Carson clutched the arm rests of his seat, fingernails digging in as the Puddle Jumper skewed sideways again, taking another direct hit from the energy weapon. Stackhouse and Sheppard struggled with the controls of the wounded ship, trying to control their decent.

"There! Clearing!" Sheppard shouted above the wail of multiple alarms.

Carson didn't know what all the alarms meant and he was sure he didn't want to know. Alarms going off only meant bad things.

The Puddle Jumper landed with a hard jolt and skidded drunkenly to a stop.

Everyone sat there for a moment, waiting for something to happen, but the only sound was the ticking of the engines cooling.

Carson breathed out a sign of relief. "Everyone all right?" he asked.

Stackhouse sat staring out the windshield. "What was that?" he asked, turning to stare at Sheppard.

Sheppard sat back in his seat looking pale and shaken. "I haven't got a clue. We had no trouble flying in. McKay was driving us all nuts droning on about something he was doing to the sensors to try to pick up a track on a ZMP."

"Major Sheppard, answer me!" Teyla's voice demanded over the radio.

Sheppard tapped a control on the consol in front of him. "Sheppard here."

"Major, are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, Puddle Jumper is a bit dinged, but that's it. Where are you ?"

"I am on my way to meet you. The Relarn have yet to reach a consensus of what they should do."

Sheppard groaned. "Great, just wonderful." He took a deep breath. "Teyla, we'll meet you at the ruins."

"I am almost there now."

"Good, Sheppard, out."

Everyone just sat there for a moment.

Carson finally found his voice. "Major, what was that?"

Sheppard sighed and clutched his arm gently, glancing over at Stackhouse. "Automated defense system?"

The other officer nodded. "That's what it acted like. Tracking wasn't random." He frowned at Shepard. "But why shot at us now? Did you get shot at when you came in or when you went back to the 'gate?"

He shook his head. "But we landed south of this position and walked in."

Carson started to unbuckle himself. "I'll let you figure that out. I need to get to Rodney and Lieutenant Ford."

Sheppard got to his feet. "Stackhouse, I want you and Bates to affect repairs and try to figure out what was shooting at us." He turned Carson. "I'll take you to where McKay and Ford went down."

Carson started to protest, but it wouldn't have made any use. Sheppard was injured, yes, but without him they wouldn't know where Rodney and Ford were and would waste precious time looking for them.

He and Burns hurried to unstrap the medical supplies and load them on their backs to carry them while Sheppard briefed Stackhouse and Bates on the planet and they inspected the damage to the Puddle Jumper.

"Major, we're ready," Carson told him, shifting the straps of the pack on his shoulders. He had one of the back boards slung through the straps sticking out sideways making him look like he was wearing set of wings on his back. Burns had the other, looking equally awkward.

Sheppard raised an eyebrow, but kept his comments to himself. "I can carry something," he said, holding out his uninjured arm.

Carson shot him a critical look. "You'll need your strength for when we head back," he told him.

The Major didn't look happy but agreed.

The threesome set out across the uneven ground through the trees, hoping they were still in time.

The deep throbbing pain in his leg slowly dragged Ford back to consciousness. He lay in a heap on his left side, all his weight resting on his broken leg. He took a moment to gather himself and then shoved himself on to his back. Black spikes of pain pin wheeled through his sight. He choked back a scream and just lay there, hoping the worst of the pain would subside quickly or that he would pass out again. Either option would be good right now.

The pain left up after a few moment and he slumped back bonelessly trying to remember what happened. He opened his eyes looking around for the flashlight. The flashlight threw a yellow beam against the far wall, casing a dim glow over a mound of something to his side. Ford squinted at it and then realization hit him.

Doctor McKay!

He grit his teeth and crawled over as quickly as he could. McKay lay there with the slumped form of thing that had attacked them draped across him. Ford struggled to pull it off of the injured scientist. He recoiled in horror and then gave it a hard shove away when he realized what the being was.

A Wraith!

He stared at it. It was a Wraith. He watched it a moment, but it didn't move. For all intents, it looked dead. Doctor McKay apparently had emptied his pistol into it. Good thing to, the Wraith would had killed them both if he hadn't. He inched forward and curiosity overrode his fear and pain. The Wraith only had one arm. That was weird.

A groan turned him around. Doctor McKay! He dragged himself back over to the injured man. Doctor McKay's face twisted in pain as he struggled to breath.

Crap.

Ford slid behind him and pulled him back against him, propping the injured man up against him. McKay seemed to be able to breath a little more easily in that position.

Ford reached for his radio only to find it was smashed beyond use. He groaned and searched McKay for his. He found it after a little looking. The case was cracked, but it hissed when he keyed the mic.

"Major Sheppard, come in."

He waited and leaned his fore head down on top of McKay's head, tiredly. He grimaced at the crunchy feel of the other man's hair. It stiff with caked and dried blood. He leaned back and keyed the mic again.

"Major Sheppard, respond."

Ford pressed his fingers against McKay's carotid artery. The pulse was weak and thready under his fingertips. He swore softly.

"Major! Come in."

"Don't get you panties in a wad, Ford. We're here."