Sam could hear activity below her. It seemed there were people running around everywhere. At first she thought her escape must have been discovered, but if that were the case, surely they would have come after her in the vents—she had been unable to replace the cover in her cell, after all. Something else must be causing all the commotion. She just hoped she'd find her way to the chamber that held the Stargate, or her friends.
Sam crawled along in the dark wishing once more for light. At least there wasn't any naquadah in the metal surrounding her. She rounded a bend and stopped when she saw a faint light up ahead. Practically holding her breath, she scrambled the rest of the way down the vent and found the source of light: the vent opened up into a corridor. It seemed to be empty, as far as Sam could tell, so she carefully took off the vent cover and poked her head out to see better.
No one was in sight. Sam knelt a moment by the opening, debating the merits of pressing on in the dark versus risking discovery in the hall. She finally decided she'd take the risk. At least then she could see where she was going. She lowered herself out of the vent, dangling a moment by her fingertips before dropping the rest of the way to the ground.
She stood still a moment, listening for signs of discovery. None came, so she started walking.
Teal'c was glad to have been reunited with at least part of his team. They moved quickly down the halls, shooting anyone they happened upon with the stun weapons they had liberated from the aliens. He was impatient to be away from this place, and it seemed that O'Neill also had little sympathy for the guards they met on the way. Even Daniel Jackson made no protest at their disinterest in communication as they neutralized everyone in their path without hesitation.
Teal'c took a moment to look at the archeologist beside him. He was squinting without his glasses and holding onto Teal'c's sleeve for balance, but he was keeping up well.
They rounded a bend and Teal'c saw one of the lanky aliens at the far end of the hall. He and O'Neill both shot him before he could react to their presence.
They had seen no sign of Major Carter. So far the only cells they had encountered were empty or held strangers. They needed to find Major Carter quickly and then locate the Stargate. These thoughts were all that occupied him as he proceeded down the hallway with his teammates.
Daniel thought he could see a little more clearly now that his eyes had fully adjusted to the light. Everything was still disconcertingly blurry, though. He had to give most of his concentration to just keeping up with Jack and Teal'c. He supposed it was a testament to the trust that existed between them that he was able to do so—he plunged along at a fast pace, hardly able to see what was in front of him, trusting that the other two men would keep him from tripping over the inert guards they were leaving in their wake. All he needed was a slight hold on Teal'c shirt to keep balanced and he was okay.
He did find himself wishing Sam was there, though. She would have put an arm around him to help keep him grounded, and even if he didn't actually need the extra help, he would have very much appreciated the extra contact.
Speaking of Sam, he wondered how they would find her in this place that was beginning to feel like a maze. He'd lost track of how many turns they'd taken, and hallway they were traversing seemed to go on without end. He hoped they'd run into her soon - they needed to get out of this place, and he knew they wouldn't be leaving without her.
Jack cursed silently as they half walked, half jogged down the hall. They were running into more and more guards as they went—it seemed their escape had been made known—and he didn't have a clue where they were or how to get out. They were obviously in some elaborate underground tunnel, but it didn't seem to go anywhere—it just went. On and on and on. Forever. With no end.
They rounded yet another corner and took out yet more guards. For all their advanced weapons, the tall, skinny, blue-hued guys in gray tunics didn't seem to know what they were doing. Jack marveled that they had managed to capture SG-1 in the first place. And where the heck were they keeping Carter and the Stargate and their GDO's? They couldn't get out of there without all three of those things, and so far there'd been no sign of any of them.
Jack was beginning to get very frustrated.