Jack's cell was similar to the one in which SG-1 had been confined on Apophis' flagship. The back wall was solid, in-sloping with the contour of the ship's pyramidal exterior. Between cells was a wide mesh quadrille, made of a metal somewhat thinner than standard rebar. The adjacent cells were empty, though Jack thought he saw a ragged form curled on the floor a few units away. The wall forming the corridor was solid, with a translucent door made of a near-impenetrable material that gave the impression of Japanese rice-paper. Shadows of the quadrille could be seen reinforcing the translucency.
Even if Jack escaped, he had no idea where Daniel was.
Oh, God, Teal'c is dead.
Sam is....?
He chose to believe the Jaffa were lying, and that Sam was still alive. But, on a ship flying through space, there was nowhere for her to go. Even if she reached a fighter, without Teal'c there would be no one to fly it. She would be trapped on board until the ship reached a planetary orbit--which might not be for months.
Mental note, ask Bra'tac to flight train Carter and I on the Goa'uld needle-glider.
Teal'c is dead!
STOP!
He sat on the floor and covered his face with his hands. He had no time for his grief; with Sam escaped--she must be alive--they might use himself or Daniel as bait or a hostage, to lure her out. They might trade Daniel for bounty to another Goa'uld--Sokar came to mind. Or simply kill them both, to avoid the trouble of keeping them confined.
His hands were warmly wet; he told himself it was water from the cistern.
Enough!
Survival, evasion, escape--standing orders for a prisoner of war. He had survived. Daniel had survived. Sam....had escaped. He and Daniel must somehow follow those orders.
Ok, where am I and what do I have? A cell, one door, no windows, steel or titanium or whatever this mesh is made of. A scrap of rusty steel....he looked around the room. The plumbing was integrated with the wall, activated by sensors embedded deep behind tiny ports. There were no other features, and no bedding. Anything in my uniform? A handkerchief, four fingertip bandages, a quarter , a dime, uniform buttons, zipper, insignia of rank...
Strangely, he still had his shoelaces--items which would have been confiscated back on Earth, because a prisoner could use them to hang himself--not that Jack was so inclined. He supposed the Goa'uld didn't much care if a prisoner died; they would simply "repair" him and continue with whatever they planned.
He tried with little hope to pry the door open with the piece of grate--all he did was scratch the door, bend the metal, and flake rust onto the floor.
All right, now calm down, calm down. You might be here a little while. Just take some time to think.
He idly began scraping the rust off the piece of grate, collecting it in his handkerchief.
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