"Teyla!" the Ford held at gunpoint called.
The Ford with the gun cut him off. "Don't listen to him! He's the phony one. I caught him in the woods where he trapped me in a cave."
The other Ford shook his head. "No! I'm the real Ford."
Teyla looked at the others who knew Ford better, but none of them could tell which was which; the imposter was a perfect copy.
The Ford holding the gun spoke up ofter after a minute of silence. "Take the imposter to the brig! Then we can find Major Sheppard."
The Ford at gunpoint's eyes widened. "What happened to Major Sheppard?"
Teyla pointed her gun at the Ford holding the gun. "The real Ford was not on Atlantis when Major Sheppard was taken through the gate."
The phony Ford was flustered. "The... uh... the imposter told me. I was trapped in a cave and when he came to get me, he told me all about it. He said-"
He was cut off when a bullet hit him in the head and he fell to the ground. The real Ford, relieved, picked up his gun. The imposter melted into a silver liquid and lay on the grass.
"Could the real Fordmelt likethat?" Ford asked. "Now, what happened to Sheppard?"
"The imposter took him with it to the planet so that we would not follow. He must be somewhere nearby." said Teyla. "Return to Atlantis and inform Dr. Weir that we have killed the imposter, and Ford and I are going to lead the search for Major Sheppard." she said to a leiutenant who dialed the gate and returned to the city. The rest of the group, led by Ford and Teyla, began their search.
"We should try to find any footprints so we can know where to look." said Teyla. Within a few minutes, her keen eyes noticed faint footprints heading away from the gate. "There are two pairs of footprints here. One mustbeMajor Sheppard's. Let's follow them."
After nearly a half hour of following the footprints, they grew lighter and ended in the middle of the meadow. Teyla suggested that they continue in the direction they were going, so they continued, slightly discouraged. After a few minutes, they got to the top of a hill, and they heard a familiar voice from the bottom of the hill.
"Hello!" Major Sheppard's voice rang out.
"Major Sheppard!" Teyla responded. "We're comming!"
It took only a minute for the search party to get to where Sheppard was.
"Took you long enough." he said as Ford cut the rope around his neck. "Hey Ford, be careful."
"Well I'm sorry we could not find you as quickly as you'd have preferred." Teyla replied. She cut the ropes around Sheppard's hands and legs, and the group headed back toward the gate to return to Atlantis.
Dr. Weir and Dr. McKay were standing by the gate waiting for the search party to return for over an hour. As Weir was debating whether or not to send some one to check on their progress, the gate was activated off world. Sheppard, Ford, and Teyla stepped through the gate with the rest of their people.
Sheppardwas the first to speak. "I assume we won't be telling the Herkem about this?"
Weir shook her head. "I can't deal with them any longer."
Sheppard smiled. "I guess what they don't know can't hurt them."