Little can make a raif jump from one topic to another. As if his mind were occupied with something truly global, and the "bait" he was revealing to us were nothing more than hastily concocted, clumsy "hooks" that we were supposed to fall for.
That very "editing" of versions, which I thought of.
Curious… I don't recall raifs being unable to find words for what was happening in known events. On the other hand, this guy was shown in only one episode and quickly shot, so he didn't have time to "reveal himself."
Our conversation took almost an hour. With many additional questions, a minimum of lewd jokes and mutual insults.
And the picture that emerged was, to put it mildly, not good.
"The queen's death is not just a fact, it's a tragic event for every hive," the raif summarized. "Weak hive commanders look for new queens, while strong ones follow their queen's commandments until they die. Or until they find even stronger patrons or queens. And Styx can give them that if he achieves his goal. But few queens will agree to serve the Scavenger. Of course, if he doesn't have the power. And he's looking for it. And he's quite consistent in achieving his goals. This means that sooner or later he will find it. And then he will come for you. And you will perish. As will I with you. But we can be allies. Give me the Queen of Death's ship, help me seize control of another hive, and I will create a counterweight to him. Together we will defeat him."
And after that, our problem will no longer be Styx, who has never been to Atlantis, but Koschei, who knows more about us than any other raif in the galaxy. Not a great offer.
I can see from the raif's eyes that he has already understood – his simple trick didn't work. Of course, if it was that he planned to get out of here and gain power over other hives.
It seems too simple and uncharacteristically artless for his offer. Not very raif-like.
"Is that all?" I asked when Koschei finally fell silent.
"In this specific situation – yes," the raif said. "And, mind you, I've been frank with you, Mikhail."
"Well, I'll be," I sighed. "You're training me. When you're annoyed, you call me 'human,' when you want cooperation, you remember my name."
"You don't even know mine," the raif twitched his cheek.
"And you didn't introduce yourself," I reminded him, standing up.
"A name is a raif's value," the prisoner unexpectedly became frank. "A raif's name is his essence. His distinguishing feature. A name is given to us when we grow enough to show our essence. And therefore, our names are always individual. And only those who are supposed to know in the hive know them."
"It's enough for me that we have a name for you," I said. "And what you imagine about yourself – it's not that interesting."
"Did we reach an agreement, Mikhail?" the raif rumbled with a hint of threat.
"Swap one problem for another?" I shook my head. "No, little Koschei. That won't do. You're playing your game. And given what you've told us, there's absolutely no need for you to leave us."
"I'm not going to die when Atlantis is besieged again," the raif said irritably. "And this time you won't hold out. Not at all. Styx's actions are awakening other raifs. Soon the whole galaxy will awaken. And then you'll be in trouble."
"We'll see about that," I assured him, approaching the door of the Atlantean Brig, which opened automatically as I approached. "For now, your only option to live longer is to stop playing your games, restore my people, and tell us everything you learn from the raifs you've been fed."
"You'll need a lot of young raifs to give me enough strength," Koschei declared.
"And it so happens that you've presented me with a place where they can be stocked up on a silver platter," I reminded him. "A good plan, Koschei. Reliable as a Swiss watch."
"I don't understand you, human," the raif roared.
"The worse for you," I cut him off.
***
The Council Chamber was quite crowded today.
To the left of the entrance sat Captain Asan, Captain Librea, scout Fry, she, and Trebal. Opposite them were Alvar Jensen, Ihaar, Teila Emmagan, and Chayaya. The ever-present pair – Kirik and Saya – were on duty at the entrance. Only one seat at the angular-semicircular table remained empty.
The seat of the one who initiated this meeting.
Larrin thought it would be good for the Lantians to find a larger place for such meetings.
She also thought that she was in a very difficult position.
Mikhail and his people, in exchange for their support of her people, had given her a gene-vaccination of the Ancients. The ruler of Atlantis and everything she led demanded her loyalty.
Well, at least not honor, and that was a relief.
Despite retaining her position as the unofficial leader of the Nomads from Ermen, Larrin spent more time on Atlantis. Or at the base on the planet Taranis.
Funny… She wanted to get an Ancient battleship. And in effect, she got it. Apart from the experience with the mental connection to the onboard computer, a very solid start.
If we're talking personal achievements, of course.
She always wanted the best for her people. And lately, she had literally dreamed of being on the bridge of an Ancient ship.
And she got it. Despite the trembling and fear that the mental connection with the Ancient ship, which she had desired for so long, instilled in her, she remained on its bridge. Atlantis needed intelligent people, experienced in space battles and flights.
Asan and Katana would never leave the bridges of their starships. Well, Mikhail didn't trust the others – he told Larrin this directly and without mincing words. In fact, she wasn't sure if he trusted her either.
Onboard the 'Ares,' she was the only one from the Nomads. The other people, flitting past her like shadows, doing things she didn't fully understand, occasionally reporting problems to her, the depth of which she also didn't always grasp, were Ancients.
Technicians, bringing the starship into order, and a small deck crew from the lost battleship 'Aurora,' who would now become part of the ship's crew.
Her ship… Formally.
She knew for sure that she could give orders, but they would only be within the scope of the mission that this ship could receive. If she decided to do something on her own, for example, steal the starship… She couldn't do it alone – she barely knew the Lantian systems for that. And mental control… She didn't even want to try to test doing something with the ship that went against its missions. Simply because the girl suspected that as soon as she sat in the chair – whether it was the command chair or the control chair – and tried to rebel, hijack the ship, or something else, the 'Ares' would devour her.
Perhaps literally.
The choice she made was not easy.
She was not a stranger to the Nomads on Ermen, but she understood that the longer she was involved in Lantian affairs, the more her people would learn to live without her. But she was not one of the Lantians either.
Yes, to some extent, but not entirely. And she likely never would be.
She now saw herself as a kind of scale, with a certain amount of sand poured into each pan. And the longer she was on Atlantis, the less sand remained in the pan that connected her to the Nomads.
The girl looked at Teila Emmagan, sitting opposite her.
The Athosian was in the same situation. And her example showed how it worked. The people of Athos had already divided into two camps – those who had connected themselves with the Ancients, and those who decided that they had not met expectations. But, one way or another, both Athosian planets maintained relations between themselves.
But the Nomads – those under the Council's rule, and those who followed her – did not. Ermen still had harsh living conditions; life was only just beginning to stabilize. Thanks to Atlantis and Emmagan, a good dozen agreements on food supplies were concluded with small peoples with whom the Nomads would never have associated before.
Simply because none of these communities could provide food for even one ship. But all together, they formed small streams into a small river that fed Ermen. In return, they also had to do a lot. But it was better than dying of hunger.
However, Emmagan stated that as soon as the short winter passed on the new Athos, the new arable lands would yield a large harvest. Enough to feed both Ermen and Atlantis.
The Taranianans promised the same, as did the children from Efeon. In much smaller quantities, of course.
Well, at least it was good that thanks to Emmagan and Atlantis, the nomads on Ermen were able to clear old fields themselves, plant crops, and even somehow learn minimal agricultural techniques. Alvar Jensen claimed that the winter on the planet was not as harsh as it could be. Besides, there were many other territories and latitudes where there were lands that could be developed.
One or two seasons, and Ermen would no longer have to buy food on a large scale. On the contrary, they themselves would be able to supply some of it to other worlds. Atlantis, for example, was interested in having as many products as possible at its disposal.
With a quiet hum, the doors of the Council Chamber turned. Mikhail entered with quick steps, greeting those he saw for the first time today as he walked.
Sitting down in his seat, he said without preamble:
"We have problems."
"And has it ever been otherwise?" Trebal wondered.
"If Koschei is to be believed, then the super-hive that we almost encountered during the 'Aurora' rescue mission belongs to a raif commander named Styx," the leader of the Lantians continued. "He captured the hive ship damaged in that battle and took control of the feeding grounds belonging to that hive."
Despite the repetition of the same words, Larrin could confidently say that none of those present would confuse a "hive ship" with a "hive." The former is the raifs' flagship, the most dangerous of their types of starships. But a "hive" is precisely that community of raifs that centers around a hive ship.
The Nomads had encountered raif prisoners several times and managed to get scraps of information from them. For example, that a "hive" can include a single hive ship or accompanying starships.
Everything depends solely on the strength of the one in charge of the hive ship. If there were a queen, then the "hive" would undoubtedly be large. But if a raif commander is in charge of the hive ship, it is unlikely that he will have many followers. For some reason, raifs did not like existing without queens. However, there were variations.
"Feeding grounds," Asan repeated. "Are you talking about inhabited planets?"
"Yes," Mikhail answered briefly. "The raifs we lured into a trap came from a hive that cooperated with the one that was attacked during the rescue of 'Aurora.' The super-hive and the second hive attacked them while they were in hibernation. Two cruisers destroyed, one captured. The damaged hive fled and is now on the outskirts of the galaxy, undergoing repairs. They lost their queen, who was killed by a group of envoys from the super-hive before the full-scale attack began. Koschei said that the weaklings join the victors. Or those who need a queen. Hive commanders usually carry out the will of their queen, even if she is dead. But if someone else has power or a strong queen, they will join that hive."
"Raifs killing each other is not bad," Katana stated. "So why is it a problem for us?"
"Because we were the subject of negotiations with the leader of the super-hive," Mikhail said. "Commander Styx, during the war between the Ancients and the raifs, was the consort of the Queen of Death…"
"Do they even have wedding unions?" Kaspar Fry grimaced.
"This is necessary for the hive queens to produce new raifs," Mikhail explained. "Without queens, hives will not survive."
"Queen of Death…" Trebal said grimly. "I think there's no mistake in the name, is there?"
"Not the slightest," Mikhail confirmed. "It's her."
"The one you killed on the drill?" Larrin asked, leaning towards the commander of the 'Hippaphoralkus.' Trebal nodded in confusion.
This is bad. If raifs swarm around their queens like insects around their own, then killing a queen is a clear reason to fight to the last. But there is one nuance.
"The Queen of Death was killed at the bottom of the ocean, and only a few weeks ago," she recalled the reports she had read. "How did Styx find out about this?"
"And he doesn't know," Mikhail replied. "He is guided by information that an Ancient ship was near 'Aurora,' that it functioned, participated in battle, and flew away."
"And only carriers of the Ancient gene can operate Ancient technology," Ihaar rolled his eyes. "Everything as we feared. They will not abandon their attempts to find us and finish us off."
"Except this Styx is not here yet," Alvar objected. "And, as far as I remember, we would have known about the approach of their ships well in advance. The rescue of the 'Aurora' crew was months ago. What was he waiting for?"
"The prisoner doesn't know that," Mikhail reported. "His intelligence information relates to what he learned from the minds of other raifs from the damaged allied hive. And they, of course, learned something from Styx's raifs during negotiations with the queen."
"From his raifs?" Chayaya clarified. "Not from him directly?"
"No," Mikhail said. "Koschei says that Styx was not present at the negotiations. His ship is exploring former Ancient outposts. And his representatives are conducting negotiations. Even the captured hive ship participated in the attack on that hive, but not the super-hive."
"Which is strange," Chayaya noted. "A super-hive alone could have wiped out all the ships of that hive."
"I'm more worried that they are scouring the Ancient planets," Trebal admitted. "What are they looking for?"
"Koschei and the raifs he fed don't know that," Mikhail reported. "The representatives informed the queen that the Scavenger is confident that he will soon find something there that will make him stronger."
"A strong super-hive means even more problems," Trebal grimaced.
"Do we know anything about this Styx, other than that he was someone's inseminator?" Kaspar inquired.
"That he's a smart one," Mikhail said. "And that he and our prisoner are from the same hive."
"From the Queen of Death's hive," Ihaar sighed heavily.
"Except they don't get along," Mikhail continued. "Death was a queen who could dictate her will. According to Koschei, the queen's consorts are traditionally blades, not smart ones. Considering this, and the fact that Koschei knows absolutely nothing about why Death made such a choice, this guy, Styx, is extremely dangerous."
"Blades, smart ones," Asan grimaced. "What are these anyway?"
"Blades are warrior raifs, commanders," Mikhail explained. "Smart ones are their scientific personnel."
Larrin and Asan, as well as Katana, exchanged glances. In this conversation alone, the Nomads learned more about the nature of the raifs they had been fighting for thousands of years than in their entire history. The girl had a suspicion that Mikhail had deliberately structured his report so that in the first part, which was happening now, the simplest questions were asked. It was precisely thanks to them that the general level of knowledge of the Nomads and Lantians should have come to a common denominator.
It's simple and logical! To bring everyone to the same criteria, the same terms, so they can communicate substantively, without interrupting the more important information that Mikhail clearly hasn't revealed yet, with clarifying questions.
"What exactly does Styx want?" Chayaya asked. "Since he was here ten thousand years ago, he doesn't need to search for Atlantis's coordinates. He could have flown here directly with his super-hive."
"Especially since he already has one additional hive," Alvar recalled.
"And a super-hive is a big problem," Trebal said through clenched teeth. "Unlike the others, they have the necessary energy. Better hull, weapons, engines. We couldn't deal with such ships otherwise than by putting more of our battleships against them."
"And now for the main thing," Mikhail announced. "Styx and his forces are gathering a coalition to attack us. So far, the only proof of the Ancients' return that he possesses is data from the scanners of the hive ship damaged in that battle. Therefore, his persuasion interests few. The Keepers, those who monitor the safety of the sleeping raifs, are not impressed by such conversations and evidence. They do not intend to awaken the hives, as now is not the time for it."
"They cannot feed all of them," Kaspar Fry stated. "Not enough time has passed since the last full-scale raif attacks on all worlds."
"That's why he's delaying the attack," Trebal said. "Since he knows Atlantis's defenses, he understands that with a couple of ships, he won't get anywhere here."
"There weren't even scouts," Chayaya reminded him.
"They aren't needed if the strength to attack is insufficient," Trebal retorted. "In the past, it was Atlantis and Ytran that destroyed almost all the super-hives. And Styx cannot not know that."
"Just as he cannot not know that our capabilities are more modest than ten thousand years ago," Mikhail said. "Therefore, he acts with consideration for past capabilities and with estimates for at least part of the forces that Atlantis previously had."
"Do we know what forces he currently commands?" Captain Asan inquired. "If a super-hive, two hive ships, and one cruiser are all he has, then we could track them down and destroy them one by one."
"One hive ship," Chaya corrected. "Based on what we know, the hive ship that attacked our forces with the beacon did not join Styx."
"Is that because your captive wraith said so?" Asan asked.
"What's the point of him lying?" Ihaar' asked in surprise. "He's a prisoner here. And with long-standing disagreements with Styx."
"That's what he said," Fry insisted. "But it could be a trap to lure us into a wraith ambush."
"It might be," Mikhail unexpectedly agreed. "That's precisely why we are discussing what he reported."
"We need to attack and destroy them," Larrin said.
"We have too few forces to counter the super-hive," Trebal stated flatly. "Considering their past tactics, as soon as we hit them in the Lantian system, they will immediately inform the other hives about us."
"And that will be a call for the other hives to awaken," Mikhail agreed. "Even if the galaxy's population hasn't recovered after the last great gathering, they certainly won't allow Atlantis to be reinforced."
"If so, then why did that damaged, unaligned hive fly to the Ancient beacon?" Chaya asked. "Why not Styx himself."
"We know that the transmitter necklace is too low-powered to send a signal through subspace on its own," Ihaar' reminded them. "It's likely that the nearest hive reacted, and the others don't know what happened. We just got lucky."
"In general, you are right—the nearest one reacted," Larrin took the floor. "But wraiths do leave satellites in orbit around planets to observe how the human population is recovering. At least they used to. It's possible that the signal passed through it. And that hive ship happened to be nearby, so it attacked."
"Or that this transmitter sends a signal exclusively to the hive that invented it," Ihaar' grimaced. "We don't really know anything about this technology. So anything is possible."
"What exactly do we want to do?" Alvar inquired. "It will clearly be foolish to sit and wait until he gains strength and comes here."
"No one is going to wait," Mikhail assured them. "I'm not going to allow an obvious enemy to gain strength. Perhaps most hives will ignore Styx's weak evidence, considering how little he amounted to recently in their hierarchy. But some will definitely respond. We need to prevent this coalition from forming."
"Only if we attack his forces, they will have time to inform the others that the Ancient dreadnoughts have appeared," Kirik remarked. "And the other wraiths will awaken. And they will know for sure that Styx was right."
"We could try to lure them into an ambush," Larrin suggested. "We have two Lantian starships, two Nomad ships. We attack with all our forces and destroy them faster than they can scream throughout the galaxy about our arrival."
"And how do you propose to do that?" Alvar inquired. "Invite them over for tea?"
"Some time ago, the Nomads were busy destroying these satellites to lure wraith ships into an ambush," Katana added. "But for the last hundred to a hundred and fifty years, they haven't been leaving new ones, preferring to send their 'arrows' through the gates. Well, and we stopped destroying those relays because we are no longer able to fight their starships."
"But now your ships are in better condition than before," Ihaar' reminded them. "A new power plant based on naquadah, better armor plates, we've optimized some systems."
"That's all true," Asan took the floor. "But we only have two ships. And they have three. And one of those starships is clearly stronger than anything that the people in this room have. Luring this armada into an ambush would be utter foolishness."
"Agreed," Katana supported her colleague. "We will destroy several of their ships, maybe even heavily damage the others. But where's the guarantee that we won't lose all our starships."
"If this were the only wraith coalition whose demise would make the others fall behind us, then yes, we could risk what we have," Asan continued. "But, if you yourself say that the enemy has a plan in case of destruction, that they will awaken and call the others, then attacking them head-on is not an option."
"Both we and you will lose your ships, and there will simply be nothing left to oppose the wraiths."
"We could attack and capture the hive ship that sent the wraiths into an ambush," Alvar suggested. "Then we'll have one more ship."
"According to what we know about hive ships, there could be several thousand wraiths on board," Ihaar' objected. "We would need an army to defeat them all. And we don't even have enough people to fix all the breakdowns on the 'Hippaphoralkus' and Atlantis."
"Does Koschei know where the super-hive is now?" Chaya asked. Mikhail shook his head negatively.
"Styx acts through his representatives. And he doesn't personally engage in battle. It's likely that it was his forces we might have encountered when launching scout drones on the former colonies of the Ancients. At least in some cases."
"If so, those were some of the rarest cases," Chaya shook her head. "Scouts reported hive ships, cruisers on planets. But never a super-hive. It's likely that it's located somewhere else."
"Or at the moment of our scouts' attack, the super-hive was in orbit, and they couldn't detect it," Trebal suggested. "Only... It's strange, actually."
"What exactly?" Larrin inquired.
"This Styx was close to the Queen of Death, and she led troops against the Ancients," Trebal said. "So he must at least know that there's nothing valuable left on the Ancients' planets. So why would he waste time? His super-hive can easily destroy any hive or crush them, subjugating the survivors. As he, in fact, did."
"I have a more prosaic question," Alvar stated. "If this guy is so cool and has a starship capable of defeating most enemies, then why is he a Scavenger? Why hasn't he subjugated other wraiths long ago? Why now?"
"Because only now have we shown ourselves?" Ihaar' suggested. "And besides, a super-hive appears when a regular hive ship feeds on a powerful energy source. And wraiths have never had enough of it. In ten thousand years, he must have significantly drained the energy from the ZPM he had. Perhaps he is simply saving the remaining energy for a truly serious battle?"
"Or he doesn't have enough energy at all to fully power his super-hive," Mikhail said.
"Excuse me?" Kaspar Fry drew attention to himself. "I remember correctly—ZPM is Lantian technology."
"Yes," Trebal replied.
"So how did it end up with the wraiths?"
"They captured it," the commander of the 'Hippaphoralkus' explained. "Should I tell you how?"
"Yes, that would be good..."
"They surrounded our starships with an overwhelming number of their ships, sacrificed them to deprive the Lantian ships of projectiles and shields, after which they landed boarding parties and attacked the crew," Trebal said coldly. "Hundreds and hundreds of wraiths, moving through the decks and compartments of our ships, killing crew members, draining their lives before the eyes of others. They managed to capture several of our ships, and each had a ZPM. They connected them to their technologies and got super-hives. Did I explain it sufficiently?"
"Quite," Kaspar replied. "But do you have these ZPMs now?"
"For what purpose are you asking, esteemed one?" Ihaar' scowled.
"With the intention that this Styx is clearly looking for something valuable on the Ancients' planets," Fry explained. "Among humans, there are wraith sympathizers. If you try, you can introduce information into some human societies that ZPMs have been found on some planets. Styx must come for the energy source, since he needs it."
Trebal snorted.
"More likely, the Jenai will come to us as a trap, as they have many spies among humans."
"I don't mind giving the Jenai a beating either," Asan said. "We contacted a couple of old trading partners of our ship to replenish supplies. The Jenai attacked them and turned them into their semi-colony. Kaspar barely managed to escape through the gates on an intermediate planet."
Larrin mechanically noted that Asan and the Nomads on Ermen continue to use their people's old scout tactic. It consisted of escaping pursuit to a new world. And there, having escaped pursuit, they would dial another planet's address and flee, leaving the pursuers empty-handed. And only after the second or third intermediate planet, which are usually planets where the wraiths have long since collected the entire population, and the Nomads have taken everything they might need, could the scout return to the meeting point with their ship.
It was logical that no one intended to settle on such a planet, whose addresses could be known to anyone in the galaxy. In this regard, Ermen, who had little contact with anyone in the galaxy, was much better.
"We don't like the Jenai very much either," Teyla Emmagan, who had been silent until now, assured them. Larrin mentally smirked. "Us." Who is she referring to—the Athosians or the Lantians? "They cause problems for many people in the galaxy."
"And it's not the Jenai that are our acute problem now," Trebal reminded them. "But an old and cunning wraith wise man with a super-hive and a growing coalition. 'Hippaphoralkus' won't withstand a battle against a super-hive. 'Ares'... Maybe, but in the last battle with the wraiths, it destroyed a super-hive and two enemy hives at the cost of serious damage, due to which it was abandoned by the crew."
"Energy sources," Chaya suddenly said. "That's what Styx is looking for."
"Presumably," Mikhail cautiously agreed.
"No, that's the most logical explanation," the head of Atlantis shook her head. "Ihaar' is right—if he had a ZPM, even several, then over ten thousand years they have clearly been depleted. And there aren't many new ones in the galaxy. If he had enough energy to power the super-hive, he wouldn't have to hide. And surely the owner of such a ship, even without a queen, could get whatever he wants. But he's listed as a Scavenger."
"Wraiths are sensitive to insults," Mikhail said. "And a name means a lot to them. Because it reflects their essence. If others call him a Scavenger, then over ten thousand years he has clearly lost his authority and strength."
"And now, a few assumptions," Chaya leaned forward. "At least one super-hive survived the war with the Lantians. Its commander lost his queen, the wraith coalition broke up after the war. They clearly started dividing human planets. And that's a civil war, and survival requires resources. It's likely that over ten thousand years, Styx lost his capabilities and transformed from a leader into a Scavenger. Somehow he ended up near a damaged 'Aurora' hive ship, probably captured it or joined it in some other way—it doesn't matter now. What matters is that they had data about 'Hippaphoralkus.' Styx decided that we had returned and began to gather forces."
"To avenge the Queen of Death, whom he considered dead at our hands ten thousand years ago," Mikhail picked up. "If we are right and his super-hive doesn't have enough power, then he clearly won't go into open battle. Even if he wins, repairing the hull and damage will require a lot of strength and energy. It's likely that he only responded to the emergency beacon because he wanted to get a ZPM or an Ancient ship."
"He doesn't have enough strength to attack Atlantis head-on, so he's not sending scouts," Trebal continued. "Even if he confirms that Atlantis is still here, which is unlikely, he has nothing to attack with. And by the time he gathers the necessary forces, he won't have up-to-date intelligence. So he'll have to send another scout ship."
"And Styx doesn't have that much strength, so he's forming a coalition where no one will argue with him," Mikhail said. "That's the point of killing the queen of the damaged hive—she could control her soldiers and recall them if Styx made a mistake and found no Lantians here upon arrival. And, while his subordinates are fighting for him, increasing the coalition's strength, he is scouring the Ancients' planets in search of an energy source to power his super-hive."
"Only we don't know which planet he is on now to find and attack him," Ihaar' reminded them. "If he is destroyed, then the coalition will definitely fall apart."
"I hope your genius lies not only in summarizing all the guesses voiced during the meeting?" Captain Asan inquired.
"Say something smarter," Alvar suggested.
"Do you have any complaints?" the commander of the Nomad ship bristled.
"I think we all need to calm down," Teyla suggested. "Mutual accusations won't help. We need to figure out how to detect him, lure him out, and destroy him."
"And we've already figured it out," Mikhail announced.
Larrin exchanged glances with Trebal. The others also looked bewildered—so far, nothing voiced resembled a good plan.
"Really?" she clarified.
"Of course," Mikhail smiled. "That's what 'brainstorming' is useful for. So, ladies and gentlemen, we have a plan. Not the best one, but, if I'm right, we can find Styx."