Rodney's shout gave John Sheppard just enough warning to jerk his glance skyward and spot the bright spark arcing towards them, trailing a thin line of white smoke. In the split second he had for thought, he concluded that it would not be a direct hit, but close…and that it would fall short. With his next half-second he planted his heel and turned into Elizabeth as she plowed up to him. Using their momentum in reverse, he threw them both back from the direction they had been running, and drove them to the ground, covering her as they fell.

The explosion of sound hurt worse than the dirt and tufts of grass that pelted his back and legs, but he was grateful that he felt no heat licking his boots. That would have been too close. Rolling quickly back up to his knees, he shouldered his weapon again to look at the smoking crater between him and the Ziggurat. Between him and his team.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Shouted McKay, terrified by the surprise attack, but nonetheless holding his ground, pistol drawn by the rear hatch of the jumper. The cloud of smoke and dust from the distant explosive impact spread wide over the flat grassland, creating a hazy veil between them and the even further hillside.

"Sheppard do you read?" Teyla's concern was for her CO and Rodney was grateful for her calm demeanor, even as she readied her own weapons and continued to hustle the remaining team into the jumper. Receiving no reply, Teyla shot a look at Ronan before she turned into the jumper herself for a head count. Ronan immediately reached for his own radio and repeated "Sheppard, do you read. Are you injured? Dr. Weir, do you read…?"

Teyla emerged again to ask briskly "Where are Dr. Corrigan and Walker?"

Shaking himself from the distracting buzz of "We're all going to die" in his head, Rodney finally replied. "They were together just around the east corner of the building, they went back for a last check to make sure we hadn't missed anything. That was before Sheppard called in. I'm sure they are heading back. I know I heard Walker 'Yes sir' and all that…" Teyla nodded then turned to Ronan who could only shrug and continue his chant over the radio.

Facing Rodney again, she stated "We will wait for Walker and Corrigan, then take the jumper to meet Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir."

"What if they're injured?" Rodney couldn't help himself from imagining the worst.

Teyla's expression reflected a moment of her own worry, then reaching out to gently touch him on the arm she replied, "Then we will be able to quickly give them medical aid in the jumper." Rodney nodded, reassured.

The sound of P-90 gunfire whirled them around to face the East corner of the temple. Their weapons ready, Teyla and Ronan began moving in that direction and Rodney raised his own weapon again, designating himself rear-hatch guard. The running, staggering figures of Walker and Corrigan soon barreled into view, the marine twisting to fire randomly at intervals behind him. Corrigan was clutching his shoulder and seemed to stumble into Ronan's arms once they met, the larger man helping him continue the mad dash to the jumper. Rodney watched warily as the group neared, and just as he was regaining a little optimism, a second frightening whistle swooshed by overhead.

Certain that Teyla and the rest would reach the jumper safely, Rodney zipped into the cockpit, taking no time to acknowledge the remaining two scientists huddled fearfully on the benches. Through the forward window, he and Jones watched another plume of smoke and debris launch into the air as the drone, or missile or whatever it was struck ground. Fighting a sinking feeling, he shouted over his shoulder, "Come on, come on! We need to get going!" The clatter of 4 pairs of feet answered his call, and moments later the comforting grind of the rear hatch sealed them off from the chaos outside.

Barely waiting for the door to clang shut, Rodney threw himself into the co-pilot's seat and snapped his fingers at Jones quipping "Go, go, go. Giddyup, Mush, or whatever you people say."

"Sir, everything just went dead!"
"Ronan. Teyla, come in. McKay do you read?" Frustrated, Sheppard dropped his hand from the radio and shifted his crouched stance restlessly, his body reflecting the turmoil of his thoughts. He couldn't remember ever feeling quite so exposed or unsure of which way to turn. Elizabeth knelt quietly close by, looking terrified, but she seemed to be waiting for his lead. He was grateful for that. The last thing he needed right now was to have a "who's in charge" conversation. What he DID need was to be able to talk to his team he thought savagely, to be sure they were on the way. Surprisingly, the thought was immediately calming. Of course they were on their way. Teyla would get everyone onto the jumper as he had ordered, and the second they realized they had lost radio contact, Rodney would send Jones across the plain to look for them. That's what he would do, and they were his team.

Somewhat reassured, he tried to muster a word of encouragement for Elizabeth's sake. All he could come up with was, "They'll be here soon," but he meant it, and she nodded briefly with understanding and gratitude. They knelt like that for several more minutes, the tension mounting despite their faith in their colleagues.

The sound of distant gunfire drifting from the direction of the Ziggurat propelled Sheppard to his feet to plant himself firmly between it and Elizabeth, his unease returning triple-fold. He could sense her slowly standing as well, and trying the radio once again he practically snarled into the receiver, "Ronan, dammit, what's going on!" With only silence as answer, he suddenly made a decision. Whipping around, he grabbed Elizabeth's arm and shoved her back in the direction of the stone marker and the forested slopes beyond.

Pushing her along ahead of him, so as to continue to keep himself between her and the gunfire, he silently hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake, but doing something sure felt better than sitting in the middle of a bull's-eye. She obediently jogged along as directed but her confusion was apparent and she called out at yet another nudge in the back "John….where…?"

"We've got to find cover. Whatever's going on back there is holding our people up. Worst case we get to the tree line and wait there for them to meet us. Best case they meet us on the way." He could see her look apprehensively at the hills in the distance. It looked like a hell of a run, but it was the only choice they had. He couldn't take Elizabeth into a firefight he had no information about and if there were any more missiles, they were sitting ducks in the open grassy plains.

As if in answer, a faint whine met them and with even less notice than before he simply hit the ground, leaning into Elizabeth who had already started to drop as well. This time the whoosh of sound brought their hands to their ears, and a blast of heat washed over them. The missile had gouged a hole just to the west, missing by only yards.

Dragging each other to their feet, they exchanged muttered "I'm okay"s and eventually locked eyes. Elizabeth simply said, "Run?"

"Like you mean it," was John's reply.
A faint note of panic crept into the young airman's voice who had otherwise remained calm through the attack despite his worry over his teammates and CO. "Everything was fine, then it just…shut down!"

"No, no, no, no, no! Not now!" moaned McKay, simultaneously launching back out of his chair to practically shove Jones out of the pilot's seat. Also getting no response from the controls, he moved next to the rear compartment to slam open the control panel from the overhead bulkhead. Several of the usually glowing crystals were ominously dark. Cursing and spluttering the impossibility of such a malfunction, he was reaching for his tablet computer when the distant echoes of yet another explosion caused everyone inside to flinch. Moving even faster, if that was possible, Rodney whipped out his cables to begin interfacing them.

As he worked, he became aware of the ongoing bustle around him, and spared a glance around to see Teyla and Walker attending to a pale and trembling Dr. Corrigan. Walker had the anthropologist's jacket open and was pressing a field bandage into his shoulder. Teyla was rummaging through the First Aid kit to pull out gauze and tape and topical anti-bacterial medicines.

"…until we heard Sheppard's order to retreat so we turned around and were heading back when they just came out of nowhere. The first we knew they were there was when I looked back for a 6-check. Looked like a small strike force, 6-8 guys in uniforms armed and aiming at us. I laid down cover fire and…. I think I hit one of them because they returned fire." Walker struggled to remain professional. "Dr. Corrigan was immediately wounded, and I continued cover fire until he could get back up and we continued to retreat… I'm sorry Jeff." The last was soft and full of self-rebuke. The one thing Sheppard drilled into everyone in his command was their duty to protect the civilian population. A directive unique to the Atlantis project, but one his people took to heart…or went home.

"Not your fault, Tim." Corrigan's voice was stressed, but strong. The two young men had developed a friendship over the course of the day, Corrigan's lively enthusiasm rubbing off on the energetic and light-hearted lieutenant. "I've been on enough offworld missions to know to how to duck and I didn't do it."

Teyla and Ronan looked at each other perplexed. "No one followed you around the building, and so far no one has come to the jumper?"

Walker just shook his head wearily. "They were there sir."

"Sirs!" Jones' shout from the front was thick with terror. A sudden scramble of feet and the clicking of weapons drew Rodney's attention to the cockpit where a gray robed figure stood casually by the co-pilot seat. A bristle of weapons was aimed at him, yet the stunning stranger was supremely calm.

"Who?….How?" Rodney looked the length of the ship as if to prove to himself that the door was not open and he had simply missed an old man waltzing down the aisle.

"What do you want?" Ronan got to the point, edging closer in his eagerness to demand answers.

"You are being notified, according to the code of the Sanctuary, that you are being detained pending completion of the trial." The man was old but vigorous, and his deep voice dripped with barely contained scorn. His robes were luxuriously ornate, and shimmered like Doupioni silk. He glanced haughtily at the weapons still in the steady hands of the crowd facing him.

"We'll see who's detaining who…" Ronan grinned with humorless disdain, but Rodney cut over him "Trial? What trial? Who's on trial?"

By way of answer, the man turned his head marginally to indicate the HUD which came to life of its own accord to display an astonishing image: Sheppard and Weir racing for their lives across the plain.

The third missile missed by a good distance, the panting pair didn't even break their stride as it struck. The tree line still seemed impossibly far to Elizabeth, as if she were in a dream where no matter how hard she pumped her legs, they would never get any closer. She could hear John's reassuring steps pounding behind her and she tried to focus on his guidance instead of the unreachable distance. A nudge to one side sent her veering in a new direction, and she realized he was zig-zagging them across the open space, presumably to present a more difficult target. He had only to grunt "Down!" and she was hitting the dirt, hands over her head and bracing herself against the roar of noise she knew would come.

She felt him pause this time before throwing his weight directly over her. Surprised by the contact, she fought him a bit until the inevitable blast startled her out of struggling. The second the blast passed, he had rolled off and was unapologetically tugging at her elbow to get her moving again. As she staggered forward, she caught him cursing under his breath and rubbing at the back of his head. Seeing that she had noticed, he tried for a reassuring smile, managing only a pained grimace and said simply "That one kicked up a bit of rock."

Then they were running again. It seemed an eternity. Run. Dodge. Cover. Repeat.

Elizabeth was brought out of the stupor she had fallen into where all she could hear was the steady breathing of the man behind her, and the voice in her head that kept repeating "just keep running, just keep running," by the realization that she was having to dodge brush and brambles. They had reached the edge of the plain, and the ground sloped gently away from them seeming to get darker as the brush changed into scraggly trees and then into deep forest.

Sheppard pushed passed her, slowing their frantic pace and led upwards towards the darkest shadows he could find. The trees finally closed around them, and realizing that it had been several minutes since the last missile attack, she let her exhaustion overtake her and she sat down heavily at the foot of a nearby trunk, gasping for air. John stood nearby, softly calling into his radio over and over. Feeling a bit embarrassed as her heart rate finally slowed she slumped back against the cold rough bark to watch John in his vigil over the stubbornly silent radio. He was winded, breathing rapidly from exertion or anxiety, but he was certainly not panting like a Husky in summer, nor sprawled on the ground like a lump.

Catching his eye, she shook her head and apologized, "I guess I need to spend more time in the gym!"

"Wouldn't help." He stated, giving up on the radio and stepping over to offer a hand up. As she accepted it and heaved herself standing again, he added, "Distance running is an Art. You should see Ronan go…" Suddenly agitated he took a compulsive, almost involuntary step towards the plain, "Look I need to find a place where I can watch for the jumper. Radio contact is out, and our best chance is to spot them coming and flag them down." He seemed torn about something and he fidgeted as he watched her still breathing hard and leaning on her knees.

"I'll go with you, that way you won't waste time coming back for me." Straightening with a stretch, she waved him on with a weary flop of her hand but managed to smile reassuringly.

Nodding gratefully, he turned back downhill, picking the way slowly both to rest and keep an eye out for gaps in the forest. When they spotted a promising flat-topped boulder with a patch of darkening evening sky behind it, they eagerly scrambled up to lie across its still-warm top. They had a marvelous view of the plain and the shadowy Ziggurat in the distance. Once her mind fully grasped the impossibility of what she was seeing, Elizabeth gasped and feeling completely overwhelmed, reached instinctively for John's arm.

Frozen, they gazed at the plain below, swarming with an entire battalion or more of armed soldiers. One company was marching down the road, about to disappear into the tunnel-like canyon. Others were spreading out in their direction, bristling with weapons that glinted in the last rays of the setting sun.
Transfixed, the people on the jumper watched Sheppard and Weir dodge missiles and finally reach the shadowy tree line. As they moved under cover, the image vanished almost startling Rodney who had been completely engrossed in the drama. A restless silence filled the space until Teyla, grasping for any positive thought spoke "At least we know they are uninjured, for now."

"What do you want?" Ronan repeated, snarling at the old man. His anger was clearly boiling, the images he had seen only fueling his frustration. Teyla took a calculated step towards the stranger, placing herself just enough in Ronan's way to send the message that he was not to attack, but she also looked stern as she added, "We mean no harm here. We are explorers and have merely been studying the ruins. We were planning to leave when we were attacked. If you allow us to do so, we will pick up our friends and go."

The stranger turned his gaze away from watching Rodney who had been trying to secretly scan the stranger with his palm LSD device. So much for being subtle, Rodney sighed, hoping the old guy wouldn't take offense. Focusing Teyla in his bland glare the stranger finally spoke, "Your leaders activated the Welcoming Stone which received your petition for access to the Sanctuary."

"Some welcome" snorted Ronan to be silenced by a glare from Teyla.

"The stone discovered disturbing conflicts within their minds. Violence only barely balanced with the Peace the Sanctuary requires. More observation is needed to complete the petition. A Trial is underway."

Rodney was rapidly growing as impatient as Ronan was angry. Pushing Walker aside to squeeze into the cockpit, he tried to sound reasonable and persuasive, "This has all been a big misunderstanding! Par for the course and to be expected in Pegasus," he added as an aside to himself. "But we made no petition, we don't want access to this 'Sanctuary'. We just want to go home before the next window of opportunity closes and we're stuck here all night!"

"Your leaders activated the Welcoming Stone which received your petition for access to the Sanctuary…"

"Yes, yes, but I'm certain they didn't mean to! And they certainly weren't speaking for me whatever they said."

A moment's pause, then, "They are the leaders of your people?"

"Well, not all people, not even all Earth people, they are leaders of a few of us people on Atlantis who came from Earth on an expedition to learn about Pegasus people who have their own leaders… like Teyla here!" Teyla tilted her head at Rodney in warning, not really sure she wanted to be drawn into that category considering the circumstances…

"And you came to learn about the Temple? You came to seek the secrets of the Sanctuary?"

"Also yes, I suppose, but look, it's not that big a deal. Just let us go pick up our friends…um, our leaders, and we'll toddle on home unenlightened. Somehow we'll get over the disappointment…"

"A trial is underway."

Before Rodney could explode, Teyla quickly intervened feeling desperate for information and realizing that arguing was getting them nowhere, "What is this trial, and what does it entail?"

Another pause. "Images were drawn from the mind of those who sought petition, images of violence that concerned the stone greatly. Your leaders suffer the burden of these images. If they survive, then an evaluation of their conduct will be reviewed. If they do not survive, the petition will be denied."

"Sounds like a bloody Kangaroo Court," one of the scientists muttered from behind Rodney.

"What happens to us while our friends suffer this trial?" Teyla's tone was cold.

"You have been notified, according to the code of the Sanctuary, that you are being detained pending completion of the trial."

Rodney threw up his hands in exasperation.

"And what happens to us if our friends… do not survive?" Teyla's voice grew even colder.

"The time of petition is soon closing. At that time all pending petitions will be finalized, all denied petitions will be terminated."

With the chilling statement resting heavily in the tense air, the visitor silently vanished to everyone's surprise and consternation. Everyone except Rodney who waved sarcastically at the empty space and scoffed, "Yes, yes. Bye, bye Mr. Hologram Man."

Teyla looked startled and gaped at McKay. "Hologram? Like the histories on Atlantis?"

"Exactly. I'm guessing it was a recording or interactive computer. Not much personality programmed in. My laptop has a better sense of humor…" As he spoke he was poking at the hand held device and turning back into the rear of the jumper. "Pretty advanced technology, though, to be able to place an image inside a well lit ship."

"And the thing with disabling the jumper is pretty impressive too." Jeff Corrigan spoke not from fascination, but from the discomfort of his wound and the growing realization that he was not going to get to a warm cozy infirmary any time soon.

"Mmmm hmmm." McKay suddenly seemed a million miles away as he whirled to stare at Corrigan as if seeing him for the first time. With a lurch, he hit the rear latch and stood bouncing on his toes as he waited impatiently for the ramp to reach the ground. Teyla, Ronan and Walker all yelled in surprise and anger at the impulsive act, scrambling to get to defensible positions. Unconcerned, McKay simply walked out the back to aim his sensor at the Ziggurat, muttering and cursing.

"Dr. McKay!" Teyla followed him halfway down the ramp weapon raised high and scanning the grounds furiously. "If the enemy soldiers are nearby…"

Cutting her off, he yelled back over his shoulder, "I think they were holograms too. There are certainly enough power readings coming from that temple to be able to summon up a whole bunch of the humorless little buggers. Sheesh, I've been hanging around Carson too much…"

Understanding his words, but still very uncomfortable in the open, Teyla insisted, "Rodney, Corrigan was wounded. His injury is no illusion."

"Yeah, that's what just occurred to me." Finally wandering back into the jumper, still fiddling with the gadget and completely unaware of the exasperated expressions and sighs from his teammates, he voiced a worried thought. "If this technology can create holographic content capable of interacting with solid matter," he met the eyes of each of them, "it could be a real problem for Sheppard and Elizabeth."