In which they sort of escape, and Martha gets a ride.

After about half an hour of sitting in his cell in silence, the Doctor was starting to get bored. He had already given his cell a thorough going-over-twice-and had only managed to determine that there was in fact no way of opening the door from the inside. The only opening device he could see was embedded in the wall across the hall from his cell. He still had no clue as to what strange material the walls might be, although he had decided that he was on some sort of ship. The almost imperceptible vibrations in the floors gave it away. Must have been a smooth ride though, because even he could barely feel it. For all he knew, he was the only person on the ship, seeing as no one had ventured down his corridor since he'd been awake. He'd seen no further sign of Martha, and was growing increasingly concerned about her whereabouts. Especially since this ship seemed to be going somewhere. On the plus side, his head had stopped hurting some time ago, and a few blurry memories had made their way back.

He'd been on the planet with Martha. That much was certain. The TARDIS hadn't told him exactly where, but he knew it was the Pegasus galaxy. Not that that narrowed it down much. Awful lot of planets in a galaxy. Anyway, they'd been walking in some sort of meadow. Just wandering. Martha had been hungry, and he'd been telling her about tava beans-a Pegasus galaxy staple that were quite tasty when cooked properly. He remembered hearing a quick, buzzing sound, like a ship flying low in the atmosphere. That was where things started to get hazy. He had flashes of a sleek, purple ship, a pale blue energy beam, and someone yelling. Martha had fallen-no, something had hit her, and knocked her over, hopefully out of the way of the beam. He'd been caught in it, and remembered full well that split second where he could feel his molecules separating before blacking out. He thought he remembered waking up briefly and being hit with something again, but at this point he wasn't willing to put any money on it.

Either way, it still didn't help him much. There were all numbers of people in this galaxy, many of whom had the technology to build an energy beam like that, and none with a motivation he could think of to go around kidnapping people. If only someone, anyone, would show up in this corridor, perhaps he could get a few decent answers and figure things out. Come to that, they didn't even have to be decent answers. Just some sort of conversation. He could work with that.

The Doctor's eyes lit up as he heard the unmistakable sound of tromping boots clanging down the hallway. He leapt to his feet, bouncing towards the door. A group of heavily armed, masked soldiers came into view, dragging four unconscious forms along the floor behind them. The Doctor was about to open his mouth, then thought better of it as his door swung open and the lead warrior gestured menacingly at him with his gun.

"Right. Yes. Of course." The Doctor put his hands in the air, and backed further into his cell, smiling in as friendly a manner as possible. He caught a brief glimpse of the soldiers in the rear dragging two of their captives into a cell a few doors down, but his view was quickly cut off by more soldiers bringing the remaining two prisoners into his cell. They dumped them unceremoniously on the floor, then turned and left without a word. The bars snapped shut behind them, and the Doctor ran up, pressing his face through them again. "Excuse me!" he shouted, as they retreated down the corridor. "If you could just-Oh, never mind," he trailed off as they disappeared. He pulled back in and turned to his new cell mates. A quick examination told him that the man and the woman were both unharmed, probably brought up by the same sort of energy beam he was. They were both human, so their headaches would undoubtedly be a fair bit worse than his was, but to no lasting effect. They both appeared to be quite fit, and both about the same age-say, mid-to-late thirties-so they should both be waking up in the next fifteen minutes or so. The Doctor smiled, and sat down happily to wait for his new companions to regain consciousness.

John Sheppard lay on his back, brought suddenly back to life by the dull throbbing in his head. You would think after all the times he'd been sucked up by Darts and hit by Wraith stunners he would get used to this, but no. Never got any easier. He sighed, fought back the urge to go back to sleep, and after a few seconds, convinced his eyelids to open. Staring back at him was a large pair of deep brown eyes and an overwhelmingly bright grin.

"Hello!"

"Ghaa!" Sheppard sat up and backed away quickly.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," said the man who had evidently been crouched down beside him.

"No, that's, that's fine," Sheppard assured him. "What's…ah, I mean, who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," he answered, extending a hand.

"Doctor…?"

"That's it. Just 'Doctor'."

"Uh-huh. Okay." He reached out and shook the still-waiting hand.

"And you are?"

"Sheppard. John Sheppard."

"Nice to meet you, John Sheppard." The Doctor paused. "Sheppard…Why does that sound familiar? Have we met before?"

"Not that I know of."

"Hmm. Are you sure?"

Sheppard blinked and studied the Doctor properly for the first time. He looked human enough alright, he even sounded British. He was tall, thin as a rail, and had hair that was as roguishly unkempt as his own. He wore a brown trench coat, what appeared to be a pin-striped suit, and were those Converse sneakers? Even on Earth, this guy would have stood out. Granted, perhaps not nearly as much as he did in the Pegasus galaxy, but still…."Pretty darn. You seem like the kind of person that people don't forget."

"Well, I suppose that's true," the Doctor said thoughtfully. He sniffed. "Oh well, must have been someone else. How're you feeling?"

"What? Oh, um, fine, I guess."

"Bit of a headache?"

"Yeah. Wh-"

"Don't worry, it'll pass," the Doctor interrupted. "Now, if you don't mind telling me, where are we?"

"What, you mean other than in a cell on a Wraith ship?"

"Wraith…" the Doctor dragged the word out pensively. "Ah. That's not good, is it?"

"Usually isn't, no."

"You know, I've never met a Wraith before. Never really fancied it to tell you the truth, but I had always wondered…Anyway, so they're Wraith and they're here, and you're human and you're here, and if I'm right that would be a North American accent? Perhaps, oh…somewhere in the North-ish Mid-West?" He pointed at Sheppard as he asked, but before he could reply, the Doctor went on, "Add that to the American Air Force markings on your shoulder and that would make this the early twenty-first century, yes?"

"Yeah," Sheppard said, confused. "But then, if you're from Earth, you should know that."

"Why would you think I'm from Earth?"

"Well, dressed like that, I doubt you're from the Pegasus galaxy."

"Oh. Fair point, I suppose. Nice guess, but no, I'm not from Earth. Don't worry, you're hardly the first one to make that mistake."

"So who are you?" Sheppard demanded. "How do you know about Earth and the American military and freakin' Converse sneakers for Pete's sake?! And how are you in the Pegasus galaxy and don't know about the Wraith?"

"If it helps, I do know who the Wraith are. I just didn't recognize them, because I've never been here before when they were here. That and the face masks."

"No. That doesn't help."

"Right. Well, it's sort of a long story."

John threw his arm out to gesture at the cell. "It's not like we're going anywhere."

"Fair enough. I'm a Time Lord-"

He was cut off from explaining any further by a moan from Teyla, who sat up holding her hands to her head.

"You alright?" Sheppard asked.

"I am unharmed," she assured him. Then she caught sight of the Doctor. "Who is this?"

The Doctor stuck out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you…" he trailed off in a question.

"Teyla. Teyla Emmagen." She automatically shook the offered hand.

The Doctor grinned and helped her to her feet. "You're a Pegasus local, aren't you? And here you are, working with a man from Earth. Good for you! Oh, I love it when humans work together!"

"Thank you?" Teyla said slowly. She turned to Sheppard. "What is going on, John?"

"He's…explaining. I think." He turned back to the Doctor. "Go ahead, Doc." In answer to Teyla's questioning eyebrow he added, "Said his name's The Doctor."

"Yes, it is," the Doctor said patiently. "Please don't call me 'Doc'."

"Sorry. Doctor. Please go on."

"Right. Well, I'm a Time Lord, as I said, from a planet called Gallifrey-you wouldn't have heard of it. I have a ship called the TARDIS-it stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. And I use it to travel around in space and time…"

"So, you are from the future?" Teyla asked as the Doctor wrapped up his explanation.

"Well, yes and no. Future, past, present...whenever. I've been to all of them."

Sheppard shook his head. "You know, I think I followed most of that, but I would love to see you try to explain it to McKay when we find him."

"Yes, speaking of which, where are Rodney and Ronon?" Teyla wondered.

"I don't know. They were gone when I woke up."

"Sorry," the Doctor put in. "But Rodney wouldn't by chance be a largish sort of man with lots of hair, would he?"

"No, but that sounds an awful lot like Ronon," Sheppard said. "Have you seen him?"

"Yes. The Wraith brought in your friend Ronon and a smaller man-Rodney?-and put them somewhere a few doors down."

"Well, that's good. Which way?"

"That way." The Doctor stuck his head out through the bars again and looked out to the left. Sheppard shrugged and stuck his own head out, following the Doctor's gaze. "Just there. Two…three doors over, I think it is."

"Ronon? Rodney! You guys down there?" Sheppard yelled, ignoring the sudden gleam in the Doctor's eye.

"Sheppard! Is that you?" a gruff voice called back.

"That sounds like Ronon," Teyla said, joining them at the door.

"Yeah, we're here. You guys alright?" Sheppard called back.

"No, we're not alright! We're on a Hive ship, what kind of stupid question is that?" a second voice snapped.

"And, that would be Rodney."

"So what's the plan?" Ronon asked.

"Got nothin' yet," Sheppard replied.

"That one would be Ronon, yes?" the Doctor asked Teyla, who nodded. "Actually, Ronon, I've got a thought," he called down.

Ronon stuck his head out through the bars and looked their way. "Who's that?"

"I'm the Doctor. Hello!" He smiled cheerfully. "Yes, I've got a plan, if you could just lend me a hand?"

"Me?"

"Yes, my…rather large friend. You see that little silver thing just there?" He gestured helpfully towards his sonic screwdriver laying on the floor. "If you could just reach that, and slide it down this way…"

"This thing?" Ronon stretched out and grabbed it easily. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Sheppard.

"He's okay," Sheppard assured him. "Go ahead and throw him the thing."

"Gently!" added the Doctor, as Ronon shrugged and hurled the screwdriver down the hall. It clattered to a stop just past their door, barely within arm's reach. The Doctor pulled it in and quickly examined it. "Must've fallen out of my pocket. That's the trouble with keeping so many things in them."

"What is that?" asked Teyla.

"Sonic screwdriver," he answered simply.

"What, you're gonna bust us out of here with a screwdriver?" Sheppard asked skeptically.

"Indeed I am, Colonel," He clicked the screwdriver a few times until he found a setting he liked. "Ah! Eight-seventy-three should do it." He stuck his arm out through the bars, pointing steadily at the locking mechanism across the hall. The tip glowed blue, accompanied by a gratifying hum, and after a second, the bars quietly snapped open. He thumbed off the screwdriver and returned it to his pocket with a satisfied flourish.

"Nice," Sheppard nodded approvingly. "Thanks."

"You are indeed a most fortunate cell mate, Doctor. Thank you," Teyla said.

"Don't mention it." The Doctor swung the doors open and strode out into the hall. He nodded to the left. "Come on."

A few quick steps and a flick of the sonic screwdriver later, and the doors were snapping open on the other cell. "Thanks," Ronon said.

"Yes, thank you," added Rodney. "What is that? And who are you?"

"Later, Rodney," Sheppard said. "Doctor, this is the rest of my team: Ronon Dex, and Dr. Rodney McKay. Guys, this is the Doctor."

A brief round of greeting was exchanged, an activity that seemed bizarrely out of place, considering the location. "So, what's the plan?" asked Ronon.

"I'm thinking maybe we get off the ship before we get eaten," Sheppard said plainly.

"Works for me."

"It's simple. I like it," the Doctor grinned.

TWO HOURS AGO

Martha Jones was on the ground, face down in the dirt. Something-no, make that someone-had just slammed into her and knocked her over. That someone was now leaping up from on top of her and dragging her to her feet. "What-?"

"Run!" the man yelled at her, and it was all she could do to keep up as he hauled her forwards. She stumbled alongside him, glancing frantically around for the Doctor. He'd been right next to her, and then he'd just vanished. She didn't see him anywhere in the clearing. The man pulling her suddenly stopped, then ushered her swiftly forward through a door she could have sworn wasn't there a second ago. She found herself inside a small ship and the man with her relaxed slightly, guiding her to a seat and then returning to the door. Peering around him, she saw a large metal ring set into the ground, with what looked like a puddle of water shimmering inside it. Her view was blocked briefly by another man and a woman, in uniforms identical to the first man's, rushing in and taking up defensive positions by the door with their comrade. Beyond them, she saw two small purple ships buzzing away from the clearing. The man at the door -it would seem his name was Lorne-finally answered the radio that had been squawking at his shoulder. "Sorry, sir. We ran into some trouble back there, too busy running to talk."

"Running? What's your situation?" a voice buzzed back through the static.

"We've got Wraith, sir. Three Darts, came through the Gate about twenty minutes ago. When we couldn't get you on the radio, we took cover."

Martha tuned out the rest of the conversation as she continued to scan the field for the Doctor. Nothing. And what were Wraith? Judging from the conversation going on over the radio, they didn't sound pleasant. Suddenly, she saw movement as four people rushed into the clearing. The Doctor was not among them. She stared in horror as the purple ships came zooming back, and with some sort of energy ray beamed them all up. Was that what had happened to the Doctor? Lorne yelled in frustration as the two ships disappeared through the ring and the shimmering puddle blinked out of existence.

Lorne slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. He sighed, then turned to his companions. "Alright, let's pack it up. We need to get back to Atlantis." He turned to Martha. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"Yes, I'm okay. But what was all that?"

"Some Wraith Darts, probably just here on a scouting trip. There weren't enough of them for a culling. It should be safe for you to head back home now."

"Home? But…oh, no, I don't live here. I'm not even from this planet."

He stopped packing his gear and looked at her. "You're not?"

"No," she shook her head. Probably not even from this galaxy, she added in her head, but thought that might not go over too well. "I don't know what's going on, but I need to find my friend. That man who was with me just now. Do you know what's happened to him?"

Lorne gave her a small, sad smile. "He was taken by the Wraith."

"What are Wraith?"

His eyebrows shot up. "You don't know?"

"No," she said, although the tone of his voice suggested that she should.

He seemed to consider for a moment. "Alright. You'd better come back with us."

She was already shaking her head. "I can't. I have to find the Doctor."

"Your friend? Look, they took our people too, ma'am. We're not giving up on them, so your best chance of finding him is to stick with us. And you'll be a lot safer."

"Oh. Alright. Thank you." He nodded, and the back door of the ship sealed itself as he settled in at the controls. "I'm Martha, by the way," she added. "Martha Jones."

"Major Evan Lorne," he replied with a quick smile. "United States Air Force. That's Lieutenants Spencer and Cadman." He nodded at the man and woman behind him.

Cadman settled into the co-pilot's seat, and Martha watched as the small ship rose gently in the air. She wondered how Lorne was flying the ship-his hands rested on the control panel, but there didn't seem to be any controls or buttons to do the actual work. It looked like pretty impressive, futuristic stuff, and Martha was itching to ask what year it was, but decided not to. She hadn't managed to find a way to ask that yet without sounding crazy.

"Ever been through a Stargate before, Miss Jones?" Lorne asked, as Cadman began pressing a series of large, orange buttons in the middle panel.

"Oh, you can call me Martha. And no, I haven't."

"In that case, Martha," he said with a pleasant smile. "You might want to hang on. It's a little unsettling the first time."

Any response she had was cut short as Cadman mashed her finger down on the last button and a brilliant flash of blue lit up the window. In front of her, what looked like a wave was settling down to a calm shimmer inside the metal ring, or Stargate, she supposed it was called. The little ship moved slowly forward into the puddle. She felt a sudden cool, tingling sensation, then a rush, as if she was plunging downward, sideways and up at the same time. Before she had time to register any of that, it was over, and the ship was in a large, elegant room. "Wow," she breathed, as the little ship rose, past a second level full of people and futuristic-looking equipment, and on to the docking area. On the way up, Lorne took the time to tell her about the Wraith. They were aliens, basically humanoid in appearance, although they were green and had fangs. They had the ability to regenerate any damaged cells, and so could live for thousands of years. The reason everyone was so afraid of them, he explained, was that they ate people. "What?!"

"They eat people. They use their hands to suck the life out of a person. They're also kind of psychic, and can mess with your head." He paused as she absorbed this disturbing information. "If you don't mind me asking, how have you gotten this far in the Pegasus galaxy without knowing about the Wraith?"

"I'm…I'm from very far away. Sort of just got here."

She was saved from having to answer any further by the back door opening as the ship touched down. A woman was standing there, and although a few worried lines crossed her forehead, the composed way she stood and waited for them told Martha that she was probably in charge. "What's happened, Major?"

"Three Darts, ma'am," Lorne explained. "They got the Colonel and his team and took off through the Gate."

"Are they still alive?"

"Last I saw, yes they were."

"Good. Let's see what we can do about mounting a search and rescue."

"Yes ma'am," Lorne affirmed, rising from his seat. He turned and indicated Martha. "This is Martha Jones, ma'am. She was on the planet when the Wraith arrived. A friend of hers got scooped up along with our guys."

"Thank you, Major," The woman said to Lorne, who nodded and left with his team. The woman turned to Martha. "Colonel Samantha Carter. Welcome to Atlantis." As soon as Martha was off the ship, Col. Carter was already walking away. "Please, forgive the rushed welcome, but we have a rescue to work on."

"Yes, of course," Martha said, following her down the corridor. "Major Lorne was filling me in about the Wraith. I'd like to help, if I could."

"Thank you, Miss Jones, but I think we can manage it," Carter said, not unkindly.

Martha grabbed her sleeve. "Please. I'm a long way from home, and without the Doctor…He's all I've got."

Carter stopped and looked at her. Martha saw a spark of compassion in the woman's eye, and Carter smiled. "Alright. This way."

She led her down the stairs, and Martha found herself back in the room where they had come through the Stargate. They were up on the second level, surrounded by a wave of people, and computers and displays that were an odd mixture of ethereal, alien design, and what she considered normal human tech-such as a laptop running Windows Vista. Through a partially open window of beautifully stained glass, she could hear the ocean, and felt a slight breeze. This place was beautiful. And the ocean…She turned to Colonel Carter. "Sorry, but did you say we were in Atlantis? As in, the city that sank into the sea, Atlantis?"

Colonel Carter gave her a curious glance, but all she said was, "Yes. That Atlantis."

Just then she was signaled over to a computer console by a small, slightly scruffy looking man. Not knowing what else to do, Martha followed her. The Colonel barely had time to introduce him as Dr. Zelenka before he launched into a rushed, complicated monologue in a thick Eastern European accent. In seconds she was lost. As it turned out, Carter seemed to be as well, which made her feel a little better.

"Okay, Radek, slow it down, and all in English, please. You're telling me you're trying to track them?" Colonel Carter asked.

"Yes," he said shortly. "But we can't."

"Too far out for the subcutaneous transmitters?"

The little man was already nodding his head. "Yes. There is a very limited range in which those will function, and we are much too far away. Even if we were back on the planet, I doubt it would pick anything up. Not if the Hive they were transported to has kept moving."

"So we're going to have to do this the hard way," Carter sighed.

"Excuse me," Martha said. "I admit, I didn't really understand much of what you said, but you need something to track them with, right?" Zelenka nodded. "Well, I don't really know if this will work," she broke off as she scrabbled in her pocket, "but will this help?" Her hand emerged with a small, slightly tarnished brass key.

Zelenka's eyebrows rose. "That?" She nodded. "That is a key."

"I know it's a key. But it's a special key, and my friend has one just like it. Could we use it to find his?"

Zelenka muttered something Slavic and probably not very polite, but at a look from Colonel Carter, all he said was, "A 'special' key?"

Martha knew she was trying his patience, but pressed on. "Yes. It gives off a sort of, oh…it's different. Just…take a look at it, will you?"

He sighed, but took the key from her hand. He flipped it over in his hands and felt the weight of it. He peered at the writing on top and examined it up close. Finally, he tossed it down on the table with a harsh clink, grabbed up a hand held scanner, and waved it over the key impatiently. He paused and scanned it again. She held her breath, praying that he would find something. Slowly he looked up at her, all earlier traces of irritation gone. "What is this key to?"

Carter interrupted, "What is it?"

"Well, I don't know about tracking, but this key…The traces it's giving off are very unique. I'd have to study it some more, but we might have something here." He turned back to Martha. "What is this?"

"It's a key to my friend's…ship," she finished weakly, unsure of how much to tell him. At his questioning eyebrow, she figured he might need a little more than that. "He and I, we travel, you see? And he's got this ship that can go, well, anywhere really. You start off in one place and just sort of materialize where you wanted to be." Or any 'when', she added in her head.

Zelenka's eyes lit up as if Christmas had come early. "Yes, we have to look at this. Do you mind, Miss Jones, if I take this down to the lab?"

"Martha, please, and yeah, that's fine. I'll want it back though."

He nodded sincerely. "Of course, of course. I'll just need an hour or two."

Colonel Carter nodded at him and he was gone in a flash, muttering excitedly under his breath. She turned back to Martha with a warm smile. "While he's working on that, why don't you let me show you where the mess hall is? I have get back to check on the rest of the team, but I'll help you find your way there first."

"Thank you," Martha smiled back. "A cup of tea would go down well right about now."