10 – Trouble Brewing

Minnesota

Colonel Mitchell and Lt. Hailey were following closely behind Teal'c as he moved quickly through the woods. Vala and Daniel were a few yards left of their position, Colonel Dixon and Sr. Airman Wells to their right. They'd been moving steadily through the woods without sighting Jennifer yet. The two remaining members of SG-13, Sr. Airman Bosworth and Dr. Balinsky were guarding O'Neill's cabin in case Jennifer returned.

Cam was trying his hardest to block out the thoughts of Jenn and what they might be dealing with. Was it parasitic or alien tech? Was it looking to just escape or had it taken Jennifer for a purpose? There were other thoughts, but he tried to hold them at bay so they didn't overwhelm him or his ability to find and protect her.

"Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c called quietly over the radio.

"Yeah Teal'c?"

"Something you must see," the Jaffa stoically replied.

Everyone converged on Teal'c's position and stared at the sight before them.

"Great," Cam finally spoke up, running his hand against the back of his neck, "now she's armed."

Daniel looked up from the prone male body lying on the ground. "Bet you're regretting all those lessons at the firing range right about now."

The reflective vest the man was wearing hinted at his reason for being in the woods. Hailey knelt down and laid a finger against the still man's neck, "He's alive. Might wish he wasn't when he wakes though, judging by the lump on his head."

Mitchell absently rubbed at his own head where Jennifer had nailed him just a couple hours earlier and knocked him out. "I was hoping whatever was taking over her body wouldn't understand our weapons or their worth… so much for that wish."

Colonel Dixon cued his radio, "Bosworth, be advised, Keller is armed."

"Yes sir," came the response back over the radio.

Mitchell gave a nod to Dixon, "Get him back to the cabin. Once you've left him with Bosworth and Balinsky radio me. I'll let you know our status."

Dixon gave a nod to Mitchell, watching the team resume their search for the doctor. He had a great desire to continue on with SG-1 and help his friend find his wife, but the unconscious hunter needed to be taken care of. Hopefully once he was dropped off at the cabin, Mitchell would have some promising news to report.

M5R-491 – Pegasus

Sheppard looked around as the gate disengaged behind him and found that things looked exactly the same as they had in the M.A.L.P. video footage. It'd been about an hour since the s.o.s. had been received and he was a little disappointed to find that the planet seemed peaceful, at least here in front of the Stargate. Sheppard grinned for a moment realizing it was the same reaction as McKay's back in the briefing room.

"Let's secure the area," Sheppard called out. "Ronon," he nodded at the Satedan to do his tracking thing. "Hoyer, your team has the gate."

Rodney stood near the gate tapping away on his data pad while the rest of his team and Lorne's spread out searching the immediate area. It only took a few minutes to confirm that the area was secure.

"Anything McKay?" the Colonel asked.

"Lots of life signs, but three look promising, the rest could be animals," the scientist responded without looking away from his data pad.

"Big animals?" John inquired, sliding a little closer to the scientist to look at the screen in McKay's hands.

"It's not like there are pictures or words attached," Rodney bit back. "There are stronger blips and weaker blips. The weaker blips are moving around randomly, while these three stronger blips seem to be more purposeful."

"So, you're actually just guessing?" John needled.

"Got it," Ronon interrupted over the radio, studying the ground near his feet. There were several different shoe imprints, but one particular set was not only recent, but also repetitive and followed a path away from the clearing and the gate.

"Great, Chewy. Hold up," Sheppard acknowledged through the comm. "Lorne, your team's with us. Hoyer, you'll stay with the gate, radio check is every hour, check in with Atlantis is in four hours."

Lt. Hoyer nodded at Sheppard, "Yes sir."

"Everyone stay alert," the Colonel reminded them. "If they need to send out a search and rescue team it'll most likely be Major Teldy's team. I don't need to tell you how long it'll take to live down having to be rescued by a team made up entirely of girls. Especially with Dr. Keller no longer around keeping teams on their toes and the betting pools hopping."

Sheppard began to move toward Ronon's position, calling over his shoulder, "Come on, McKay. Let's go find those stronger blips moving with purpose."

Before Rodney could form the scathing reply that was clearly forming by the look on his reddening face – the Stargate became active.

"Incoming wormhole," a Marine from Hoyer's team standing closest to Rodney called out.

McKay stepped away in annoyance. "Unless you dialed the gate, I think we could all figure that out without having our eardrums ruptured."

"Take cover," Sheppard commanded, grabbing Rodney by the tack vest and pulling him quickly into the bushes to the right of the gate.

Jennifer and Darah stumbled into camp with the young girl calling out for her mama urgently.

"Quiet down, child," the mother admonished her daughter crossly, not looking up from her current task of sweeping the ground with the leaves on a tree branch.

"Neeva is leaving and taking us with her," Darah pronounced loudly.

Jennifer watched the woman's head come up quickly and the panic in her eyes pierced Jenn's for a moment before the woman seemed to recover.

"Jannick will be here shortly," the woman stated as if that settled the matter.

"That's why we have to hurry, before he gets here," the little girl insisted with a stomp of her foot for emphasis.

The mother's eyes narrowed shrewdly as she looked back at Jennifer, "You wouldn't dare to leave before Jannick's return. Surely he would be angered by such action."

"He'll be angry no matter what," Jennifer finally spoke, taking a step closer to the woman. "I'm not willing to be here when he returns. Darah told me that you plan to take her and leave also, when the time is right." Jennifer saw first the worry, then the anger arise in the woman and tried to reassure her. "This is not a trick. I can not stay here, you don't want to stay here… we should both leave quickly."

"Maybe you're still not feeling well," the older woman said dismissively as she resumed her task of sweeping, although her stilted movements belied her words.

Jennifer gestured with her finger for the little girl to come closer. She leaned down and whispered in her ear. "What is your mom's name?"

Darah gave her a very confused look, "Karin."

Jennifer ignored the look knowing that Neeva asking such a question would be very odd.

"Karin, I don't have time to try to convince you, but I'm leaving… now. You can come with me if you want, but I don't have time to stay and convince you." Jennifer watched the woman struggle for a moment with indecision.

"I'm going with Neeva," Darah announced, reaching up and clasping Jennifer's hand firmly.

"You'll do as I say, child," Karin stated in anger, her daughters words obviously helping her make her decision. The woman reached out and grabbed Jennifer's arm in a vice-like grip, "And you aren't going anywhere. How dare you try to trick us or lure my daughter away. We'll sort this out when Jannick returns."

Karin's words caused a panic to well up within Jennifer and she struggled against the woman's grasp. She momentarily freed herself, but as she took the first few steps to flee, Darah's mom swung the broom around like a golf club, hitting Jenn in the back of the legs and sending her sprawling to the ground.

Back at the gate, the Atlantis teams waited amongst the cover of the trees and bushes as the Stargate finished its sequencing and sprang to life. They watched the puddle of the wormhole settle and held their breaths, waiting to see who or what would come through the gate.

"What do you think?" Rodney whispered nervously to Sheppard, "Wraith? Genii?"

"Why don't you just keep quiet for a moment and we'll find out," John threw back with a small amount of annoyance, although he did raise his P-90 slightly.

Their attention was drawn back to the gate when a dark skinned man stepped through and looked around the immediate area, his gun held at the ready. He stood just in front of the gate until it shut down and then began to walk purposefully away.

Sheppard touched his com and whispered his orders, "Hoyer, your team still has the gate. Lorne, your team's with us. Let's see where this guy goes. He doesn't seem worried or in need of help, but maybe he can lead us to it."

Sheppard heard a few 'yes sirs' as he stood up next to McKay and they began a cautious move to follow the man. "Ronon, let me know if he takes a different direction than the tracks you found."

"Yep," Ronon agreed. He instantly disliked the man they were following. His gut already warned that this wasn't a man to be trusted and if there was someone in trouble on the planet, the Satedan was sure this man was involved.