<br/>As soon as he made his decision, Captain Hunter swiftly organized the group into two teams, and delivered his orders to Walters with astonishing speed, a stark contrast to Katherine’s thoughts, which were swirling as tumultuously as the dark clouds above.  They had forty minutes to search and get back to this point to regroup, or risk trying to reach the Stargate on their own.  When Walters, Spence and Albrecht slowly climbed towards the ship, the engineer looked back over his shoulder with concern in his eyes, and she gave a reassuring smile.  There was no point dwelling on the worst possible case scenario, instead she would focus on helping ensure they returned with time to spare.  Besides, a burning curiosity about the people inhabiting this world made her anxious to get moving.  McCormack stood beside her and seemed impatient to get underway, as did the Captain, but he also appeared deep in thought, and she knew it was due to the heavy burden of his decision weighing on his conscience, something that every good leader inevitably had to deal with.  Even though it was the only logical decision he could have made under the circumstances, he likely wouldn’t be able to let it go until they were all safely through the Stargate, so she smiled at him to show her support and then started down the hill with the Captain and McCormack following close behind.  On the way down, there were a couple of times she swore she felt the Captain’s gaze on her, and when she finally turned around, their eyes met in a way that made her flush with warmth despite the chilling wind and drizzle.  She quickly returned her attention to the trail, but with a soft smile on her face.<br/><br/>It didn’t take them long to reach the bottom, but the rain was falling heavier now and Katherine became concerned it would wash away the footprints.  They followed the impressions for another five minutes until they stood in front of a thick copse of trees, only to find the trail seemingly disappeared through the underbrush.  With a choked cry of frustration, she glanced back at Captain Hunter to see if he was willing to keep going forward, but as soon as she did, two orbs, exactly like the one they saw before burst out of the forest in a blinding flash.  Startled, she gasped and stepped backwards, heart pounding, until she collided with him. Keeping her eyes locked on the hovering silver orbs, this time, oddly enough, instead of pushing back, they hovered and slowly inched backwards as if beckoning them to follow.  Then one flew behind McCormack effectively forcing them to keep moving, while the one in front continued to move back towards the trees.  There was no way to go but forward, so the three of them followed silently, hoping the orb’s intentions were not malevolent, but alert and ready just  in case.<br/><br/>Ten minutes later, they entered a clearing with a path stretching before them, much like the one they saw earlier lined with iridescent stones.  The orbs stopped, and seemed to indicate they were to wait there, and then both objects disappeared into the canopy of trees above.  Before anyone had time to speak, people began to appear until at least 50 human beings, staring at the trio with curiosity, surrounded them, but Katherine also detected a trace of apprehension in their expressions.  Most were dressed in well-worn, slightly tattered clothing of indeterminate origin, but they looked reasonably healthy and robust, so life on this planet must be more hospitable than they first thought.  After several moments of silence, a man and woman stepped forward; both looked to be in their seventies, with long white hair and were clearly the ones in charge.  The man began to speak.  With a guarded expression on his face, he said, “We never expected to see a rescue.  I don’t know how you found us, but…” he gestured to the others, “we no longer want to leave.  This is our home now and it’s best if you turn around and go back to wherever you came from.”  He stepped closer to the trio standing in the clearing. “In fact I insist that you leave and return to your ship, if for no other reason than it’s not safe to be out once darkness falls.”<br/><br/>Katherine was tempted to ask what happened after dark, but didn’t speak because the man seemed suddenly agitated.  There was also something in the eyes of the others that said the man was hiding something, and she shot a worried glance at her companions, hoping they saw it too. Regardless, it was clear the leader wanted them gone as soon as possible, and for reasons he wasn’t prepared to explain.  She leaned towards Captain Hunter and McCormack and saw they were just as concerned as she was. “I guess we have our answer.” She whispered, too low for anyone else to hear.<br/>