Docker fix timeout

Fix #963 

See #963  or commit messages for more details. 
Oh yeah good points.

Right now, the default timeout is sneakily hidden and it is 15s. So even without the bug it is too long.
Then yes: the timeout will keep happening as long as the containers making the API timing out are up. So we should try this fallback just once, then run with faster query. 

Do you agree?