Carter lead him down a couple of levels in quick succession; they ducked into a deserted flight hangar, filled with death gliders, their wings folded for storage.
"That was good shooting, Carter," Jack gasped. Both of them struggled for breath, while trying to remain as quiet as possible. There might be very little time left for them to act, before the Jaffa closed on their position. "I don't suppose you've learned how to fly one of these things·"
"No sir," she panted. "Have you?"
He forced a smile. "While you were out there did you find any way to get us off this ship?" he sputtered.
"Transport rings, sir," she said between breaths, "But we won't be able to use them until we have a place to go. We're still in hyper-space, or whatever it is they call it," Carter added.
"Great," Jack said, "so we've got transport rings·" He remembered Naetu, where Martouf--Lantash--whatever--activated the rings for their escape. Carter had been instrumental in gaining access to the area, but had not actually operated the devices. "Do you know how use them?"
"I do now. I took the control panel apart and reassembled it. The stuff I've done before with the DHD's helped--especially the plans you got from the Ancients."
"Oh yeah, well," he quipped.
Sam grinned.
"I was trying to see if I could operate the rings by remote," she added, holding up the Jaffa hand devices she'd taken from their jailer during her escape. "But I couldn't get any of the crystals to talk to the control panel. They must do something else."
A wisp of an idea rose to Jack's mind. "Carter, about what time did you work on that?"
"I don't know--a while ago. I thought I was starting to make progress but then an alarm went off."
"When I escaped. That explains a lot."
"What, sir?"
"How I got out of dodge. The doors in the cell block started opening for no reason."
"Then these are the controls to the prison."
Jack nodded. "I like that explanation better than the alternative."
"Alternative?"
"Ghosts."
Sam blinked. "Oh," she said dryly.
"If Daniel had been anywhere nearby he would have gotten out at the same time. They must be holding him somewhere else. Have you seen extra Jaffa guarding a door, maybe?"
"No, sir," Sam said, "And every guard I've seen, I've gone the other way, so I really couldn't say what they were doing." She didn't need to name the weight that loomed over their heads; Jack could see it on her face. Daniel could very well be dead.
Or he could be a host·
No, Jack thought. Daniel would be alive, and well, and locked away somewhere on this ship that simply was not in the detention block. Both Klorel and Nameless would know that he was a fairly low risk for escape, and they could have him hidden in a variety of less secure areas.
Where he's enduring what? Daniel was a fascination to every Goa'uld they'd met, from Ra to Hathor to Apophis, and he doubted Nameless could be much different. Like Ra, she would be curious about him; he would be an exciting new toy. Would that mean she would not want him damaged?
Klorel was another matter. He held all Skaara's memories about Daniel's life as it was on Abydos. Klorel's curiosity would already be sated.
Jack had to hope that Nameless's interest would predominate; it would buy them time to rescue Daniel before whatever Klorel planned came to pass.
Buying time. There was no way to know where Daniel was, or how long it would take to find him. And once the ship returned to normal space, Klorel would be able to transfer him to almost anywhere, via Stargate.
Klorel will have to send him somewhere, Jack realized, we're too hot a commodity for him to hold onto. Too many other Systemlords want a piece of us.
But if we can't find him in time?
"Carter, we need to stall this ship."
"Now, sir? There may not be a planet for light-years around--we'd be stranded out here, adrift. Assuming we could even do it without blowing the ship apart. We don't know enough about this hyper-drive the Goa'uld use."
"After amok, or ramok or whatever. Something short of blowing the place apart. We need to buy time in case we haven't found Daniel by then. Ideas?"
"Well, if we had an explosive we could take out the shield generators again. I don't know about hyper-space, but in normal space if a ship this size were moving, chances are it would be pummeled by high-speed debris. I don't think they'd be willing to go very far without their shields operational."
"I like that."
"I found a storage area that might have some materials we could use·"
"If we can't find anything better, I have a handkerchief full of rust."
Carter grinned again, "Then maybe we can find some aluminum," she said. "But what will we use for a fuse?"
Jack held up his zat-gun. "I'm thinking an impact-fuse. Drop it down from above, like we did with the grenades·"
"The area could be guarded, sir. We've done it before, they may be expecting it this time."
"Not if we plant the bomb early. You remember how the ship lurched·"
"Teal'c said that ship accelerated differently from most," Carter pointed out.
"Which means that other ships he'd been on still had to accelerate some way he could feel," Jack reasoned. "We'll use the lurch to drop the device, and the impact when it hits to set it off·" His mind was racing ahead with alternatives for design and the materials he'd need.
"Then they won't know what hit them, sir."
Jack flashed his eyebrows at her "Ghosts," he said. Their breath had returned, and soon, so would the Jaffa. "Let's get to that store room without getting shot."
Sam took the lead.
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