She was leaning against Fuglier waiting for them when the gate engaged only an hour and a half after she'd sent the message. Since Melonyville didn't have a shield of any sort on the Stargate, she wanted to be close by – just in case it wasn't Jack and the others. Of course, no one else had ever visited Melonyville, but she was well aware that there was always a first time. Which was why she was holding a P90 in her hand and was within the protection of Fuglier's force field. No one could harm her there, and she could pick any intruders off one after another as they emerged.

An instant later, she relaxed completely once more. The first Jumper emerged, followed almost immediately by another. Which was perfect, since Melony hadn't actually told them to bring more than one ship but had hoped they would. She'd want the extra storage room for carrying back as much technology from her and Talon's lab as she could. Once she knew what they were going to do, any ways.

She walked away from Fuglier, heading for the area the Jumpers were landing in and watched as the ramps lowered. A moment later they were all exiting the ships, and Mitchell greeted them with nods, gesturing to a place where they could sit and talk. It wasn't much – most of the planet was rock and dirt, after all – but there were rocks to sit on and a pavilion that she'd set up to keep the sun out of their eyes while they discussed things. It would have been better to talk in the lab, but Daniel was the only one who was 'introduced' to the force field protecting the lab, and she didn't want to take the time to get the others in.

She smiled when she saw Carson in the group, even though he didn't look quite so happy to have so many people with him.

He was probably expecting to have you alone for a while

I know.

It would have been nice, but there was more at stake than just a couple of days of alone time with him, and she knew it. And knew that he would know it, too, if he stopped to consider it. Of course, she'd had time to think it through, and he'd probably had the change of plans just sprung on him the last hour or so, so that was the difference.

It looks like someone might have had a talk…

Talon had been looking at Jack and Carter while Melony had been distracted with thinking about Carson, and she turned her attention to O'Neill – although she'd already been looking that way. It wasn't blatant – unless you knew the two of them – but Talon was right. Jack was walking just a little closer to Sam Carter than he normally did, and Mitchell saw his hand brush lightly against the small of her back when he gestured for her to take the rock beside the one he was going to sit on.

That would never have happened coincidentally. Ever.

Melony smiled, and Jack just happened to look over at her at that moment. He scowled, but she saw his ears redden just a little – and knew it had nothing to do with the sun that was shining.

Talon gave a purely mental snicker, which made it incredibly difficult for Melony to keep a straight face as she walked over to the 'front' of the group, and waited for them to get settled.

"What's up?" Jack asked with his typical bluntness. Obviously more than willing to keep her from commenting on what she'd already figured out – and he knew what she'd already figured out. "Change of plans?"

She nodded.

"The Jaffa are going to help."

There were several relieved smiles – mainly from the scientists – and Mitchell scowled.

"That doesn't mean anything has changed," she warned them. "In all likelihood, we're still going to have to blow the city – unless someone comes up with a plan that involves keeping the Jaffa from becoming a sacrifice."

"Actually," Daniel said, raising his hand slightly to get her attention. "We've been doing some thinking – just in case you might have had a change of heart. We-"

"For the record, I didn't have a change of heart," she said, still grumpy about all the relieved smiles she'd seen – and about the Jaffa insisting they help. She was still certain that they had no business getting involved in what was purely the Tau'ri's problem – and even though she wanted revenge on the Wraith and wanted to destroy them, she wasn't fond of the thought of losing even one Jaffa to reach that goal. That hadn't been her idea. "The Jaffa are free, though, and have offered their help."

Daniel nodded at the correction, understanding better than anyone there – probably – why she was so grumpy, and not taking it personally.

"Well, we were thinking… Why not use some of the same strategy and technology to defeat the Wraith that you used to defeat the Goa'uld?"

"We." She corrected. He'd been there, after all, and had been a help. And had almost died for helping.

He smiled.

"We."

"What do you mean, Daniel?"

"Suck the Wraith in with the Jaffa, and then use that gate thing you made to get the Jaffa free and clear before the Wraith can actually hurt them – and then blow the Wraith with some kind of magnified explosion before they realize it's a trap."

The gate thing he's referring to wouldn't be able to handle that many people at one time, Talon told her.

I know.

But the plan itself did have merit, if they could figure out a way to get the Jaffa clear.

"We couldn't move that many Jaffa with that device, Daniel," Melony told him. "Not to mention the hard landing on the other side." Both of them had felt that, after all. "It's a thought, though."

"How many Jaffa are we talking about?" Jack asked.

"I told Tao to gather three hundred."

Teyla's eyes grew wide.

"Three hundred with life forces such as yours and Teal'c's?"

Mitchell nodded.

"If there were more, we'd have more trouble controlling the size of the group." Not that the Jaffa weren't very good at obeying orders and keeping themselves controlled, but more than that and she'd have trouble keeping track of them.

Not to mention your conscience won't allow more

Yeah, there was that, too.

"Three hundred would be irresistible to the Wraith," Teyla said certainly. "Just yourself and Teal'c stand out. Three hundred would be a beacon none could keep away from."

"Provided we figure out a way to make sure they don't get killed," Jack said, before Melony could.

"If we could figure out a way to break the connection of the wormhole and dial the gate out while they were attacking, we'd have no trouble getting the Jaffa out of there," Sam said.

"Or if we could figure out a way to get the gate thing we used with the Goa'uld to handle more people – without the sudden stop at the end – we could use it," Daniel said. He still liked the idea of using the technology Mitchell and Talon had built, because there'd be no way the Wraith would be able to find a counter for it in time to save themselves.

"There is also the task of deciding a place to hold this ambush," Teal'c said. "No doubt an explosion of the magnitude that is being discussed will cause considerable damage to whatever location it is implemented."

"The last ambush Colonel Mitchell sprang on the Goa'uld was out in space," Rodney said. "This one would have to be on a planet… which might actually blow the planet up."

"Probably would blow the planet up," Sam corrected.

"It'd have to be huge to reach the Wraith in their ships above the planet," Sheppard said. "You'd have to blow the planet up…"

Mitchell nodded; she'd pretty much decided the same thing. Which meant that they needed to figure out a way to get the bait off the hook before the fish struck. Now, though, it wasn't just her and Talon trying to come up with a plan; she had a lot of help. And some of the best brains in the business, both tactical and scientific.

"Let's think of something, then…"

They didn't have much time, after all.