As soon as John stepped out of the Jumper, he sensed an air of tension. Rapidly approaching the newly arrived contingent from Atlantis, was a group of villagers headed by Silis.

"Colonel," Silis said by way of greeting. "What brings you back to our planet? Did Dr Beckett leave something behind?"

John regarded the man for a moment before speaking. Something about Silis' words didn't quite ring true. They were too rehearsed, too studied. His suspicions increased. He was trying to keep an open mind. On Atlantis, they had run through all the possibilities – all the reasons for Rodney and Carson not returning. It was possible they had suffered from a problem with the Jumper, something that had affected communications as well. They may even have crashed; though John was trying not to think about that one. However, now they were on the planet, John was leaning more towards a man-made intervention preventing the doctors' return.

"Dr Beckett appears to have left himself behind," John replied, slightly cryptically. "Neither Dr Beckett nor Dr McKay returned to Atlantis."

"What happened to them?" Silis asked, a look of alarm on his face. John wasn't sure if the other man's concern was genuine or not. But at that moment he didn't have time to investigate Silis further. He wanted to try to find some trace of Carson and Rodney before any trail there might be ran cold.

"We were hoping you might be able to tell us," John replied, ignoring the snort from Ronon standing behind him. Ronon definitely favoured the 'hostile action' option. He would have arrived on this planet all guns blazing, and then asked questions.

"We are concerned about them," Teyla added, giving Ronon a quelling glance as she took a step forward.

"Do you always come looking for your friends so well armed, Colonel?" Silas asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Can't be too careful," John replied, succinctly.

Just at that moment, a figure came running towards them. It was one of the villagers that John remembered from his previous visit. He had shown them round the village.

The man slid to a halt when he saw the new arrivals.

"Pedron," Silas said, addressing the other man. "What brings you here in such a rush?"

Pedron just continued to look at John and the others with an expression of amazement on his face.

Finding his voice at last, Pedron addressed John. "But you are here," he said, obscurely. "I thought you had crashed. I saw your ship fall out of the sky and burst into flames."

"When was that?" John asked, his voice edged with tension.

"About an hour ago," Pedron replied. "I was many miles distant from here when I saw it, and I came back as quickly as I could to get help."

John turned to look at the others. He could see a look of pain flash across Teyla's face. Ronon slapped his gun against his leg.

"Can you take us to the site?" John asked expressionlessly, trying not to let his feelings show in his voice.

It was a sombre group that made the journey to the crash site. John had sent a couple of Lorne's team back to the Jumper to bring medical supplies. He just hoped they would have the chance to use them.

The sight that met their eyes when they reached the clearing where the Jumper had crashed was one of devastation. The Jumper lay in three pieces, spread out among the undergrowth. Each part was burned, not completely, but enough to suggest that anyone who might have survived the crash, wouldn't have survived the fire.

As John looked around in horror, Ronon bent down to examine one of the pieces of the Jumper. He stood up with something in his hand.

"Sheppard," he said, holding out the object to John. There was a wealth of sadness in the big man's voice.

It was a watch – one that Beckett normally wore. John took it carefully, almost reverently.

"There is a body here," Lorne said, trying to keep his voice devoid of emotion. John went to join him. It was impossible to see who it had been. The body had been burned beyond recognition, and all that was identifiable was a piece of a jacket – just like the one McKay had been wearing when he went to pick up Carson.

"There's another body here," Teyla said, turning to look at John. He could see the pain in her eyes. He went over to it. It was like the first body, burned beyond identification.

"Let's take them back to Atlantis," he said, looking round the site. "We can come back later and look through all this stuff to see what happened."

Lorne's men gently picked up the remains of the bodies and laid them on the stretchers they had brought. Covers were gently laid over them, and the group started its sad progress back to their Jumpers.

oOoOoOo

He looked up as two of his followers entered the room.

"Did it work?" he asked.

The taller one replied, with a grin, showing all his teeth. "Perfectly," he replied. "They found the Jumper and the bodies, just as we planned."

"We?" he asked.

"Sorry, 'You planned'," the follower corrected himself.

"What are they doing now?"

"They took the bodies back to their own ship," the other follower replied. "They seemed sad," he continued, gleefully.

"And won't it be interesting when they find out whose bodies they have taken so reverently back to their city?" the first follower interjected.

All three grinned widely.

oOoOoOo

Once they were in the air, John dialled Atlantis.

"Did you find them?" Elizabeth's voice echoed through the Jumper, a note of eagerness filling the quiet sadness that engulfed the group.

John took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth," he said, gently. "The Jumper crashed and burst into flames. We were too late to help them."

He could hear a gasp from the leader of Atlantis. "Bring them home, John," she said, sadly. "Bring them home."

oOoOoOo

Carson woke with a start. His eyes opened wide and he tried to take in his surroundings. His fever-fuelled nightmare had forced him to relive the crash, again, and again, and again. His body felt exhausted from the tension, from the pain.

"Carson?" Rodney's voice reached him across the room. The scientist got up to his feet and moved to Carson's side. "You back with me?"

"Aye," the Scot replied, in a voice that did not sound like his own at all.

"I don't have any water or anything to give you," Rodney said, a frown on his face, and concern in his voice.

"That's okay, Rodney," Carson replied gently. "I'm no' going to die on you, just yet."

"And I'm glad to hear it," Rodney replied, trying not to smile. "I'd hate to be stuck in here with a stinking corpse."

Carson closed his eyes for a moment, trying to focus his wandering thoughts.

"Did I really see who I thought I saw?" Carson asked.

"If you think you saw who I think you thought you saw, then you saw who you think you saw," Rodney replied.

"Rodney," Carson said, "I've got a moderate to severe concussion, I've got a broken leg that is currently setting itself out of alignment, and the last thing I need is for you to confuse me even more than I'm confused already."

"Sorry," Rodney said, not really sounding sorry. "Genius humour here."

"Rodney!" Carson said more strongly than before.

"Yes," Rodney replied. "You did see him. And before you ask, no, I don't know what he wants with us. He wouldn't tell me."

"But since Dr Beckett is now awake to hear me," a familiar voice said from the door, "I think I might just let you into my plans now."

"Oh," Rodney replied, "so you didn't just kidnap us to torture us for the hell of it."

"Tempting though that might be," their captor replied, with a snarl, "I have other plans for you. Both of you."

"Our friends will be looking for us," Rodney replied, trying to remain defiant in the face of the enemy.

"Are you sure?" their captor asked. Carson didn't like the way he asked the question. There was a sense of knowledge behind it. For some reason or other, their captor knew that their friends weren't looking for them.

Rodney had obviously come to the same conclusion.

"Why do you say that?" he asked, a bluff belligerence in his tone and his stance. "The only reason they would stop looking for us is if they found us, or knew we were dead."

"Exactly," came the exasperating reply. "And now do you want to hear my plans for you?"

Just at that moment, an alarm sounded through the building. With a final look at the two doctors, their captor turned, and slammed the door quickly behind him.