His drill instructor in basic training would have been proud. He covered the rest of the bridge in two seconds flat.
"Dart! Go! Go! Go!" Sheppard yelled as he pushed Dr. Beckett in front of him.
"Where did it come from?" Rodney yelled over his shoulder.
"What do you think, I'm omniscient? How the hell should I know?" Sheppard yelled back.
He could see Teyla in the lead looking over her shoulder. She appeared to be studying the damn thing.
"What is it, Teyla?" He shouted. Before she could answer, a beam cut through the forest canopy. Sheppard tackled Beckett as the beam swished past them.
"Don't wait for us! Get to the Gate!" He called out. He hauled Beckett back to his feet and began the mad dash to the Stargate again. "Come on Doc, I don't feel like playing combo meal today."
To his credit, Carson put himself in high gear with little or no complaining. The animal trail had led them back around to the main road and the Gate was on the other side of a small hill.
"We're almost there Doc, keep movin'," Sheppard encouraged staying back with Beckett.
"Bloody hell, I'm going to need…" Beckett could not finish he was too out of breath.
"You're gonna need a physical regimen when we get back!" Sheppard chided urgently. "Now move!"
When they exited the forest, Sheppard kept an eye skyward. He tapped his radio, "Do you see anything?"
Teyla answered, "No but I still hear it. Colonel there is…"
The whine became louder as he crested the hill.
"We are at the Gate dialing," reported McKay.
"Colonel! Your nine o'clock!" yelled Teyla.
He pushed Carson down the hill and he followed tumbling down as well. Sheppard hopped up and once again hauled Beckett to his feet. The beam had missed and the craft was banking to make a run from behind them.
Teyla started firing. Sheppard looked over his shoulder; the dart was coming straight at them from their six.
'Too late, too late,' he thought. No amount of zigzagging was going to help. He stopped, turned and commenced firing his P-90 right at the dart.
"Keep running Carson!"
Beckett paused for a second then continued running as fast as he could.
Firing his weapon at the ship reminded him of a t-shirt he had in college. An eagle was swooping down on a little mouse. The mouse gave the eagle a double, middle finger salute. The caption read: Last act of defiance. It seemed quite appropriate right now. However, lady luck graced them with a visit. A bullet must have struck something because smoke billowed out of the dart. He turned back toward the Gate and ran.
Rodney and Teyla were beckoning to both of them.
"Go through the Gate!" Sheppard ordered.
"Not with out you two!" Rodney shouted in his ear.
The damaged dart made one last pass. Lady Luck apparently had another appointment to keep. There was nowhere to go.
Teyla continued firing. McKay raised his P-90 and started firing.
"No!" McKay screamed over the din of his weapon.
The beam raked the right over Sheppard and Beckett. Then the dart buzzed McKay and Teyla and quickly disappeared out of sight.
A moment of shock cemented them to their spots with guns still raised.
"Doctor, we need to get back to Atlantis," said Teyla way too calmly.
"We can't leave them!" Rodney yelled, shock still gluing him to the area in front of the Gate.
"We are not." She grabbed McKay and pushed him through the event horizon.
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