"Atlantis Base, this is Jumper Two," radioed Caldwell.

"This is Atlantis Base, Jumper Two, we read you."

The search lights from the jumper lit up the dark beach, illuminating Jumper One and the empty sand surrounding it. "We found Jumper One, but we don't see anyone in the immediate area and there's still no response from them on the radio. We're going to land."

"Roger, Jumper Two."

The pilot brought them down, landing as near to the first jumper as possible. Several men dressed in full military gear exited, each carrying heavy-duty high-beam flashlights, and began to investigate the immediate area. Their pilot checked Jumper One, reporting to Caldwell that it was in perfect working order and that there was no sign of a struggle or anything else that indicated a problem. The rest of the men began circling the jumpers in ever increasing spirals looking for any clue as to what happened to the occupants. "Sir!" called one of the men, his flashlight focused on the ground about twenty yards from the jumper.

Caldwell jogged over and knelt down, touching his fingers to the stain in the sand. When he raised them, they were red-black and sticky. He held his hand so the marine could see. "Blood."

"What happened here, sir?" asked the soldier, holding his P90 at the ready and looking around alertly.

Caldwell shook his head grimly. "I don't know, but I damn well plan to find out." Standing up, he cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, "SHEPPARD?" When there was no response, he tried again, "MCKAY? BECKETT?" The men paused in their search, straining their ears, but there was no reply.

One of the other soldiers gave a shout when he found Sheppard's surfboard still planted in the sand along with the remains of a lean-to and a cooler. Caldwell and his men pulled the tarp out of the jumbled mess, spreading it out on the beach. Their flashlights picked up long rents in the fabric and what was certainly more blood.

"I don't like the look of this," said Caldwell. He turned to Stackhouse, "Radio Dr. Weir and let her know what we've found. I want to see two additional jumpers out here to help with the search come daybreak." He looked doubtfully at the thick forest bordering the beach, knowing that the chances of spotting anyone from the air were unlikely.

"Yes, sir." Stackhouse returned to the jumper to make the call, reappearing a few minutes later. "The medical team on Atlantis base is requesting samples of the blood to see if they can determine who was injured."

"Do it," said Caldwell. "Send it back on Jumper One. It can load up with search personnel for its return trip."

"Yes, sir."

oOo

"Well?" asked Weir, pacing the small confines of the infirmary lab. Teyla and Zelenka stood nearby, also anxiously waiting for the results.

Dr. Fredricks looked up from the microscope and picked up the slide containing the sample from the sand near the jumper. "This appears to be animal blood of some type, possibly feline." Shaking his head grimly, he added, "It would have to be a pretty big animal to have lost the amount of blood the search team reported and still walked away."

"How big?" asked Weir.

"Can't tell for sure, but from what Caldwell's team reported, I'd guess a couple hundred pounds, possibly much more. These two," he said indicating the other samples taken from the tarp. "Appear to be from Drs. Beckett and McKay."

Weir pursed her lips in worry. It was to be expected that some, if not all, the samples would be from their ill-fated expedition members but she had still hoped… She shook herself. The facts were the facts and no amount of wishing was going to change them. Turning to Teyla she asked, "Have any of the Athosians on the mainland reported seeing something that might be responsible for this?"

"No," Teyla replied sadly. "They have seen no large predators, only smaller animals that hunt in packs; but they have only explored a small portion of the mainland and that is far from where the Colonel said he was going."

Weir nodded in understanding, mentally picturing the location of Sheppard's cove and the Athosian settlement.

"I would like to be on the search team. I am familiar with tracking wounded animals."

Weir's heart fell even further. Teyla had foreseen yet another problem. A wounded animal was even more dangerous than an uninjured one.

"I would like to go, too," volunteered Zelenka. "There might be a way to adapt the jumper's scanners to help us search more efficiently."

"Go on then." She watched as both left to gear up before heading to the jumper bay, wishing she could go with them. She turned her attention back to the doctor, meeting his equally worried gaze. The medics were a tight knit group and Carson had long since earned their unswerving loyalty and respect. "Gather what equipment and personnel you need and report to the jumper bay as soon as possible."

Turning off the microscope, he nodded. "It will take me about ten minutes to pack the supplies, and I'll need at least one medic. Shelia would probably be best, she used to moonlight at a zoo on her days off, as I recall."

"I'll have her paged," offered Weir. "Your ride leaves in fifteen minutes, Doctor, don't be late."

oOo

False dawn was just beginning to break along the beach as the extra manpower Caldwell requested arrived. "Teyla," he acknowledged as she exited the jumper.

"Colonel," she greeted in return with a small dip of her head before getting straight to business. "You have found tracks?"

"Yes, this way." He led the Athosian to the lean-to and watched as Teyla grimly fingered the bloodstained rents in the tarp and then knelt down to better examine the ground. "We followed them quite a ways into the forest but they entered a river, obviously in an attempt to throw whatever it was off their trail," said Caldwell, crouching down beside her. "There's no way of knowing how far they waded and my men haven't been able to find where they got out--if they did."

Teyla pursed her lips unhappily. Trailing someone through water was almost impossible. "We should follow the animal instead," she said with certainly. "If it is still tracking them, it will lead us to their location."

Nodding in agreement, Caldwell stood up and began walking back towards the jumper. "We found more blood over here."

Teyla followed him, studying the sand around the stain. Caldwell's searching men had disturbed the muted tracks in several places, but there was still enough of an imprint to see where they disappeared into the tree line. She automatically started to follow the tracks into the forest, but a hand on her arm stopped her. Glancing up in surprise, she only then realized that Caldwell had continued to shadow her. She raised an enquiring eyebrow.

"One minute." He handed her his P90 and waved several men over to provide back-up. "Alright," he said, releasing her arm. She nodded her acceptance as she and her marine hunting party began tracking their prey.

Caldwell watched them until they faded into the gloom of the trees, then walked back to the jumper. "Any progress, Doctor?" he asked Zelenka.

Buried wrist-deep in the guts of the jumper's control panel, the scientist could only shrug. "I have not yet been able to narrow down the types of lifesigns. The sensors were not created to define individual types of life," he said, indicating the screen filled with bright dots representing various life forms in the general area." Unable to spare a hand, he used his forearm to shove his glasses a little further up on his nose. "I am attempted to use a kind of sonar to..."

"Sir, this is Stackhouse," interrupted a voice over the radio. "Keep at it," Caldwell told Zelenka before cuing up his radio. "Yes, Sergeant?"

"Teyla is requesting we hang back, sir."

"Why?"

"She said something about us sounding like a herd of rutting jarmongas."

Caldwell rubbed his forehead. He could already feel a headache forming. "I want everyone to stay within weapon's range of each other. Tell Miss Emmagan that all of my men are stealth trained and she'll just have to deal," he said as he made his way back out to the beach, his eyes automatically running along the treeline.

"Wouldn't you rather tell her that, sir?"

He stopped looking at the trees and gave the radio his undivided attention. "Is there a problem, Sergeant?" he asked coldly.

"No, sir, I'll tell her," came the resigned reply. Caldwell could hear another man in the background who obviously near enough to Stackhouse for the radio to pick up his comment, "She is so gonna kick your ass during our next training session for this, you know." He heard Stackhouse whisper "shut up" as the radio clicked off.

"Colonel Caldwell," called Zelenka excitedly as he exited the jumper.

Caldwell watched as the scientist walked toward him, obviously intent on the readings of the device he was holding in his hands. "Yes?" he asked when it appeared Zelenka had forgotten all about him. The scientist looked up startled, confirming Caldwell's evaluation of the situation. "You have something that will help?" he prompted.

"Yes, yes. I have still not been able to calibrate sensors to determine different types of lifesigns, but I think I can distinguish now between large and small signs."

"How large is large?"

The Czech squinted, considering the readings on the device he was holding. "Anything over approximately a hundred pounds should show up on the jumper's scanners as a distinct signal. But it is only temporary. The components were not designed to draw so much power and they will eventually burn out."

"Well, it's something," said Caldwell. "I'll have one of my pilots…"

A screaming roar from the forest interrupted him.

Zelenka's eyes became twice as big. "What was that?" he asked nervously.

Grabbing the scientist by the arm, Caldwell began pulling him towards the jumper. The medical team had also exited, looking for the source of the sound. "Back in the jumper!" he yelled, giving any civilian who hesitated an unceremonious shove towards the safety of the interior, before palming the exterior door control over their protests. He signaled his men on the beach to decrease the radius of their guard before clicking his radio twice.

"We heard it too, sir," came the whispered reply. There was a short pause before Stackhouse continued, "Teyla says she's sure it didn't come from the creature we're tracking--wrong direction and too far away." There was another pause. "She thinks that since they're sharing the same territory, they might be a mated pair."

"Great. Two of them," muttered Caldwell under his breath. Another scream pierced the air, echoing through the forest. His men shifted nervously but held their position.

"Colonel!"

Caldwell turned to see Zelenka poking his head out of the back of the jumper. "Close the damn hatch!" he yelled, half in exasperation and half in anger.

"Colonel, we can see it on the sensors!" insisted the scientist, ignoring the order.

Cursing under his breath, Caldwell ran into the jumper. A quick glance at the display grid showed a glowing dot that represented a large lifesign in the nearby forest. It was moving slowly away from their camp.

"We should search from the air," suggested Zelenka.

"Yes," agreed Caldwell, knowing aerial reconnaissance was one of the best hopes for pinpointing the location of their missing men. "Stackhouse reported that the forest is too thick to put down," he said, turning to the medical team. "You two should stay here so we can send you in by ground immediately if Dr. Zelenka finds them." He poked his head out of the jumper calling for his pilot, "Wilson!"

oOo

"That's Teyla's scouting party," said Wilson to Zelenka, comparing the coordinates of searchers' known location against the lifesigns showing on the jumper's screen. He began circling above the dense vegetation, spiraling out further with each completed loop.

"My God!" exclaimed Zelenka excitedly, pointing at the screen. "Is that them?" Three lifesigns appeared to be grouped together, obviously moving. He felt his heart skip a beat when he noticed a fourth stationary dot nearby.

"Shit!" exclaimed the pilot, pointing at the fourth sign. "If that's what's stalking them, they're headed right for it." He quickly radioed Stackhouse with the coordinates, gnashing his teeth in frustration at the heavy canopy that prevented him from seeing Sheppard's group or warning them about the danger they were walking into.

"It might not even be them," said Zelenka, torn between the desire to have found the missing men and worry that it wouldn't be soon enough to save them.

Hang in there. We backtrack to what's befallen our intrepid trio next chapter :-).