"Still no sign of them?" Weir entered her office with Sheppard, Ronon, and a small contingent of soldiers that made up the search party. It was strange having to send out a search and possible rescue on their own station, but the simple fact that no one had been able to locate the missing doctors for three hours sent all of her internal senses on full alert. "Are you certain they didn't leave the station?"

"There's been no gate activity for the past twelve hours. All jumpers are in the bay."

"I don't suppose they could have discovered another means of transportation?"

Sheppard snorted. "This is McKay. You honestly think he would make a discovery like that and keep it to himself?"

"I know, but I'm running out of ideas, Colonel!" She sat at her desk, her eyes pointed at him angrily. "Do you have any?"

"Well. . .no," the colonel admitted, "but they have to be on the station. There's no possible way they could have left without someone knowing."

Elizabeth sighed, and her voice took on a personal tone. "Keep searching. Apparently Rodney's last known location was his lab, maybe he was working on something that. . .I don't know. Did something to him."

"That wouldn't explain Carson's disappearance."

"Actually," one of the soldiers said, "it might. I saw Dr. Beckett leave the infirmary and head in the direction of science lab one, maybe he was going to see Dr. McKay?"

Sheppard's eyes met Elizabeth's. "Go," she said quietly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was another sound.

Lenore had jumped to her feet and run to the opposite side of the room, just as Rodney and Carson stood. All three flattened themselves to the wall, with Lenore unknowingly pressed back against Rodney. He knew it had to be unknowingly, because otherwise she would probably run towards the sound. She didn't seem to like him much.

The odd thumping continued, like someone dragging themselves along the floor. There was a cry of pain, and the wall rippled. A form emerged, dressed in fatigues. He rolled away from the wall and lay still, gasping for breath. There was another faint sound behind him.

Rodney pushed Lenore into Carson's side and hurried to the man, kneeling beside him. "I don't believe it." He looked up.

"My god," Carson muttered, joining Rodney. "It's Lt. Burkes." He felt the side of his neck, getting a rapid pulse. Dark eyes snapped open, and the man yelled out, scampering backwards into the wall behind him.

"Easy lad! Don't you know me?"

Burkes jerked his head from side to side, assessing the situation as his military mind trained him to do, following ingrained instinct. "No! Where am I?"

"You do know me, I treated you for a shoulder wound not three weeks ago. Look at me." He faced the scared young man, establishing eye contact.

Burkes calmed visibly. "Dr. Beckett?"

"Aye, son, there you go. Now just relax, you're not in any danger here."

"That's what you think," the young soldier muttered, swallowing hard and allowing his eyes to close again. It was obvious he was trying to come to terms with something, probably just being here.

"Excuse me, I know you've just got here, but you have any idea how to get back out?"

"Rodney!"

"Well, I'm sorry! There's a good chance he saw something that we didn't, and I'm just asking!"

"Let him get a grip, would ya!"

"Fine! He can get a grip! I'm glad that one of us can!" Rodney wrapped his arms around himself and backed away.

Carson patted Burkes' shoulder, giving him a moment to collect himself, and faced Rodney. A smart-ass comment was right on the tip of his tongue, but froze at the panic on his friend's face. "Are you all right?"

"No, of course I'm not all right! It's this room, it's. . ." he hugged himself tighter, looking lost, "does it seems smaller to you?"

Crap. He'd forgotten. Amongst McKay's long list of ills, claustrophobia was one of the tops. He crossed the small room and gripped Rodney's shoulder's tightly. "Look at me. The room is exactly the same size. Why don't you sit, put your head down on your knees. . ." he guided Rodney down, "that's it. . .now close your eyes. When you open them, you'll see. It isn't any smaller. There are just more people here." And judging from the slide-thump that had grown louder, there was about to be another.

"Who's that?" Burkes was looking at Lenore.

"A friend. She came in just as you did."

"She didn't come from Atlantis."

Carson waved for him to be quiet.

Lenore frowned, and stood from her defensive position. "There is no place here called Atlantis. Why do you say this?"

Burkes opened his mouth, but Carson cut him off. "It's stress. He didn't mean Atlantis, he meant, uh. . .you know. That other. . .big. . .place."

"You mean Ises?"

Carson blinked once. "Yeah. That would be the one."

"It doesn't sound anything like Atlantis."

"Funny that, isn't it?" Carson chuckled self-consciously, rubbing his ear, and pointed to Burkes. "Lenore, meet Burkes. Burkes, Lenore."

"Hello."

"Ma'am." Burkes tapped the bill of his cap in a typical southern, gentleman way. And jumped as the wall behind him shimmered.

Carson darted forward and pulled him out of the way just as two more bodies rolled in. Now the room was quite full. "Major Abrams! And. . ."

"That's Lt. Shaw. They were with me." Burkes crawled over to Shaw, who was curled in pain. "Hey, Matt! Matt! Easy man, calm down. You're okay now. We got out."

"'Bout damned time too," Abrams said, wincing and propping himself against the now solid wall. He frowned at the crowded room. "Dr. Beckett? Is that you?"

"I'm afraid so," Carson sighed, kneeling beside Shaw. "Excuse my asking in this manner, but how the bloody hell did you three get here?"

"Search me. All I know is we were walking down the hall and woke up in a dark room."

"You three were together?"

"That's right. Now where are we?"

"I don't know." Shaw was fine, and Carson approached Abrams. One look told him all he needed to know, and he backed off. "We haven't been here long ourselves." He glanced behind him.

Abrams followed the glance. "Is that Dr. McKay?"

"It is."

"What's he doing?"

"He's. . ." Carson glanced back at the doubled-over man, "he's thinking."

"Thinking. Because this is his fault, isn't it?" Abrams pushed himself to his feet. "You damned scientists, you can't leave well enough alone, can you? What did you do to us this time?"

Rodney had been surreptitiously surveying the new arrivals, vastly aware of the oxygen they were sucking in, his precious oxygen. He raised his head once more. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me! What the hell did you do?" Abrams crossed the room, yelling down at the seated man.

"He didn't do anything!" Carson yelled out, pushing Abrams away by the shoulder. "Now just . . ." his words ended in a whoosh of air as he banged into the wall behind him, his shirt fisted in Abram's hands.

"I suggest you stay out of this," he growled. Carson's eyes were wide, and caught a flash of movement as Lenore leapt onto the major's back, biting into his neck.

Abrams yelled and flung himself backwards. Rodney hurried to Carson while the other two soldiers tried to pull the crazed woman from the major. It took several minutes, but she was soon pinned to the floor, with Abrams looking on, rubbing his neck.

"Don't hurt her!" Carson pulled himself from Rodney and shoved the others away. "Good lord, man, she doesn't know you from Adam, she saw you attack me! She just reacted, now let her up!"

"And just who the hell is that?"

Carson sighed. "Lenore, meet Abrams. This is Shaw." He flung a hand towards the woman. "Lenore." He walked back to the area he considered his spot in the room, and sat. His head fell upon propped arms. He sensed a presence beside him, felt his head being moved slightly, and felt his jacket once again being pressed to his wound.

So that was why he was so dizzy.

Another presence filled the space to his left, and he heard paper tear. It was Lt. Matt Shaw, and he had pulled a bandage from his uniform pocket. The jacket pulled away, and the bandage was taped on, rather sloppily, but Carson wasn't complaining. "Thank you."

"How did you do that?"

"I honestly don't know."

"I don't either," Rodney said from Carson's side. He made no further movement to comfort his friend, only to sit right beside him. "I thought maybe when we landed in here he might have banged it, but there's no blood anywhere."

"Where's here?"

Rodney sighed. "I don't know. Why does everyone assume I should know where we are? I know no more than the attack alien bimbo from Mars over there." He flung a hand towards Lenore's direction, and rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes.

"There has to be a way out of here," Abrams muttered, running his thick fingers along the wall.

"There isn't."

"You don't know that."

"Look, do you think I haven't tried?" Rodney snapped. "There is no visible way out. There is no visible way in, except for when the walls ripple. Which seems to happen only when someone comes in, I've yet to see a ripple that acts as an escape hatch!"

"We got in!"

Rodney shook his head in mild disbelief. "What did I just say?"

"What is Mars?" Lenore asked. She was looking more than a little disturbed.

Rodney set his head back against the wall with a thump.

"What you don't seem to understand," Abrams hissed, standing over Rodney, "is that I've lost a man already. If we stay here, we're dead. Don't you get that? Are you smart enough to get that, or does your survival instinct end with your last fucking cup of coffee?"

"Lost a man? What man? Who?" Rodney asked, squelching a sudden sense of panic. He stood as Abrams walked away. "What man did you lose?"

"Sgt. Martin Fields. Happy? Your little experiment killed a man!" He saw Rodney slump in apparent relief. "No, it wasn't your precious Colonel. I haven't seen him, I don't think he's here."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rodney muttered.

"Oh, can the crap. We all know the two of you are thick as thieves. Probably enjoyed having to use community showers for the first part of our stay, or maybe even back at the SGC! Huh? You miss your shower buddy?"

"That's enough!" Carson bellowed, still sitting on the floor.

Stressed served Rodney well at times. He stood toe to toe with Abrams. "Listen. I don't know who you are, but I do know that your comments will have you on a ship back to earth for court martial faster than you can say Hail Mary. You got that?"

"Never took you for a religious man, doc." Abrams smirked and joined Shaw and Burkes on the floor. Military stared the doctors down. Only Lenore kept herself distant.

It was this level of distraction that caused her to notice the ripple.

She rose slowly, gathering the attention of the men, and walked to the wall, slowly putting her hand to it.

Into it.

The others watched.

Rodney finally joined her, and she didn't flinch. Instead she looked at him with impossibly large eyes. For her age, she seemed very youthful, like a frightened child. "I don't want to go in there."

"Why? What's in there?"

"I don't know. Don't make me go."

"No, of course not." Rodney looked back at Carson, his eyes drifting over the soldiers as he did so. Abrams rose to his feet and stomped over to him heavily.

"You going in?"

"I haven't decided yet." Rodney reached out and touched the wall. It shimmered and pulled away under his touch. "Your man. . .how did he die?"

"I don't know. We found him dead." His voice actually broke, a disconcerting sound in someone so large and aggressive.

"I guess it wasn't pretty."

"Death never is."

"Right." Rodney took a deep breath. "Look, we can't stay in here forever. There has to be a way out."

"No!" Lenore surprised him by grabbing his arm. "No. Don't go in there."

"We can't stay here. . ."

"Bad things happen out there. This is a safe room. Stay here."

"Safe room?" Rodney looked at the metal walls, at the people around him. He didn't want to imagine the stench once nature took its course. "I don't think so." He shoved his hand through the wall.

"Rodney?" Carson was on his feet and beside his friend. He searched the mobile face, seeing pain register. "Are you certain?"

"I'm not staying here," Rodney grunted, forcing his arm through up to his shoulder. "Are you?"

Carson looked back at the soldiers, who had climbed to their feet, and at Lenore, who looked scared enough to cry. "No. I'm coming with you."

"Let's go then. No telling when this thing will close back up." And he pushed through.