Rodney was working furiously on the computer in front of him. He was also in constant communication with a team of scientists on the planet surface, working on the MALP. The others were standing around, trying not to get in anyone's way, but still ready to move at a moment's notice.
Elizabeth and John stood to one side, talking casually, about nothing in particular. It was an aspect of their relationship that they both enjoyed. Even in tense moments, they could relax in each other's company, without having to put on any pretense.
As they chatted, an anxious security officer approached them.
"Dr Weir," she said nervously. Elizabeth gave her an encouraging smile. "There's a problem with Jinto," the officer continued.
"What sort of problem?" Elizabeth asked. Teyla and Radek had both joined them, when they heard Jinto's name mentioned.
"He's gone missing," the officer admitted, slightly reluctantly.
"But I thought his room was to be guarded at all times," Elizabeth said, sharply, a frown forming on her face.
"It was," the officer confirmed. "We can't work out how he got out."
"What's going on?" John asked, making Elizabeth realize she had forgotten to tell either John or Teyla of their discovery about Jinto.
"While you were on the planet, Jinto confessed to being the thief," she admitted. John and Teyla exchanged a worried frown. Although they had suspected Jinto might be involved in some way, they had both hoped that he was innocent.
"I confined him to his quarters," Elizabeth continued. "But it seems he has managed to escape."
"I think we need to do abit more investigation," John said.
"What about finding Carson?" Teyla asked.
"Rodney," John said, raising his voice. "Let us know as soon as you're ready to get the sensors back on line."
The scientist waved a hand vaguely in their direction, in acknowledgement, his eyes never leaving the screen in front of him.
oOoOoOo
The intense pain as his arm was sliced open caused Carson's already much-abused body to react badly. His grasp on consciousness faded, and he felt as if he was floating. But he was brought back to reality, as an ever more intense pain filled his chest. A Wraith hand had connected and his body started to shut down in reaction to the pain.
A tingling sensation reached from his toes to the tip of his hair, and then he felt as if he was floating away from reality. The world around him dissolved, and then went completely black.
oOoOoOo
When they got to Jinto's room, they were in for another shock. Lined up carefully on the table in the middle of the room, as if on display, were a dozen items that he'd obviously stolen.
John picked one up, examining it carefully. "Don't tell me Jinto's into wearing flower hair clasps?" he said hopefully.
"I think that one belongs to Kate Heightmeyer," Elizabeth said, with a sigh.
"How could he have stolen those?" Radek asked, a frown on his face. "They were not here when we brought him to his room, and there has been a guard on the door every since."
"I guess he did it the same way he managed his disappearing act," John said, moving over to the wall, and starting to tap on it.
The others watched him for a moment, puzzled, before Elizabeth asked the question that was on the others' lips too.
"John, just want the hell are you doing?" she said.
"Looking for secret passages," he replied, as if it was obvious.
"Have you been watching those Sherlock Holmes DVDs again?" Elizabeth asked, glancing at Radek who blushed slightly. "Radek has already been quoting him to me."
"I was thinking more of Indiana Jones," Ronon said, rather unexpectedly. John grinned at him, then noticed Elizabeth's puzzled look.
"I though Teyla and Ronon need a little bit of cultural education," he explained.
"So you showed them Indiana Jones DVDs?" Elizabeth said, with an arched eyebrow.
"Yep," John replied, almost proudly.
"I liked the bit where he dropped his whip, and shot the guy," Ronon offered.
"You would," Elizabeth said, smiling to take the edge of her words.
Just at that moment, John gave out a yelp of triumph.
"I think I've found something," he said. "This bit of wall sounds hollow."
He carefully started to feel round the edge of the wall. Elizabeth joined him, and then with a mischievous grin, leaned over and tapped a section of the wall just beside John's head. The wall soundlessly slide open.
"Hey," John exclaimed. "How'd you do that."
"Female intuition," Elizabeth said. "And the fact that the section of the wall had the word "open" in Arabic characters."
"Clever, huh?" John said, sardonically.
Before they could do anything further, footsteps could be heard in the passageway, and Jinto's voice echoed towards them. It was obvious he was unhappy with his companion. Although his words were muffled by the partially closed door, they could tell by his tone he was scolding someone.
Instinctively, the adults all remained silent, watching the entrance to the passageway. Elizabeth was even more puzzled now. She had sensed Jinto was trying to hide something from her. And she'd also wondered if he was trying to protect someone. Now it did seem that he had an accomplice, someone who was currently getting a dressing-down from the young man.
Jinto was still reprimanding his companion when they appeared at the entrance. In fact, Jinto was so intent on what he was doing it took a moment for him to realize that his room was full of people, and very important people at that.
His companion noticed the visitors straight away. The creature's dark eyes surveyed them, full of fear, but mixed with curiosity.
A moment later, Jinto noticed the adults, and his eyes held the same mixture of fear and curiosity as the animal in his arms.
"What on earth is that?" Elizabeth asked.
"It's a chicu," Teyla stated. "It is a native creature that my people found on our travels. Some keep them as pets. They are very intelligent, similar to the monkeys you have on earth."
"And I think we've just found our thief," John added.
"Jada didn't mean to," Jinto said very quickly. "He's just curious, and likes to collect things. I tried to put things back but I couldn't always work out where he got them from."
"Why did you bring him onto Atlantis?" Elizabeth asked. "Would it not have been better to leave him on the mainland?"
"He likes Dr Beckett," Jinto said. "And Dr Beckett likes him too. He says he's not allergic to him like he is with cats. So I brought him so Dr Beckett could see him again. But then Dr Beckett wasn't here."
His words reminded the adults of on-going situation. And then, as if conjured up by their thoughts, Rodney's voice sounded through their comm-links.
"The sensors are back on line," he said succinctly.
"We're on our way," Elizabeth confirmed as they moved as one towards the door. Jinto followed along, curious to see what was happening. And since no-one told him not to go with them, he was still with the group when they arrived at Rodney's side. The scientist gave the creature in Jinto's arms a cursory stare, and then turned to concentrate on the screen again.
"We've managed to get the long-range sensors working again," he stated. "It was just a loose connection on the MALP."
"Have you found the two ships again?" John asked.
Rodney's reply was a very pointed look. John held up his hands as if in surrender. "Just checking," he added.
"The two ships both seem to be heading towards this planet here," Rodney said, as if John hadn't spoken.
"Are they working together?" Elizabeth asked.
"Can't tell," Rodney replied. "They are flying in the same direction, following the same flight path, but whether one is chasing the other, or they are simply following one another, that I'm afraid I can't say."
"What planet is that?" John asked.
"I'm running a search through the database to see if we have information on it," the Canadian gate technician replied. "So far I've not found anything."
Radek took his place at the terminal beside Rodney, and started to frantically search through the database himself.
The others turned to watch the screen. It was almost as if they felt if they watched the screen closely enough, they'd be able to work out what was going on. Suddenly, the blips on the screen jumped, and then when the sensors settled again, there was only one ship visible.
"What happened?" John asked.
"One of the ships vanished," Elizabeth responded, helpfully.
"I had worked out that much myself," he replied. "But why?"
All eyes turned to Rodney.
"How am I supposed to know?" Rodney asked. "I left my crystal ball at home today."
"Rodney!" Elizabeth said admonishingly.
"Okay," he replied. "Three possibilities. One of the ships either cloaked itself or went into hyperdrive."
"And what's the third?" Teyla asked, sounding as if she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.
"One of the ships destroyed the other," Rodney said, matter-of-factedly.
"And we've no way of knowing if Carson is on that ship or the one that vanished?" Elizabeth asked.
"No," Rodney responded.
"The sensors are showing up debris in the location of the ship that's disappeared," Radek said, sadly.
"Oh, Carson," Elizabeth said, softly. "Where are you, my friend?"