John paced for several minutes after speaking to Carson and Elizabeth. Up and down the catwalk, the metal platform and supports rang with every step. Flashes of memory from Kolya's invasion assaulted him, but he was confused as to what to do next. The part of him that continued to fight for control was getting weaker, worn down by the effort and the exhaustion his over-stimulated body was nearing.

Elizabeth wanted him to go the grounding station. But Elizabeth was Phoebus. He'd taken Thalen to the catwalk too… He trusted Elizabeth. Elizabeth had deceived him in the infirmary.

Growling with frustration, he sank into the memories and for the moment allowed them to carry him along.

The hallways were empty in the part of the city that grounding station three was situated in, far from the central control tower and most of the main populated areas. And yet, Sheppard slowed as he approached the door to the balcony that overlooked the ocean at the end of this pier. Cautiously, he edged closer to the wall of the hallway. With a preparatory breath, he lunged through the opening to sweep his weapon across the small space with a practiced motion. It was empty and only the noise of gently lapping waves against the city far below reached his ears.

He lowered the stunner slightly and took a step closer to the grounding station's console noticing that it had been damaged and long ago repaired, but not understanding the implications. "B. You damaged the switch before I could separate the grounding rods, which I'm sure you're gonna get an earful from McKay for…" He whispered the words to himself, staring down at the exposed wires and patches. At a sudden prickle of sensation along his spine, he whirled to see Lt. Edison standing in the doorway, blocking his path back into the hall.

Edison had his weapons holstered and his hands raised in a casual pose. John hesitated at the lack of threat in the man's stance. "Sir, Dr. Weir would really like you to come back to the city and meet her in the infirmary." Edison's voice was calm and unconcerned, not even particularly urgent. Just a soldier relaying a message to his commander.

Sheppard continued to pause, considering the request, and his weapon dropped even lower. Until…

John caught just a glimpse of one of Edison's men hovering outside the door, listening and ready to strike if needed. With barely an instant's hesitation, he fired point-blank into Edison's chest and before the man hit the ground, John had spun himself into the wall out of sight next to the door. Involuntarily taking a step towards his team leader as he crumpled, the other hapless soldier never saw John's hand dart out to yank him through the door and throw him with a somersaulting slam into the ground. A moment later, he was also stunned, lying nearly on top Edison.

Panting with the exertion and rush of combat, John warily swept the corridor before exiting the room himself, then with a purposeful jog, he turned back towards the main part of the city.

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"Dr. Weir? This is Mitchelson. Colonel Sheppard stunned Lt. Edison and Abramowicz and escaped the grounding station. The Lieutenant ordered me to follow him discreetly if they should be compromised, but I lost him at a transporter. Toreil says he must have gone to a populated area of the base because he's also lost his individual signature on the sensors…"

Elizabeth sighed deeply. "Understood, Mitchelson. Are Edison and Abramowicz injured?"

"No ma'am. Just stunned. They'll be out for a few more minutes, but they're OK otherwise."

"Good, that's something at least. Toreil, keep scanning. Look for a moving signature in hallways and corridors, everyone else should still be observing quarantine in residences and labs. As soon as the others recover, continue your search on foot."

A pair of "Yes Ma'am"s rang crisply through the radio and in frustration Elizabeth shoved her chair back and slapped her hands on her desk.

"The Colonel is a very fine soldier…" Carson admitted, also sounding anxious, papers spread around him and another tablet computer tossed on the desk. He too had been searching through the reports that Elizabeth had pulled for clues to what John might do next.

"Yes, he is. Damn him."

"Shoud we try something else? Trigger some other memory that's not quite so…aggressive?"

Elizabeth thought for a moment. "No, we at least know it's working to some degree. We were able to anticipate where he went and that particular memory is so centered in Atlantis, we're more likely to keep him moving through it. He might jump through several other memories before we could find another one he can stick with." She tapped her fingers on the smooth desktop in agitation. Reading through the report she herself had written after Kolya's invasion had brought her own memories too close to the surface. She had been terrified of Kolya, as much as she hated to admit the weakness.

At the time, John's defiant acts of sabotage had given her hope. She'd had to put all her trust in his abilities to outwit the invaders and somehow save both her and the city. He had not disappointed her. Yet she still had nightmares sometimes about being pulled through the gate wrapped in Kolya's mad embrace. She always shook off the dream by forcing herself to recall that instead, John had appeared out of the shadows and with savage calm, shot Kolya off her back and into the Stargate alone…

She sat bolt upright, frozen in place as a thought occurred to her.

"Carson, I think I have an idea!" He looked up at her with expectant hopefulness…and then the lights went out.

With a grinding moan of equipment protesting the sudden loss of power, everything in the control room shut down. A babble of surprised exclamation reached them as the control room technicians were startled out of their work. They sat in darkness for several long moments.

"Dr. Weir! This is Sergeant Hicks. Someone just stunned the guards at the Control Tower generator station and disabled the Naquadah generator!"

"Understood, Hicks…" she was at a loss for what to say next.

"Should we switch over to ZPM power?" Another voice yelled into her office from the doorway. One of the technicians stood there looking a little frightened. They usually ran the basic systems off their own generators to save ZPM power for the high-energy but critical tasks such as gating to Earth and deploying the full-city shield.

"No. We'll wait a bit before switching over." The puzzled tech shuffled back to his darkened post. Elizabeth took a breath and was about to speak when she was interrupted again…

"Dr. Weir? Mitchelson. I just got to the Control Tower generator station, following a sensor signature we thought might be the Colonel. So unless we have another saboteur running around, Sheppard seems to have taken the generator's stabilizing rod with him after stunning the guards at the door. It also looks like he took some weapons off them. A P-90 and a 9 mil with holster are missing."

Overwhelmed, Elizabeth dropped her elbows onto the desk and buried her face in her hands.

Through the dim light barely filtering in through the stained glass of the gate room, Carson raised his eyebrow at her and said pointedly, "That idea of yours, Elizabeth. I really hope it's a good one."

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Rodney had to admit he was bored. Excruciatingly, mind-numbingly bored. Dr. Miles and Dr. Brown chattered on happily as they slowly and carefully inspected the dead canine and the tiny satellite-dish flowers. McKay found himself in fact standing for long periods with Jones and wondered when he'd become someone who found the company of military grunts more interesting than other scientists. Granted they were scientists from a field he found completely uninteresting and useless, except right now of course. And he could admit that even he, Rodney McKay couldn't know everything about everything so it was reasonable that others could and should study the lesser sciences. But he didn't really want to stand around and watch them do it.

He was also surprised at how naïve and disrespectful Miles and Brown seemed towards Jones and the other security escorts. Surely he had never been that annoying? Sheppard had chosen him for his team from the beginning, he had been a little green perhaps on those first missions, but rude? Never…

After a half hour of watching Miles poke at the creature, Rodney tried watching the landscape for living versions of their furry dead friend. He thought he caught a glimpse of one or two in the distance, loping after, or away from, the ever present dust-devil funnels. Then when that grew old, he watched Dr. Brown digging carefully into the soil and gently repotting one or two of the curious flowers into specimen cups. That at least was a bit distracting… Dr. Brown was very pretty… and he managed to catch her eye once or twice and smile smugly at her, pretending to stand guard.

After Lorne checked in for the third time with no sightings of Ronon, McKay finally lost his patience and, forgetting he'd been trying to impress Katie just a moment before, he stomped over to her and asked petulantly, "Well? Have you figured anything out yet?" His friends were in trouble after all.

Dr. Brown looked surprised but chose to ignore the brusque tone and she answered enthusiastically, "Yes, in fact. These plants do indeed seem to be thermogenic, the leaves and even the flowers are maintaining a temperature a degree or two above the surrounding environment. Quite fascinating. Also, their method of propagation is very unusual. They seem to expend the extra heat energy on a creative way to disburse their seeds and pollen simultaneously, rather than in two steps like most flowering plants."

"No pollinators," Dr. Miles chimed in, stepping over to join them.

"Yes! Nathan observed that there are no flies or insects invading the dead animal. Flowers on this planet cannot depend on insect pollinators and so they've evolved other ways to generate genetic variation."

"Teyla noticed the lack of flies…" Rodney tried to get a word in, but Miles cut over him, warming to his topic and his audience.

"The canine's fur is covered in these seeds and pollens, so perhaps we're looking at a symbiotic relationship between these species."

"Yes, but what is the benefit to the canines? They are clearly carnivorous, so what evolutionary benefit could the plants offer them…?"

"I'm sure this is very interesting speculation, but have you figured out what killed the thing yet!" Rodney had to speak loudly to interrupt the debate long enough to ask his question. "And is any of this going to help Colonel Sheppard and Teyla!"

"As far as I can tell without an autopsy," Dr. Miles sounded a bit huffy at the interruption, "the creature has no serious external wounds, although it had been in a fight or two just before it died, probably with another of its own kind, perhaps over territory or prey. It seems a bit malnourished, so it may have just been a weak member of the species. I'd guess it died from internal organ failure or a cardiac event brought on by disease or a congenital defect."

"Or brought on by poisonous flowers that elevate the heart rate and blood pressure?" Rodney's voice was stern. He didn't like the direction the speculation was taking now. If the dead canine were evidence of the potency of the toxin Teyla and Sheppard had been exposed to, they needed to stop speculating and get to some serious solutions.

Missing the connection, Dr. Miles looked thoughtful before answering the question Rodney had considered mostly rhetorical… "If there is a symbiotic relationship here, and the plants depend on the canines to spread their seeds in the fur, it would be very illogical for the plant to also poison the creature and kill it."

"Far be it from me to second guess the mind of a plant, but illogical or not, we need to get these samples to Dr. Beckett. We can ask the plants later what the hell they were thinking…"

Rodney was about to reach down to begin grabbing up equipment and call in Lorne to take them home when Katie interrupted, "We should probably get a sample of a plant that has not yet dispersed its seeds and pollen!" At McKay's exasperated expression, she went on hastily and put a soothing hand on his arm. "I really think it would help Dr. Beckett find a cure to recover a plant with its seeds and pollen intact, rather than trying to get samples of it off the creature or our own clothing. Look!" And she bent down to hold up a cup of one of the plants she had carefully transplanted from the ground. Carefully touching the single oval petal of the flower, she pinched the edges together, rolling them slightly to form a neat enclosed cone.

"The seeds develop within the enclosed petal, and then, I'm guessing, are released in a burst to expel the contents as far and fast as possible." She waved grandly at a very close dust-devil, whirling playfully along the ground. "I'd even bet the dust-devils are created when a group of flowers burst in sync."

"Dogs!" Rodney said loudly, looking towards the funnel.

"Yes! Dr. Miles enthused just as loudly, perhaps the dogs somehow trigger the synchronous bursts, thereby exposing themselves to the seeds…"

"No! I mean… DOGS!" And this time Rodney pointed.

A small pack of the furry brown canines had appeared out of the field between the group of Atlantians and the nearby dust-devil. Two of the creatures were circling aggressively and snarling at one another. One was slightly larger than the other, but both were the same shade of bear-brown and their hackles were raised into stiff bristles all along their backs. The third animal was watching the activity warily, head held low and alert, but apparently waiting for the others to finish their quarrel. It shook its head, looking almost confused and yowled plaintively before sitting on its haunches and watching again.

Jones stepped quickly between the creatures and the group of scientists, holding his P-90 at the ready, and quipped quickly over his shoulder, "We should probably get some distance from those guys, in case they decide to pick a fight with us next…"

For just a moment the rest stood frozen until Jones shot McKay a look and with a jump he drew his own handgun and also stepped forward…just a bit. "Grab the samples and whatever you can carry and run with at the same time. We'll move closer to the gate in case we need it."

Responding to McKay's urging at last, Dr. Miles and Katie quickly stooped to grab their gear and as a group they began to edge away from the creatures. They hadn't made it 10 steps when the two aggressive animals stopped circling and lunged at each other, soon locked in ferocious, teeth barred, fur flying battle. They both, mostly likely males, weighed at least 150 pounds and were powerfully built.

Quickening their pace but warned by Dr. Miles not to run and attract the animals' attention, they continued walking towards the gate, watching warily. The battle ended fairly quickly. The victorious male, clearly having overpowered its competitor with size and weight, snapped at its haunches and drove it further away. Tail tucked, the loser snarled back but ran a few steps before shaking its head as the other had done. It looked almost like it was intoxicated as it flapped its pointed ears and staggered a few steps, then ran again at another nip on the rear.

Rodney suddenly exclaimed, "They're under the influence of the flowers too. Those dogs are as loopy as Sheppard and Teyla!"

"Loopy and coming right at us!" Jones had turned worriedly back towards the loser who was loping in their direction, still staggering a bit. Confirming Jones' fear, it soon caught sight of the group that had instinctively frozen in the presence of the predator. Changing its stance to a stalking crouch, the canine sniffed the air and began a slow predatory creep towards them. Unconsciously backing away and moving shoulder to shoulder in front of Dr. Brown and Dr. Miles, Jones and McKay aimed their weapons steadily.

"I'm going to lay down warning fire, McKay," Jones whispered. "Maybe that will frighten it off."

The creature lowered into an even deeper crouch and Dr. Miles said "I wouldn't…" just as Jones pointed his P-90 at the ground in between them and the animal and fired a couple of short bursts into the ground. The creature startled, then with an almighty barking yowl of the hunt, it lunged suddenly at Jones with terrifying speed and agility.

With no time to think, McKay and Jones both fired point blank into the hurtling mass of fur. Its momentum carried it onto Jones and knocked him to the ground and Rodney was on the verge of firing again into the creature's chest when Jones gasped out, "Don't McKay! It's dead… you'll hit me…" Trembling, McKay lowered his weapon and saw that indeed the creature was motionless, pinning Jones down but no longer snarling and biting.

"You OK?" McKay offered Jones a hand up after he heaved the carcass off his chest.

"Um, yeah. Think it might have busted a rib or two though," the breathy quality of Jones' answer gave credence to the speculation, and he pressed an elbow into his side with a slight wince. "Radio Lorne and tell him we're getting out of here. I'd rather try to make it to the gate than wait here." As he spoke, an answering yowl from behind them drew chills down their backs. It in turn was answered by a barking yip from yet another direction. Jones and McKay exchanged a worried look, "Tell him we're going NOW."