Elizabeth sat a bit straighter and raised her chin to answer the Colonel with her best diplomat's voice, "I'm ready, Colonel."

"Will you describe for us the morning of April 12 and your orders to Colonel Sheppard as they pertained to his mission on E4E-C12?"

"Of course." Elizabeth nodded and flicked a quick glance at John who was sitting on her left. She expected to see him bristling in indignation, elbows askew and defensive smirk firmly planted on lips. Instead, he sat quietly leaning forward, his head slightly bowed over his hands that were clasped and resting on the table. The quiet resignation radiating from his posture was more unsettling than Elizabeth could have anticipated. It just wasn't…John.

She realized she selfishly wanted him to defend himself, to argue his side and somehow make her alright with it too. Instead, he seemed to be carefully avoiding her. Even as she began to speak, he never once glanced her way, although his eyes strayed to Teyla and Ronon often throughout her report.

"Colonel Sheppard and his team met me for a regular pre-mission briefing at 0830 on the morning of April 12. They were to explore an Ancient Outpost on C12 that the Atlantis database referred to as a manufacturing outpost. Dr. McKay was optimistic that a ZPM might be discovered at the site, or perhaps, even, plans on how to produce one of our own.

"We completed the briefing and Sheppard's team left Atlantis in Jumper 1 at 0930 hours…"

-----------------------

John sat in the chair opposite Elizabeth's at the desk, his legs bouncing in happy agitation. "McKay thinks this could be the big one," he said with mock solemnity.

"McKay always thinks it's the big one…" Ronon muttered from where he lay sprawled across the chair in the corner, looking like a large cat that was pretending to be asleep, yet would scratch your eyes out if you dared try pet it.

"McKay can hear you, and this time we could really be on to something. E4E-C12 is not only a manufacturing outpost, something we've never seen before, but it is also sitting on an incredibly mineral rich planet. Naquadah, Trinium, you name it, this planet's got it. It's why they put the outpost there in the first place, and there's no reason to believe they wouldn't have manufactured ZPMs there, too."

"No reason except they probably didn't," Ronon muttered again, but Rodney was too excited about the potential discoveries to pay him much mind and stood, also bouncing, at Elizabeth's shoulder with his tablet tucked into his hip.

Elizabeth chuckled along with John and they exchanged a companionable eye-roll.

"Kick the optimism up a notch there, big guy," John chided at last, rolling his head towards Ronon, but his eyes were twinkling. "We'll go check it out. Teyla's getting the jumper ready as we speak. This outpost is a continent away from the Stargate, so I'm not walking it."

"Will you have a chance to meet any of the locals?" Elizabeth wanted to know. It was usually good manners to say "Hi" before snooping around on someone's planet.

John thought for a moment. "The people we know of are about a mile from the 'gate, living in another tiny cluster of Ancient ruins that provide shelter and little else. I'm thinking we send Corrigan's team through later for the diplomatic tap-dance, and we sneak by this time to check out the more interesting archaeology."

"Yes, it's unlikely any settlers that have come through the 'gate will have made it as far as the outpost, so we should be able to avoid the 'locals' altogether." McKay chimed in.

Elizabeth frowned, thinking it through diplomatically. She disliked the idea of trespassing, however recently the native people might have settled there. But they desperately needed ZPMs, as always, and the lure of the potential discoveries seemed to justify a little information poaching this time.

"Alright," she said. "But if we find something good, we go back and set up proper trade agreements." There were shrugs and nods all around.

"Very well. You have a go, Colonel Sheppard. Good luck and good hunting. Bring us back some ZPMs for supper."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sheppard pushed himself out of his chair and launched himself across the room and out the door, Ronon suddenly alert and at his side.

Elizabeth waved at their backs, then raised her eyebrow and turned towards Rodney who still stood next to her, smiling vacantly and seemingly lost in thought. "Rodney?"

"What? Oh, yes. I was just thinking about which systems I'm going to bring back online first, once we get that 2nd ZPM. WHICH I intend to keep this time, and no sharing with Earth!"

"Don't you think you'd better find one before you start hiding it in your sock drawer?"

"Of course. I guess I'll…just go pack, or something." And with that McKay wandered out of her office too...

-------------------

"So. Colonel Sheppard was aware that the planet was populated as of the 0830 pre-mission briefing?" Colonel Murgia interrupted Elizabeth lightly, snapping her back to the present.

"Yes. MALP telemetry indicated a village or community of some sort near the Stargate. Another 'gate team was scheduled as a result of that briefing to make formal contact the following week, and begin trade agreements if anything of use had been discovered at the Outpost."

Murgia didn't seem interested in that information, "What were your specific orders to Colonel Sheppard regarding contact with the indigenous people and exploration of the outpost?"

Elizabeth felt a bit stumped, "The mission was to proceed under standard orders, Colonel. Investigate, learn what you can, talk to the locals if you need to and come home alive. Those were the 'orders', sir. I leave the details to Dr. McKay's research needs and Colonel Sheppard's command. They are the ones on the ground and in the situation. And the ones best qualified to direct the mission specifics as they unfold." She was aware that she ran the Atlantis 'gate teams more informally than Stargate Command did, but so much of their work was seat-of-the-pants that it seemed silly to map out detailed mission directives that would only change three minutes after walking through the 'gate.

"I see," Murgia jotted something down onto the sheet before him, then looked at Elizabeth carefully. "So Colonel Sheppard was functioning completely autonomously on C12?"

"Of course."

The moment she answered, she felt like she'd said something incriminating, although her intent had been only to express the independence – and the trust it implied – she allowed John's team.

"Very well. When did you next communicate with Colonel Sheppard's team?"

"When they returned from C12 that evening at 1830 hours…"

------------------

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes and realized that she'd read the same paragraph of the same report three times and still didn't have any idea what it said. Rubbing her eyes she glanced at the clock in the corner of her computer screen. 6:30. It had already been an 11 hour day. Time for some dinner she decided, standing up and stretching her back.

She was nearly to her office door when the alarms loudly announced an incoming 'gate connection. She could hear the Stargate chiming in its preparation to open a wormhole. For just a second, she toyed with letting Chuck and the others handle it – it was most likely only Sheppard's team reporting in for the day. Then with a sigh, she realized she'd never be able to relax if she didn't check it out herself.

She turned on her heel and strolled into the control room just as the security technician was saying, "Colonel Sheppard's IDC, I'm lowering the shield."

"Atlantis, this is Sheppard," The voice crackled over the speakers and Elizabeth frowned, something in the tone sounded…strained. "Have a medic meet us in the jumper bay, Sheppard out."

Elizabeth pounced on the radio button, "John, what's the problem? What's the nature of your injuries?"

There was a slight pause, "Teyla and Ronon got beat up a bit and nearly asphyxiated. We've got 'em on O2, but they're both still shaky."

At that, the jumper zoomed into the 'gateroom and came to a quiet hover on the arrival platform. After only a moment, it slowly began to rise towards the ceiling and Elizabeth caught a glimpse of John through the jumper window, slumped back into the pilot's seat and letting the ship take itself into the bay. She saw him tap his earpiece in a weary sort of way just before they moved out of sight.

"Actually, you should probably meet us up here too, Elizabeth."

She ran.

Skidding to a halt on the smooth jumper floor, she folded her arms across her chest and watched in worried impatience as the medics finished checking out Teyla and Ronon who were sitting on the back benches of the jumper, looking exhausted and filthy. They both turned down a ride on the nearby stretchers, but followed the medics meekly through the bay doors and towards the infirmary.

John and Rodney left the jumper soon after, but they didn't shut the craft down, she noticed. John walked up close and scrubbed his eyes, one hand on his hip. He also looked exhausted, and Rodney kept shooting odd looks at him from his spot at her other elbow.

"Rough day?" Elizabeth asked mildly, allowing the concern to show in the tone of her voice.

John just jerked his head. "You need to send a recon jumper team back ASAP. Tell them to look for any survivors and help any they find get out of there."

Elizabeth just nodded, this time not allowing the jolt of surprise escape, "Where do they need to search?"

"They'll know once they get there and get some altitude. Uh, actually, you better send 2 jumpers. I'll take a third…"

John waited for as long as it took for her to nod in agreement, then he turned back into the jumper, fully conveying his intention to leave again immediately.

Startled at the abrupt departure, she called quickly after him, desperate for SOME information about what was happening, "Wait, John. What happened? Survivors of what?"

John paused, his slumped back still turned towards her when McKay finally spoke in a breathless rush, "Teyla and Ronon got trapped in a forcefield and Sheppard melted a quarter of the planet to get them out." Elizabeth couldn't tell if McKay was impressed or horrified by his declaration, and in the end it only left her more puzzled.

"Just send the jumpers, Elizabeth," Sheppard said softly, then she was stepping back away from the hatch as it slowly lifted off the floor to close with a soft hiss.

"Rodney? What's going on?" Elizabeth fixed McKay with a stern look, and he sighed, his eyes filled with deep concern.

"Sheppard fired a drone at the power plant for the Ancient outpost to collapse the field that Teyla and Ronon were trapped behind. The drone destroyed the generator and set off a cascading firestorm in the atmosphere that literally boiled the surface of fully a quarter of the planet's landmass."

Elizabeth just stared.

Rodney looked away, then locked his troubled eyes with hers, "Elizabeth, the outpost was populated. Sheppard wiped out a city of 2000 people…to save 2."

----------------

Murgia was taking notes again as Elizabeth finished her report, and there was a pause filled with shuffling feet and rustling fabric. Elizabeth pursed her lips and folded her own hands in her lap. Her small part of the story made it all sound bad, very bad. There was more to it, and she hoped Murgia would truly hear all of it. But in the end, even Elizabeth couldn't condone Sheppard's decision. Had she been there, she would have ordered him not to fire the drone.

Trying not to be obvious, she snuck a peek at John again. It was almost as if he were a statue, he hadn't moved from the same position since she began speaking. But was his back a bit stiffer? Was there bit more tension in the shoulders than before? Damn you, John Sheppard! Just when I was really starting to figure you out, you go and…do something completely YOU!

"Colonel Sheppard requested recon search and rescue the moment he returned to Atlantis?" Murgia was still jotting notes, and asked the question over the rim of his glasses.

"Yes."

"But he was the first to return to C12, and he was alone?"

"Yes?" Elizabeth wondered idly if Murgia was looking for an act of redemption in the detail, or if he was going somewhere else with the question.

"And the recon jumpers found no survivors?"

She took a deep breath, "No."

"Not even at the settlement by the 'gate?"

"No. The firestorm did not reach as far as the Stargate, but the settlement was abandoned. We speculate that the firestorm event, while not close enough to cause them any harm, was still startling enough that they most likely fled through the Stargate."

"Do you have any evidence supporting Colonel Sheppard's claim that the planet was abandoned before he returned to search for survivors?"

Sheppard's claim? For the first time that morning, Elizabeth saw John sit back in his chair abruptly and exchange an angry look with the man she knew to be John's legal council.

She frowned, thinking for a moment. "I have only Colonel Sheppard's word – which I trust – that such was the case. Dr. McKay might be able to corroborate that particular point when he returns, Colonel Murgia. He is currently…"

"I have only one more question. Dr. Weir, can you tell me why you did not report this incident to Colonel Sheppard's superiors and to the Military Justice Authorities immediately yourself?" The words were spoken casually, but the implied rebuke was clear.

Elizabeth clenched her jaw and waited several beats before she answered, making certain she could do so confidently and respectfully, "Colonel Sheppard and I had a serious conversation on the matter and I entered a formal reprimand into the mission reports. To be honest, I hadn't decided yet on whether to take the matter further when I received notice that the Justice Division had already become involved—"

"Thank you, Dr. Weir. You may return to your duties if you need to. I imagine Atlantis is a busy post to oversee."

"I imagine Atlantis can survive for one morning without me, Colonel."

"Very well." With that there was a brief pause in the proceedings as Murgia leaned over to initiate a quiet conversation with the other judges, then began shuffling his papers again as he listened to their replies. The room rustled and Elizabeth suddenly heard a hoarse whisper at her ear.

"Where the hell is McKay?" John was leaning towards her slightly, but looked like he didn't want to be seen doing it.

"He's offworld," she replied.

"Doing what?!"

"I don't know exactly. He just said he had to do it before the hearing, and that, well, it might help."

"It would help more for him to be here."

Elizabeth thought she heard a slight edge of panic in John's voice and she desperately wanted to offer him a word of reassurance, but Murgia had stacked his papers again and once again cleared his throat for attention. John shifted restlessly in his seat, and she caught him running his hand through his hair once, then – as if he had only just noticed the gesture himself – he abruptly folded his hands onto the table once more. He was again glaring at Murgia, and Elizabeth could hardly blame him.

Murgia finally looked up, the room fell silent. "The panel would like to hear next the testimony of Teyla Emmagan and Specialist Ronon Dex, members of Colonel Sheppard's 'gate team, and participants on the mission to E4E-C12."