The uneasy group was assembled in the Gateroom for last minute mission briefing. The urgency of their mission left no time to hold a full briefing, so the hastily assembled team had been called straight to the Gateroom.

Dr. Zelenka looked positively comfortable as he struggled under the unfamiliar weight of the flak vest and the back pack. It was his first off-world mission and he had never expected it to take place under such pressing conditions, with the lives of two of Atlantis' senior staff on the line.

Sergeant Bates had insisted to accompany to mission, even though Dr. Biro had counselled against it, but Dr. Weir had needed someone with experience on the mission. Bates insisted he was fine and Dr. Biro could not find anything wrong with the sergeant aside from a cut on his forehead.

Halling had refused to don the standard expedition gear for the mission to his former home world. It had taken some convincing on the part of Sergeant Luca to get him to agree to guide the Atlantian team on the mission, but when he had heard that Teyla's and Sheppard's life depended on his help, he had agreed in an instant.

He didn't regret his decision to help the Atlantian save to lives of the two people he respected greatly, one for being a leader of his people, the other for being instrumental in saving his people from the Wraith. But he questioned whether the Atlantians truly knew how dangerous their undertaking was. Athos was planet that had been touched by the Wraith. No one returned to a place touched by the Wraith. He didn't expect them to understand. They came from a galaxy the Wraith had never been to. Their contact with the Wraith had only been brief so far and they were only beginning to learn about the terrible enemy that had haunted the Athosians for generations.

Dr. Weir walked up to the group. She didn't have a good feeling sending them back to Athos. No one had been on the planet for over nine months since the Athosians had fled from the planet. She knew that there was no reason to expect problems; the Wraith would have no reason to stay behind on the planet. But there was so much they didn't know yet about the Wraith and she had on ill feeling about the mission that she could not explain. But she took a deep breath and faced the group in front of her.

„Are you ready to leave?" She addressed them.

„Yes, Ma'am." Bates replied.

„Then the sooner you leave the better. Halling as explain to you what you are looking for?" Elizabeth looked from Bates over to Radek.

„Yes, he did. It shouldn't be far from the Gate. Well manageable on foot." Bates replied and shouldered his pack.

„Good luck. I don't need to tell you how important this mission is."

oOo

When Carson woke again the lights around him were dimmed. His head was still hurting, but the pain in his arm had lessened. The frantic activity of earlier had died down, so he assumed that some time had passed. He didn't realize that he had fallen asleep; he had assumed that he had merely dozed for a few minutes. The infirmary around him was quiet aside form the mechanical hum and beeping of machinery. The noise was as familiar as it was unsettling, reminding him of what had happened.

He sat up and to his pleasant surprise, the dizziness that followed only lasted a few seconds before he was able to get up to his feet. The soreness from when the Wraith had tossed him on the planet had had a chance to set on and he could feel every muscle in his body. Carefully not to move too much, he moved over to the other beds, intend on checking up on his friends.

They looked peaceful, sleeping, resting after their terrible ordeal. But Carson knew looks to be deceiving in this case. The dim light could not hide the struggle going on. The fight was for from over for some of the occupants of the infirmary. Carson wished there was something he could do to help them, but at the moment, he felt more useless than he had in a long time.

He pulled up a chair and settled next to Major Sheppard's bed. So close to the injured man, the presence of respirator and monitors overshadowing the motionless man betrayed the notion of quiet rest. Even without the stark reminder, Carson was aware of how serious the major's condition was. He had seen for himself on the planet. Although he didn't know the outcome of any tests that Dr. Biro might have ordered, he suspected that the prognosis wasn't very good. All they could really do was wait and hope that the remedy Teyla had told them about would arrive in time, but the chances of that were slim. Sheppard had declined to fast for that. Carson sighed. He wasn't too good at the hoping and waiting part of his profession, although it was often the last resort.

Carson reached for Sheppard's hand and squeezed it, before getting back up. There was nothing he could do. He felt tired and helpless, but before he went back to bed, he wanted to see if he could find Dr. Biro to find out about the major's condition.

When he had already turned his back, a bright light from the side of his eye caught his attention and he whirled around. There was a cloud of bright light at the foot of Sheppard's bed. In front of his eyes, the cloud transformed itself into the figure of the major. The man standing in front of him smiled. He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt and looked just like his real counter-part, but there was a strange trans-lucence to him.

Carson didn't know what to do.

„Carson?" The apparition asked. „Remember me? From earlier in the Puddle Jumper? Thanks for getting us home in one piece." The man said to him.

„What's going on?" Carson asked, stunned by what was happening. He still wasn't sure he could believe his eyes. What was happening could not be explained by what he knew.

„Listen. I dropped by to tell you something. I know what you are trying to do. But you have to recall the team from Athos. They are going to run into the Wraith there. Maybe you can still catch them before it is too late."

„What about you and Teyla? You are going to die without the plant from Athos."

„Not if you put us in stasis. You'll have time to search for the plant. Please, it's the only way."

„We can do that." Carson agreed." but stasis won't keep you alive forever. You're condition will continue to worsen even while you are in stasis. It will only give you some more time. If you are too weak, you won't withstand the revival process." Carson informed him.

„That's all right. There is no other way. But please recall the team from Athos. They stand no chance against the Wraith there."

„I'll tell Dr. Weir." Carson nodded, still not sure whether to believe his eyes. The man in front of him looked and sounded too much like John Sheppard to be just an illusion. He couldn't have hit his head this hard!

Suddenly, the apparition flickered and for a moment, the image of Sheppard disappeared.

„I have to go. Please, tell Elisabeth to recall the team. There is plenty of time to find the plant later if you put us in stasis." With those words, the figure disappeared from the major's bedside.

Carson rubbed his eyes. He doubted he had imaged it all. Now for the second time, he had seen the major appear like that. The only explanation he could think of, was that it had something to do with the Major's Ancient heritage. The Ancient had mastered the transition into a state of pure energy. It was possible that Sheppard was genetically capable of the same.

oOo

"Get up." The guard yanked Carson on the arm. Carson impassively got to his feet, not registering a change in expression.

"Hurry up. The truck is leaving for the mines. If you want to eat today you better get on irt. Behind those barraxcks, no hurry up."

Carson made no sign of moving. The guared looked like ghe was about to lose his patience so John grabbed Carson by the arm and dragged Carson in the direction the guard had indicated.

The ride to the mine was uncomfotable. John and Carson sat with about twenty other men in the back of a truck. The drive let up a curvy road uphill. Deprived of his watch, John could only estimade how long they were travelling, but after about three hours, the truck stopped. John follewed the example of the other men, leaving the truck. He kept Carson close to himself. Carson didn't seem well and he was worried about him. He could only speculate that it had to do with his drug addiction. In Atlantis he had had easy acces thanks to Elizabeth. John was sure that there were drugs circulating in the prison camp. He had to keep an eye on Carson if he wanted to keep them out of trouble. The best strategy at the moment seemed to be keeping a low profile and waiting for their oppurtunity. Carson's weapon was about the only thing they had in their favour. John could only hope Carson had the sense not the trade the weapon for drugs. The sooner he got his hands on the weapon, the better.

The ground outside the mines was covered in a thin layer of snow. Although it had been quite cool down at the main camp site, they had to have gained altitude to account for the drop in temperature. The cold was immediatly working its way through the thin fabric of John's clothes. Some of the prisoners were dressed in thick jackets and leather boots, but most of them were wearing linen tunics like himself.

A second truck pulled up on the plateau and another group of men climbed down. Some seemed little more than boys. Four guards had accompanied the prisoners to the mine and herded the men down underground. John stuck to Carson on their ride down the shaft through the rock and as they were led into a low corridor. Ther group of ten workers were chained together at the feet. Their task was to mine for crystals in the black rock of the walls. The work was hard on the

muscles, a day's work comsisted of ten hours of swinging a pick at a wall of solid rock while being carefull not to damage any crystals. John eyed

Carson frequently during the long hours. Carson was working slow, but steadily. He still wore the same absent epression on his face and even in pale light of the gase lamps, John could see that he was pale and sweating, despite the freezing temperature.

oOo

It was dark on the other side of the Gate. Ideally they would have waited until the sun rose on Athos, but the situation didn't allow for such luxury. They Gate was located in a wooded area. While the Athosian had lived on the planet, a path had been cleared from the Gate to the main settlement. Now that the planet had been abandoned for more than nine months, the path had been overgrown by vegetation. While the plants hindered their progress, the overtaking of nature was an indication that the planet had since been abandoned and that nobody had settled there after the Athosians. Halling headed up the group, clearing the path with a machete, Radek took the middle, and Bates brought up the rear. Vision was extremely limited, but so far they had not spotted any sigh of civilisation on Athos.

Halling had told them that the site were the medicinal plant was grown was about one hours march from the Gate. They had briefly considered taking the Jumper, as that would have been faster, but the difficult terrain would have forced them to land quite far away, as the plant grew on the north side of a mountain, where it would be impossible to land. The Gate on Athos was at fairly high altitude, so they would not have to climb that much, but they would have to make their way through the forest to the north face of the mountain.

Radek was the first to spot it on his scanner, but before he could say a word, they already hear the hum over their heads. The mechanical howl of a Wraith Dart cut through the night as the enemy flew over them. They knew they were not alone on the planet.

Radek froze and nearly dropped his scanner. This was his worst nightmare come to life.

Halling turned around to face to others.

„Let's split up. We will have better chances when we are separate."

„We stay together." Bates hissed, but Halling had already ducked away between the tress. In the sky, the howl of the Dart was coming closer again for a second pass.

„What now?" Radek was trying not to panic.

„We pursue our original objective, but we try to keep in the underbrush. Less chance of being detected. Can you keep track of them with your scanner?"

„Yes, but won't they be able to scan for us as well? The trees won't help us then."

„I don't know Zelenka. Halling seems to think they help. He has to know. Come on." Bates pulled him by the sleeve towards the thick underbrush.

For what seemed like an eternity, they ran through a thicket of trees and bushes. Radek tried hard to keep up, but seen his lungs and legs started to hurts and the back pack ground into his shoulders. On and off the noise from the Dart or Darts, Radek was sure there were several, but didn't have time to check on his scanner, howled over the forest as he ran for his life.

Suddenly, his foot caught in something, a root probably and he slammed face first into the ground. He lost the grip on the scanner and for a moment the world turned black. When he drew a gasping breath, his ribs hurt and he had lost his glasses somewhere on the ground and without glasses searching for them would be pointless. He struggled to his feet and noticed that it was quiet again. The forest was dark, but the howling of the Darts had disappeared. Radek rubbed his forehead and encountered a sticky substance. Surprised he drew his hand back and smelled at it. Indeed, he smelled the fait coppery smell of blood. Maybe he had been out longer than he had thought. It had seemed like it had been only a second. Why had the Wraith not found him? Where were Halling and Sergeant Bates? Radek remembered his comm. unit and started feeling for it. He had lost his earpiece. It was probably somewhere on the ground. With his scanner also lost, he didn't have any idea where to go.

oOo

"You realise that this is good bye?" Chaya asked with a sad smile.

"Yes, I do. I would not have had it any other way. I can't stay, you know that."

"I know that you are one of us John and one day, you will join us."

"Perhaps. But you have taught me that time has no meaning for us, perhaps I will return, but now isn't my time. I belong with my friends, Chaya."

"You realise that you may still die."

"I have no other choice. I knew this was my punishment for interfering."