Teyla had been pacing for quite some time. Elizabeth watched her. The proud posture was held stiffly, and her fingers drummed the railing incessantly. But Elizabeth was determined not to go to her. As a leader, she needed to be able to trust that those in her care would come to her for help. And as a leader as well, Teyla would have to learn to trust that she could ask for it.

It took a good half hour, and eight pages of 'Dr. Elizabeth Weir' carefully handwritten on sheets of printer paper before Teyla entered. "Am I disturbing you?"

Elizabeth smiled, relieved that the wait was over. "Of course not, Teyla. Have a seat."

She didn't, but walked to the side of Elizabeth's desk for a more direct, and informal, approach. "I am . . .conflicted. You must understand that I have this city and your people in my heart, and hold you in the greatest respect."

"But you need to check on your own." Elizabeth nodded. "I understand."

Teyla seemed relieved by the sentiment, but still torn. "I do not wish you to think I am abandoning you."

"Teyla, that is the last thing that would cross my mind where you are concerned. And if we can't stop this, their next target could very well be the mainland."

"Then you agree with my motive?"

"It would be good to prepare your people. But I must warn you; we are on the verge of evacuating some of our people through the gate. If we need to evacuate your people through the stargate, it will have to happen quickly."

What wasn't said was clearly understood. There was no way to get the Athosians from the mainland to the gate in time. Not if it came down to the letter. And bringing them to the station for possible evacuation was out of the question.

Teyla merely nodded. "I must stand with my people. I know you understand this."

"Teyla." Elizabeth gave a sad smile and stood. Teyla raised her chin, not defiantly, but taking in the presence before her. "You have my complete trust and respect. Now go and tend to your people. And be safe."

"Thank you." She gave a small smile and a nod. It was at this moment that Rodney came crashing in.

"Impeccable timing as always, Rodney," Elizabeth said loudly. "We were just finished." Elizabeth returned Teyla's soft nod as she left.

"What? No, never mind." He was speaking quickly, and fumbled with the tube of paper in his hand. "How long 'til the bugs arrive?"

"A little over an hour, why? What is that?"

Rodney smiled and spread the large sheet of paper across Elizabeth's desk. "Incubation."

She ran her fingers over the chart, nodding, and looked up. "Okay. I'm lost."

"Yes, look, you see here," Radek burst in and shoved Rodney aside, jabbing at the chart before his forward momentum had stopped. "We use a jumper to rig a force field around an island . . ."

"Wait," Elizabeth cut in, "what island?"

"I found a suitable island for these bugs to inhabit. They need heat and moisture to breed, so we heat the interior, just enough to simulate the temperature and moisture of the inside of a whale, for example."

"Yes, disgusting as that may be," Rodney cut in. "We can use jumper eight, it's out of commission for interplanetary travel, and since we have twelve and thirteen running we can spare this one for a bit."

"But won't maintaining the shield around the island deplete the jumper's energy source?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes," Rodney replied, jabbing his finger toward her pointedly. "Which is why we have to come up with an alternate energy source."

"How do these bugs get on the island if there is a shield covering it?"

"Simple," Rodney said. "The shield won't extend all the way to the ground." He cupped one hand over the other. "We merely cap it, create a sort of greenhouse effect."

"And this energy signature won't be enough to attract the Wraith?"

"If the Wraith are close enough to pick up that energy signature then the bugs will be the least of our worries. Either that or we can just sic them on our enemy. That whole 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing."

"Okay. So how do we divert the bugs and get them to the island?"

Rodney grinned. "This is the good part." He paused for dramatic effect, which pleased him, and irritated Weir. "We scoop them up using the wraith technology we recovered from the dart that tried to suck up Lt. Cadman and myself. Radek has been playing with the scoop lately, trying to configure it to jumper technology. After scooping them it'll just be a matter of dumping them in the water near the shore and letting them figure it out."

"And this scoop works?"

"It will." He sounded less certain.

"Elizabeth," Radek pressed, "this will take a lot of preparation and there isn't much time. Rodney must find a suitable alternative power supply, and I still have to . . ."

"Right," she said, as a panicked voice roared over the city's comm, "they've found the main conduit! They're spreading!"

Elizabeth instantly keyed the control room. "Prepare to evacuate nonessential personnel through the gate." She looked at the two men. "Do it. Now."

Rodney raced through the bowels of Atlantis. Three armed guards followed him, guns aimed and ready. Their boots thudded heavily as they ran, sending vibrations through the walls that would be certain to attract the attention of the bugs, but they didn't stop. There wasn't time.

Rodney keyed his radio. "Radek! How's it coming?" The colorful language flowed through his earpiece like honey, and he didn't need to understand it to know what it meant. "That good, huh?"

"Tis like fitting a hammer where a nail should be!"

"Maybe if you stopped complaining and started working . . ." he skidded to a stop in front of a door that wouldn't open.

"Maybe if you would not page me every five minutes . . ."

"Less chatter, more work!" Rodney gritted his teeth as he and the soldiers tried to pry it with their hands. Rodney waved them back and gathered his thoughts. "Radek, I can't get through to the grounding station. No time to get to the other one, ideas?"

"Alternate power source."

"Oh, very clever!"

"ZPM."

"No."

"Just to charge!"

"NO!" Rodney cursed and paced in a rapid circle. He noticed one of the soldiers, he hadn't even bothered to learn their names, point down the hall and take a defensive stance. Gunfire instantly lit the corridor, and Rodney felt himself being manhandled out of the way.

"Rodney?" Radek yelled over his radio.

"Not now!" Rodney back peddled and found himself being pushed down a dark corridor. He slammed into a wall that shifted and disintegrated into hundreds of moving shells.

The soldier with him started firing, shoving Rodney back behind him. The other soldiers were at the other end of the hallway, lit by spits of orange gunfire. Heavy shadows moved around them, and a scream echoed, followed by less fire.

Rodney whipped his head around and tapped his earpiece. "We're pinned down, we need a way out of here! Colonel Sheppard? Anyone?" The remaining soldiers were closing in on him as the bugs advanced. It was then that Rodney noticed the panel in the ceiling above him. He tapped the soldier to his left and pointed up. Before he knew it, he had a foothold and was pushing at the hatch, then pulling the man up with all the strength he could muster as terrified cries assaulted his ears.

"Look out!" The soldier kicked at the opening with his feet, forcing back a large bug that had crawled though after him. Rodney scrambled backwards as the gun was leveled and fired with a deafening sound. He slammed the panel shut, squishing the remains, filling the air with a nasty, organic smell. Below was a faint sound, like chomping, and the metallic sounds of scurrying legs.

Neither man said anything. They turned tail and crawled through the conduit.