Mitchell had just finished eating a quick breakfast of bread and cheese (they'd run out of MREs a couple of weeks ago and were now relying almost completely on the foodstuffs that they'd traded for) when Sheppard made an appearance. He looked sleepy and rumpled – and she knew she wasn't parade ground perfect just then, either – and he was yawning more than speaking for the first few minutes he was with her, nursing a cup of coffee while they discussed the Mok and the rest of their agenda for that day.

There wasn't much discussion since they'd already made these plans the night before, but both of them knew that it never hurt to double and triple check, since that was the best way to avoid confusion.

"Give me a couple hours, at least," she told him, finishing her own coffee. "Then start looking for the marker."

He nodded, still yawning. That would give him more than enough time to finish waking up.

"Who are you going to take with you?"

She knew he meant who was going to make the swim with her and walk the rest of the tunnel – reminding her that no matter that she was the most powerful system lord ever, he still wanted her to have some backup going into a strange situation. Which was fine with her, of course.

"Sanders."

Pascal Sanders was a Marine corporal who was a solid young man with a baby face and a serious manner to belay it. At 19 he was the youngest person on Atlantis – as far as members of the expedition went, anyways – and Melony liked him. He was fair-haired with hazel eyes, and his friends had long ago christened him 'Duck' for reasons Mitchell had yet to find out, since she hadn't had much chance to get to know everyone on the base. More importantly, though, Duck was a good swimmer, and a sure shot. Both of which were requirements for going with her that morning.

"Good choice."

"Most of mine are."

He smiled at that, but didn't say anything, and Mitchell stood up.

"I'm going to get going. When we get across the water, I'm going to send the others back – since we probably won't need them there, and there's no sense in leaving them blind while we have our look around."

"What if you're wrong about that tunnel leading out?"

"I'm not wrong. That Mok isn't a cave dweller, which means he had to come from somewhere. I'd rather have your men where I can use them if I need them."

"And if you run into something bigger than a Mok?"

She shrugged.

"That's what we're taking guns for."

True enough.

"We'll start off in about an hour," John told her. "Maybe we'll find out where you come out before you actually get there."

"See if you can find any source of running water, too," she told him, handing him her coffee cup. "I'd like to find where that water in that tunnel is going."

"Yes, Ma'am."

He gave her a half-hearted salute, and Mitchell smiled and went off to find her Marines.

OOOOOOOOOO

"You're sure that thing isn't dangerous?" Sanders asked her as he dried off an hour or so later. The two of them had just finished swimming the river – with harnesses still attached, thank you very much. Just because it wasn't a difficult swim, it didn't mean Mitchell was going to get cocky and forget about safety.

The end of the ropes that the other Marines had were tied off on their side, with belaying pins pounded into the floor of the tunnel. This was a last minute idea Talon had had – just in case they did get chased back down the tunnel. They'd have to swim back, but the harnesses would be attached to the ropes, which were in turn attached to the belaying pins and should support them while they swam. It was better than nothing, Talon had said, and Melony had agreed.

"It didn't eat us last night," she told him as she dressed. "And it definitely could have."

"Maybe it wasn't hungry…"

It wasn't a question, though, and it wasn't a complaint. Sanders was a Marine, and as such wasn't afraid of anything. At least, that was how he acted – an attitude Mitchell liked. He strapped on his holster and picked up her P-90, handing it to her as Melony strapped on the holster that carried her Beretta and her zat.

"It's cute. You'll see."

He didn't snort, but she had a feeling he wanted to. She grinned, and waved at the guys on the other side.

"Go tell Major Sheppard to head out."

They nodded, and shined their lights on Mitchell and Sanders once more, and then turned and headed off, while Melony and Duck turned and headed down the tunnel.

"Watch where you step, Corporal," Mitchell said as they started down. "Mok crap piles are just as big as cow pies."

OOOOOOOO

"She left already?"

McKay nodded, not looking up from the components he was attaching to a mainframe.

"She left with a few guys about an hour ago."

Carson sighed.

"She didn't tell me she was leaving."

"Were you sleeping?"

Well, yeah, he had been. But she could have woken him up, right? Except that he knew she had once, and he'd fallen asleep again almost immediately. He sighed, again, but decided that it was dumb of him to expect her to come and tell him good-bye every time she left the room he was in – or the area – and moping about it wasn't going to make it any better. He ignored McKay's question, and asked one of his own.

"Is there anything you need help with?"

"You can help Zalinka run inlays."

Beckett nodded, and walked over to the other grouping of technicians. He wanted to make himself as useful as possible – although he still wished he had been allowed to go with Melony and her group.