Hakes was fuming as he paced across the room. None of the officer's dared approach their superior for fear of being scalded by his flames. Not that any of them blamed him; they simply did not so outwardly show their frustration.

Hakes, however, had no such reservations. The Lanteans had escaped! They had fooled him, overpowered the guard at their door and slipped out unnoticed. Unnoticed! Hakes screamed inwardly.Walked away! Escaped without any difficulty! While Colonel Sheppard was ill! Something else contributed to Hakes' fury as well. Their last precious reserves of Mortifero Morbo had been stolen in the act. The only bit they'd been able to save from the tragic Luhrian raid, and now it was all gone. Not only that, but the cure that Dr. Beckett had created had vanished along with its creator. Hakes knew now that the other three plants that Dr. Beckett 'needed' were only a distraction, and like a fool Hakes had fallen for it. That trickery had cost the Nuhrians their leader. Emperor Pikus had passed two hours ago.

Hakes was sorely tempted to smash his fist into one of the ornate windows, to feel it shatter under his knuckles, anything would have at least partially satisfied Hakes. Unfortunately the one man's face he desperately wanted to smash his fist into was running around the outlining forest, no doubt with Luhrian forces already. All he could do was pace and wait for the council to choose a new leader, until then Hakes had to wait. It was the waiting that was eating him up. The council was wasting valuable time that Hakes could be spending tracking down the three men responsible, how could they not see that?

The door to the council chamber screeched open on old hinges, bringing Hakes out of his dark thoughts.

"The council has chosen Laeres." One of the servants informed him. "The new emperor and the rest of the council are ready to see you about what should be done next."

Hakes nodded and strode toward the door.

The Luhrians had won a great victory by the Emperor's death. Now they had someone unacquainted with the position. That aalone could prove deadly for the Nuhrians. They Nuhrians would need to exploit every advantage. First things first, they would have to activate the electrical jamming system. No radios, no nothing. They needed to restrict their enemy's communication. It would also restrict their own but they would be able to handle it with their limited amount of special radios designed to work around the jamming field.

Hakes promised himself the moment he laid hands on the Lanteans he was going to kill Colonel Sheppard very slowly and very painfully before Doctor Beckett's eyes. That would be the most torturous thing for him; he was a healer after all. Hakes wasn't going to deny that he hated them both for their actions. As he crossed the threshold into the council chamber of the Nuhrians, Hakes realized he hadn't decided what to do with the third one. He was another soldier but he'd simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mentally shrugging, Hakes decided he would just kill him first. Nevertheless, they were all going to die regretting they ever refused to help Commander Hakes of the Nuhrians.

Paynin's eyes roved the dark forest, it was his watch. Dusk was beginning slowly, the horizon was brightening, and the clouds crowded the sky. It was going to be overcast today which was good. The darker it was the better their uniforms would blend into the thick forest. Rain, if forthcoming, would wash away their minuscule tracks and any scent the Nuhrian's gred dogs could pick up.

Swish.

Paynin froze in his leisurely pace. He listened carefully before alerting anyone to be sure he wasn't imagining things. It came again, over the soft snores of Dr. Beckett, was the soft rustle of boots slinking over the dry forest carpet of dead leaves. He scanned the direction he was sure the sound had come from. His eyes found the still form of a human, obviously watching him to determine whether or not he'd been found.

Tearing his eyes away, Paynin continued walking and began to scrutinize the rest of the forest for more intruders. When he passed him, Paynin tapped Jamin's shoulder with his boot as inconspicuously as he could, knowing it was all it would take to wake him.

Paynin was alarmed to discover that they were closing in on all sides. Surrounded,- this is going to get ugly. Now that his ears had tuned themselves to the sound, Paynin could hear many more boots creeping forward. Looking around, Paynin saw Jamin nod, proving that he saw it too. How did they find us? Was was one of Paynin's worries but he was more anxious about how they were going to escape.

Jamin began waking the other four men while Paynin knelt by Major Lorne.

"Major?"

The major woke without delay, blinking quickly to rid himself of sleep. "What is it.?"

"We're surrounded, we need to get out of here." Paynin explained in a whisper.

Lorne nodded and sat up to wake his friends.

Their temporary camp was awake and ready for departure within a minute. Unfortunately a minute was long enough for even a Nuhrian to realize what was happening.

"Close in!" Came the shout.

The group sprang into action at the outcry.

Jamin took the lead and the rest followed while Paynin stayed back to watch their backs. As he did he saw Colonel Sheppard stumble and almost lose his footing.

Paynin cursed the Nuhrians for catching up to them before the man was well enough to keep up properly. He gripped Sheppard's forearm to steady him and assisted him forward.

"Come on, Colonel." He urged him forward.

"You try." Sheppard muttered but picked up the pace from stumbling to something closer to running.

That's when the first shots fired. Either these Nuhrians were terrible shots or they weren't trying to hit them but in either case they weren't shot.

Paynin caught sight of a Nuhrian trying to cut them off from the left. Bringing his pistol up, he Paynin fired at him. He felt Sheppard jerk him to their right before Paynin could tell if he'd killed him or not. Paynin didn't question it the pull, he couldn't have his eyes everywhere and Sheppard had no doubt seen someone else coming at them.

Their enemy was trying to cut off the stragglers which, unfortunately, were Sheppard and Paynin. Fortunately Sheppard had obviously received his delayed burst of adrenaline and was running almost as fast as Paynin.

It was fifteen minutes of dodging later when the two realized had lost sight of the rest of the group – they were alone.

The enemy gunfire had finally ceased. Carson thanked whoever listened for the break. He slumped against the nearest tree and closed his eyes to catch his breath, breathing deeply for a minute before opening his eyes. His eyes automatically scanned the group for the Colonel, checking to see how he had fared. "Where's Colonel Sheppard!" He blurted in alarm, eyes widening when he could not find his friend.

Evan jerked around, having been oblivious of his leader's absence.

Jamin looked around too and added, "Paynin's gone too."

"Well, what're we waitin' for? We have to go find them!" Carson announced impatiently. Normally he was calmer than this but he had just been kidnapped, forced to escape with an exhausted friend, and chased around in the woods, he was nearing the end of his line.

"We can't." Jamin told him, regret only slightly coloring his voice. If he hadn't spent so long deciphering Ronon's miniscule signals Carson might not have noticed it.

"Why not?" Evan demanded, mentally lecturing himself for not noticing sooner that Sheppard wasn't with them.

"Because," Jamin pointed out calmly, "the forest will be crawling with Nuhrian soldiers and a group will not be able sneak around effectively. And Dr. Beckett is hardly qualified to go on a rescue."

"I can handle a gun." Carson informed him stiffly. "Besides, what if they're injured?"

"I'm sure you can pull a trigger, but I doubt you have the skills of stealth needed. If they're injured we'll bring them to you at the camp where you'll have plenty of material to take care of them with."

Carson scowled, knowing Jamin was right. Glancing at Evan the doctor saw a similar expression on the major's face.

"So what, we just leave them out there?" Evan growled angrily.

"No," Jamin turned to one of the other soldiers. "Corporal Jihr, lead everyone back to camp and tell Commander Gerrsan what has happened." Jamin ordered, then he checked the amount of bullets in his gun as he began to move back in the direction they had come from.

"Wait, where are you going?" Evan cut in.

"I'm going to find them while you all head back to camp." Jamin said crisply.

"I'm coming with you." Evan resolved without hesitation.

Jamin frowned, "I don't need assistance."

"My Commanding Officer is out there too."

"Fine."

Atlantis listened intently to the status report coming from the extraction team on Uhria.

"Something's messing with our equipment," came Dr. McKay's voice. "I think it's a jamming field but I can't locate the source with the sensors. We need boots on the ground to check it out."

For not the first time since the Earthlings had entered her, Atlantis wished she had a human body with which she could help. It was figuratively killing her to sit around and wait. It was slightly easier to handle when it was only John, she knew Carson and Evan would still be with her if he was gone. This time it was different – now all three of them were missing and Atlantis was a bundle of nerves, figuratively of course, nerves were only in a human body. Still Atlantis was worried sick, There I go again, figuratively, I can't actually be sick without a body. How many other expressions do not apply to me anymore because I am a city?

"Do you know how many hostiles there are on the planet?" Dr. Weir questioned, bringing the city back to the present

"I don't know! We can't even get life signs with the – " McKay began.

Weir cut in, "Rough visual head count Rodney!"

"A lot." Came Ronon's succinct reply. "We're going to need a new plan."

Atlantis' heart sank, (figuratively!) she was afraid to lose them all. They were her only connection to the people of Earth and the only friends she'd had in over ten thousand years. The fact that she couldn't change a thing was eating away at her... iron? I suppose that works. Maybe I will get John to help when he gets back, if he gets back...

To Be Continued!

I promise the whump is coming soon, I'm building up to it... sorta. I hope you're all still enjoying it! And thank you, thank you, thank you Amycat8733 for your efficient beta and support!