I will be free to navigate the galaxy, but you will only do so as my pet." Harbinger said in low and venomous tones.

"What is your command my Lord?" Primary asked with newfound difference in her voice.

"What you propose is far from the answer. I have come to expect such shortsightedness from you, so I am not surprised in the least. To gather the fleet and lay siege to Atlantis would only mean the destruction of much of my fleet. Have you forgotten the enemy vessels that patrol Pegasus? They would quickly run to the defense of the city. Instead, we must take our enemies tactics as our own. After all, they worked very well against you, did they not?" Harbinger asked lightly.

"They did my Lord, forgive my insolence. What have you in mind?" Primary asked with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"If you can find your way to not tempt me to drain your body of all life, you will soon see. Now leave me!" Harbinger ordered.

Retreating from the throne room quickly, Primary made her exit. Fear of his threat to drain her of life turned quickened her pace to that of a panicked scurry. Entering the throne room in her wake, a group of three hand picked Wraith commanders arrived before their leader. Two stood before Harbinger, while the third waited ten feet behind. The two commanders standing before the throne quickly dropped to one knee, with their heads bowed respectfully. Seeing this, Harbinger was pleased.

"Rise." Harbinger said simply.

"Yes my Lord." They replied in unison.

"My pet thought very little of both of you. It seems that she preferred underlings that would never outshine her. That raises your value in my eyes. I have a special task for you. Are you prepared to serve me?" Harbinger asked with a loaded question.

"Yes my Lord." They again replied in unison.

"You will board a cruiser now, and depart for the nearest portal to our current location. Your destination is a Lantean warship repair facility I captured early in our war. Once there, you will retrieve the information I seek. The portal address and information specifics are already uploaded to your cruisers data core. To decrypt the file, use the password Pet. Go now, and retrieve what I seek!" Harbinger ordered.

Rising to their feet quickly, the two commanders took their leave of the throne room. In minutes, they would depart in the cruiser that would carry them to the nearest gate in the galaxy. Stepping forward in to take the two departed commanders place, the third commander took his place before the throne.

"I have summoned you to learn of your progress on the assignment I gave to you." Harbinger stated.

"As ordered, the alterations to Hives currently growing are taking place." The commander answered.

"Did you encounter any difficulties administering the genetic material from my vessel to those being grown?" Harbinger asked.

"No my Lord. The process went without difficulty." The commander replied.

"How many Hives have you given this treatment to?" Harbinger inquired.

"All eight Hives currently growing towards maturity. As predicted, those Hives in the fleet already fully mature are unable to assimilate the genetic material from your vessel. That makes that specific modification impossible." The commander answered.

"Pity." Harbinger sighed.

"Following your instructions for that contingency, less drastic modifications to the mature Hives systems are currently being undertaken. Those will take several weeks to complete. When the growing cycle is complete, each Hive will contain two further power generation centers." The commander explained.

"Your ability to carry out the tasks given is why I do not subject you to kneeling before me. I am pleased. Return to your duties and we will speak again." Harbinger said in dismissal.