Rodney shuffled papers and looked at his computer screen. "No, no, this can't be happening."

"What can't be happening, Rodney?" Sam asked.

"We lost them. They entered the hyperspace window and they just ... vanished."

"Again? I swear to God, Rodney, if you have lost two of my team members—"

"No, no, I'll find them. I swear."

The radio crackled. "Dr. McKay, this is Atlas."

"Yes, did you find the Kalenka?"

"Yes and no, Doctor."

"What does that mean?" Rodney asked.

"They made radio contact but they're nearly out of range, they're making their way back. We're standing by and waiting for them to get back into radio range."

Rodney sighed. "Oh, thank God."

"Atlas, do you know where they are?" Sam asked.

"Not exactly, they're too far out of range. As soon as they get closer we'll pinpoint their location."

"Thank you, Colonel Sheppard, keep us apprised." Sam turned to Rodney. "Next time you ask my people to test fly your ship you better make damn sure it works."

"I ... well ... it works," he replied quietly.

"Apparently not well."

Mal stared out at the emptiness around him. "This sucks."

"Hey, we're gonna get home. I'm going as fast as I can."

"It would be faster if we could, oh I don't know ... jump to hyperspace," he replied dryly.

"Chill, Colonel and enjoy the ride."

"Uh, Captain ..."

"Yeah, what is it, sir?"

"I think we have a problem," he said.

"We have already covered our issues with the hyperdrive."

"No, I mean a much bigger problem." As he spoke alarms began sounding from the instruments.

Lee twisted around and cursed when she spotted the ship that was approaching them. "Yeah, I can see that." She cursed some more. "I think they're Alliance."

"Oh, joy that makes this situation so much better. Remind me to make McKay suffer before I kill him," Mal muttered.

"There's no way I can outrun them, not on sublight engines only. Unless you want me to attempt to use the hyperdrive this is as fast as we can go." She cursed and rolled. "Great, they're firing on us."

"No kidding, I didn't notice!" he shouted back. "Turn this damn thing around and get me a shot!"

"Hold on, I'm doing my best here!" She rolled again and dove. The ship twisted and she pulled it around so they were headed straight for the Alliance ship. "Take a shot, Colonel!"

"Yeah, I'm working on it! The weapons system is being sluggish and it's not responding as quickly as I'd like. By the time I line up a shot the damn thing has moved."

"Well we can't play chicken with them forever! You need to take a damn shot, sir!" Lee shouted.

"Hold on, give me a chance." Seconds later he fired. The shot missed by millimeters and he cursed. The Alliance ship fired and Lee barely got out of the way. "Atlas, this is Kalenka, we have a serious problem. We are under fire from an Alliance ship. Repeat, we are taking fire."

"We're on our way, Kalenka but we're still too far to give you assistance," Colonel Sheppard told him. "Do your best to keep from getting killed until we get there."

"Yeah, great, thanks for that," Mal grumbled. "Captain, look out!"

Lee jerked the stick, but not quickly enough. A blast rocked the ship. "We're in trouble, sir. The engine has been damaged. We need to find someplace to land and do it quickly because if we don't we're screwed."

"Hold on, give me a minute."

"We don't have a minute!" she screamed.

The Alliance ship fired again and Lee managed to maneuver out of the way in time to keep them from being blown to pieces. She continued to avoid the ship while Mal tried to find a planet close enough for them to land.

"Okay, I got a planet. It's close, shouldn't take us long to get there. I've fed the coordinates into the computer!" When the 306 made another turn he fired at the Alliance ship. Lee twisted the stick and darted away from the ship.

"Let's hope they don't follow. I think you hit them, probably won't slow them down much but we can hope."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Mal replied.

Rodney stuck his head into the office Sam was occupying until they could get the Colonel and the Captain back to the RBA. "The Atlas has reported they heard from Colonel Hughes and Captain Kain."

"Are they on their way back?" she asked.

"Uh, yes and no."

"You better have an explanation for that answer, Rodney."

"They were on their way back but apparently they met up with an Alliance ship. When they made contact with the Atlas they were taking fire."

"I swear, Rodney, if they make it out of this alive I will make no effort to keep Colonel Hughes from murdering you. It seems he has a right to at this point."

"Come on, Sam, that's not fair! All of our simulations—"

"Dammit, Rodney, my people are out there lost, again! Next time you want to test the thing you better make damn sure it works. I will not send my people out there again until you're 100% sure it's not going to malfunction! Get out before I decide to kill you myself!" Rodney vanished from the doorway. Sam ran a hand over her face with a sigh. They needed to get the Colonel and the Captain back. If the Alliance got their hands on them again who knew what could happen. She didn't need more problems. The IOA was still breathing down her neck. Colonel Hughes' brother was out for blood and he wasn't going to back off anytime soon. It was a wonder he wasn't down here already trying to get her to recall the Atlas because it was too much of a risk to expose them to the Alliance who might get their hands on the ship. She needed to keep the IOA out of this for as long as she could and hope they got Hughes and Kain back. She wasn't above hiding if Albrecht showed up asking questions about the testflight. Hell, she'd climb aboard a 306 and get herself lost in space if she could avoid the man for a little bit longer.