"Are you out of your mind?"
Carson Beckett shook his head.
"I had to bring him here."
"Why?" Kavanaugh asked, looking at the neatly trussed Marine, who was still out cold. "You realize whatever has him can now get us?"
"If whatever it is hasn't gotten us yet, it's not likely to," Carson said, kneeling down in front of the Marine and checking the ropes he was tied with to make certain they were tight, but weren't so tight he was losing circulation in his hands and arms. "Besides, we couldn't leave him out in the hallway where someone might find him."
Kavanaugh looked like he was going to object, but he clamped his jaw tightly and kept his mouth shut. Which was probably just as well, really.
"Have you come up with any theories about what's going on around here, Carson?" Grodin asked, coming over and looking down at the captive with a little concern.
Like Kavanaugh, he wasn't entirely convinced that they were all that safe from whatever was going on with everyone else – and he didn't really like the idea of having one of the others in the same room with them. But he could understand the logic of bringing him back with them, and even had to agree that it was infinitely better than leaving him somewhere that someone might find him and realize that something was definitely wrong.
Carson shook his head.
"I'm not sure, Peter… but the Jaffa aren't dead like we feared."
"No?"
"No. They're unconscious, though. We took samples, and I'll have a look at them – and some samples from our friend here – and see if I can't figure something out… have we heard anything from Melony or Colonel Sheppard?"
Grodin shook his head.
"We've got a signal going out to the Jumpers, but we're not positive they'll even see it."
"We hope they will, though," Zelenka added.
Grodin nodded.
"Yeah. It's a long shot, but it's definitely better than doing nothing."
Beckett looked back down at his captive.
"I need to get to my lab," he told them. It was the only place he could really examine the samples he'd taken – and the ones he was going to take from the Marine – and he was a little guilty about the fact that he couldn't even remember the man's name.
"It's probably guarded," Kavanaugh said.
Grodin frowned.
"Why would they have the infirmary guarded? There's no one in there right now – is there?"
Carson shook his head.
"No."
"I'll go with you," Shea offered. "You won't be able to do it alone…"
If it was guarded, they wouldn't be able to do anything, but if it wasn't, he'd definitely need help with the research he was going to be doing.
The other medics in the room all nodded as well – despite being afraid of being caught, or worse. They had their duties, they knew.
"We'll go with you," Zelenka volunteered. "You're going to need help if the infirmary is guarded – and even if it isn't, you're going to need someone who understands the signal jamming to help keep the others from being aware of what you are doing…"
Grodin nodded.
"Good point. But there should be more of you."
He would stay and keep track of the people in the control center – and keep an eye on the remote telemetry equipment they'd linked to the Jumper.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
"I really need to go…"
Sheppard rolled his eyes.
"Come on… I really do…"
"We might as well stop, John," Mitchell said, shrugging. "We're going to need to organize a little better before we hit Pegasus, anyways."
And that meant having the occupants of both Jumpers together so they could discuss tactics.
"All right."
McKay gave a relieved sigh and sat back in his seat, while Sheppard relayed the plan over to the other Jumper – which was being piloted by Sergeant Sanchez. The Astrophysicist had been complaining for over an hour that he needed to go, and he really had to by then. He wondered why the Jumpers weren't equipped with bathrooms, but knew it was probably because they weren't really meant to be long distance spacecraft. Or maybe the Ancients just had bigger bladders than he did.
"We'll stop just after we gate," Sheppard told Melony. "Should be safe to land on the planet – although we won't want to stay long."
"Why not?" McKay asked, curiously. He'd made the route, but hadn't really checked the databases to find out much information about the planets they were going to be passing by. Only enough to make sure they'd be able to get from one area to the next.
"Because the natives there are cannibals."
"Oh."
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Amazingly, the lab was unguarded. So was the entire infirmary. Carson eased into the room looking around carefully, but he couldn't see anyone. Not even a single guard. Of course, it had already been pointed out that there wasn't anyone or anything in the infirmary to guard, but he still couldn't believe his luck. And he certainly didn't trust it.
He looked over at Shea.
"Set a couple of guards, will you?" he whispered, gesturing to the entranceway.
The other medic nodded, and moved as Zelenka joined Beckett.
"Where are you going to start?" he asked, turning to the only security panel in the room and reprogramming it so it wouldn't record the room with the security monitors.
"With the Jaffa," Carson said.
If they could get the Jaffa back on their feet – or at least figure out why they were down – they might have a much better chance to get control of the city back.
Besides, the Jaffa were far more adept at this sneaking around hiding stuff than Carson was, that much was certain.