John Sheppard was getting frustrated. Over a day and the hunter had managed to elude each and every one of the traps he'd set. He knew how to set and hide traps, the Air Force had taught him survival techniques. Ronan and Teyla had added to that knowledge over the years, but the hunter had neatly avoided each and every one of them. He was missing something, but what?
Ronan was also frustrated. He and the hunter were countering each other moves at every step. It was like that game Zalenka and Sheppard played, chess. Several times he'd been sure he was about to catch the hunter and suddenly it wasn't there any more. Like it knew he was about to attack. Did it have a way of sensing him that he didn't know about? Like Teyla's ability to sense the Wraith?
Teyla's strategy centered around surviving. She found food and shelter for the night. The next morning she began looking for the Stargate and the others. But if she found the Stargate first, she would contact Atlantis for help. In the meantime, she worked to avoid the hunter. She wasn't sure, but she felt almost as though, she was being watched. Were there more in the distance? Perhaps an overwatch keeping the hunter appraised of her movements? It would explain why she had to keep dodging it.
Rodney and his trusty tablet had found a sensor/camera. He was working to get past the small force field around it. If he could do that, he could get into its system. Maybe get information on the hunters, find them first. He kept a careful eye on the dot that indicated the hunter. Each time it got near him, he moved, keeping as much distance as possible between him and it. It was frustrating, because he was certain he'd have cracked the force field on the little device and be in its system by now, if he could just have a little uninterrupted time.
Jesse was also beginning to wonder if the hunter could sense him. It had begun anticipating his moves. He was missing something. He put his hand on another tree. He calmed himself down by thinking about his Sarah. For all her skill with kickboxing or a short sword, she was a remarkably calm and rational person. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much. Magic wasn't just about power, it was about heart and mind and soul. Emotions and will and need. He was convinced the reasons the Ancients, known Magic users, were so fond of meditating was that they knew that. He reached for that feeling that said Sarah to him and once he found it, he reached out with his senses, slowly and carefully searching the area around him. And he found it. What he'd missed. A small energy signature that indicated technology. He followed the path to it thru the tree and the ground and to the place the bit of technology was secreted and sent a pulse of power out. He heard a small pop in the distance and knew it had been destroyed. As he continued working his way towards the Stargate, he periodically stopped, searched and destroyed more of them. He knew he probably missed some, but every one he destroyed gave him that much more of a chance of surviving.
Xander and the Pack, though separated from each other, had the same strategy. Mind touch with an animal, get the location of the sensor/cameras from them, find the devices and destroy them. The small force field around each one was weak and gave easily to their enhanced strength. Once they were certain they had found every one the animals were aware of, they began their own hunts. Using their scenting abilities, they tracked the hunter following them and captured them. They each wanted to attempt an interrogation. Even if they couldn't understand the words, familiarizing themselves with the hunters different scents would give them more information. And information was progress.
On the alien ship, the captain watched, fascinated. He understood four of the survival techniques he was seeing. He'd seen them before in prey. Trap, hunt back, elude or use their technology to fight back, but he'd never seen anyone read an animal's mind and was certain that's what they were doing, to gain information. Nor had he seen the other one's ability to use nature itself to gain information. The destroying things at a distance, that he'd seen before. Telekinetic abilities were known to his people. Telepathy was too, but not with animals. He was almost certain, they'd finally found someone worthy of Challenge. It had been so long. He watched as the six using telepathy each found and destroyed their monitoring equipment and then watched via a cloaked overhead monitor, as they each captured the hunter following them. Yes, he was becoming more and more certain. He would watch each to see what they did with the captives before making his final decision.
Sam Carter was also frustrated. They'd finally been able to overcome the force field. But their scans showed, AG 1 and the Pack and Jesse weren't on the planet anymore. They didn't find them alive or dead. Somehow, they'd been transported somewhere else. A transporter technology that could transport over vast distances the way the Stargates could was something never encountered before. Where were they?