John stepped through the stargate and scanned the immediate area with his weapon at the ready. The glade surrounding the gate was more over grown than most, with several fallen trees, shrubs and rough grass encroaching on the mounts of earth bordering the forest. A few tall, pine like, trees stood in the centre of the clearing leaving no clear path for a Jumper. A MALP sat by the DHD and the Colonel signalled to the camera. A few moments later Teyla and Ronon materialised behind him followed by McKay and Beckett before the gate shut down.

There was no sign of habitation but in the entire of the Pegasus galaxy they had yet to meet anyone who built their homes right next to a gate for fear of the Wraith. The two doctors stayed by the gate, McKay looking through his tablet and Carson eyeing the forest whilst the others circled the glade. After a few minutes they regrouped and lowered their weapons.

"Clear?" Sheppard asked

"Clear" the others replied and Rodney looked up with sudden panic.

"Wait, you mean you were serious about there being Wraith here?!" He asked and John rolled his eyes.

"Not really, but the distress call mentioned them so it doesn't hurt to be careful"

"Well that explains the caution but what am I doing here?"Dr Beckett asked as he hefted his bag of medical supplies and continued to eye the wilderness with distaste.

"The message did mention a survivour" Teyla explained.

"Aye, but didn't Rodney also say the signal was a thousand years old?"

"986" McKay corrected and Sheppard sighed.

"I quote: 'Wraith attack. Ship down. Stasis activated.' Which means there's a chance whoever sent the signal is still around. Now if we can find them, not only will we have a potential ship to look over but the owner of it will be grateful for the assist"

"Assuming they're still alive" McKay mumbled as he went back to his tablet.

"Assuming that" John said through a smile, "which is why you're tagging along Doc. Now, McKay, care to tell us which direction we should be heading?"

"Gimme a second" and the doctor returned to his scanner just as it beeped, "Hmm, that's weird"

"What?" Ronon asked.

"A power spike, but it looks just like..." he was cut off by a sudden mechanical whine that filled the air, "...drones?" he finished and all 5 looked up in time to see a dozen drones heading straight towards them.

"Cover!" John screamed and they all ran for the trees. He, Teyla and Ronon dived over the nearest hillock as the first missiles rained down but McKay and Beckett weren't so lucky. The pair hit the ground as the earth flew. The trees were up rooted and fell to join the others strewn around the glade. The doctors managed to crawl between the DHD and the MALP but there was nothing the rest of the team could do as more explosions ripped up the world around them.

In the woods the screech suddenly became louder and John looked up to see a drone dropping straight down on top of them. He fired. The bullets seemed to dissolve as they hit and barely altered its flight. At the last moment a single red bolt from Ronons gun struck and the drone pin wheeled out of control before exploding.

Almost instantly the remaining drones veered away. They circled the glade and several did pirouettes directly over the teams' heads. Then they peeled off and streamed into the distance. Silence reigned.

"OK, that was weird. McKay! Beckett! You guys ok?" Sheppard called.

"No, I'm not ok!" McKay replied as he pulled himself up out of the dirt and inspected a graze on his hand. Carson took a brief look as he stood.

"We're fine, Colonel." He replied as John and the others came out of cover "Is everyone else alright?"

"We are unharmed" Teyla confirmed as she looked around at carnage, "although should drones not continue an attack until they are all destroyed?"

"Maybe they're broken" Ronon stated.

"Maybe" John said as he kept scanning the sky, "but we can figure it out back on Atlantis. Rodney, dial the gate."

"We're leaving? But drones means a chair, an active one at that" McKay said

"Drones that are being shot at us by an unknown enemy. We go back to Atlantis, grab a jumper and come back behind a nice shield with drones of our own. Then we can investigate this little mystery as much as we want"

"Fine" Rodney conceded as he stood and hit the first symbol. It lit up as normal but before he could reach the second the light went out. He tried again but got the same result.

"McKay?" Sheppard's tone was far from polite as he, Teyla and Ronon watched for additional danger.

"What!" Rodney pulled out his tablet and quickly connected it to the underside of the DHD. The rest of the team shifted as McKay brought up a diagnostic and tried the first symbol again. Once again the symbol cut out and Rodney watched the results flick across the screen.

"Hmm"

"Well, what's wrong with it?" Beckett asked. It was obvious he thought the universe was conspiring to make his latest trip off world as miserable as all the others.

"Nothing"

"Other than it not working?" Teyla asked

"Actually it is. It's just being overridden from another location" He waved vaguely into the distance before returning to his screen. "Fascinating really..."

"An I'm assuming you can override the override?" the Colonel interrupted before McKay could start one of his long explanations.

"Of course I can...but not from here" everyone sighed. " What? It's not my fault, it has to be turned off from the source"

"Which is where exactly?" John asked and Rodney checked his screen again before pointing.

"Few kilometres that way"

"Where the drones went" Ronon observed.

"Of course it is" John mumbled "Ok looks like we're going for a walk. Every keep your eyes peeled for more drones"

"Wouldn't it be better just to wait?" It was hard to tell if Beckett was more appalled by having to hike through the woods or the possibility of being shot at. "I mean, won't Atlantis dial the gate when we don't check in?"

"Not for at least an hour after we miss our deadline, plus there's no cover and I wouldn't want to hang around here with drones on the loose. At the very least we're better off on the move" Sheppard said before started in the direction McKay had indicated. Teyla and Ronon followed as Rodney disconnected his tablet and shambled after them. He held out his grazed hand to Carson as they set off.

"Does that look infected to you?" McKay asked. Beckett sighed and pulled out an antiseptic wipe as he walked.

"I really have to stop making house calls" he said to himself as they all headed off into the trees.